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Gregg Tavani - Head Coach Men's
Varsity
Coach Tavani is
in his ninth year of coaching at both the high school
and club levels. He is a Georgia Youth Soccer Association
Coach of the Year and holds the United States Soccer
Federation (USSF) National “A” Coaching License,
the highest license a coach can attain in the U.S.
In the summer of 2005 he earned the USSF National
Youth License.
2009 will be Coach
Tavani's eighth year as head coach at Duluth High
School. The 2006 season was possibly Coach Tavani's
best as a coach at the high school level. He led
the Wildcats to the AAAAA Final Four after not even
being projected to reach the playoffs. They finished
the season at 15-4-2 and topped the state's #1 team
Chattahoochee and the defending state champs, Parkview.
Coach Tavani also
guided the Wildcats to back-to-back Georgia Final
Four finishes in 2002 and 2003, while advancing
to the school's first ever State championship game
in 2003. Coach Tavani's Duluth team finished 2003
as the #2 team in Georgia and the #18 team in the
nation, their highest ranking ever. His 2002 team
was ranked #3 in Georgia and Top 50 nationally.
In 2004, the team was ranked as high as #2 in the
U.S. Duluth’s five-year overall record under Coach
Tavani stands at 68-27-6. His overall high school
coaching record includes 84 wins.
Coach Tavani was
selected to coach in the Georgia Soccer Coaches
Association All Star Game in 2002, 2003, and 2006.
He was also selected AAAAA Coach of the Month in
May 2003. Prior to Duluth, Coach Tavani spent three
years as head boys coach at Redan High School in
Stone Mountain, GA , where he guided the team to
the state playoffs in 2001 for the first time since
1996. He has also served as a Georgia Olympic Development
Program (ODP) Assistant Coach and tryout evaluator.
Coach Tavani annually
produces top high school players who go on to earn
college scholarships while also developing several
players who have become All-County and All-State.
Many of his former players who serve as coaches
at the camp are currently playing college soccer,
including the past two Gwinnett County Players of
the Year (2003, 2004). He is also the Atlanta Fire
United Soccer Association U-11 Boys Academy Coordinator,
where he coaches the top three teams.
Prior to his coaching
career, Coach Tavani was a four-year letterman at
Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL, where he helped
lead the Saints to NAIA national rankings in 1995
and 1996 and Florida Sun Conference Championships
in 1994 and 1996. He graduated from Flagler College
in 1998 with a BA in Education, and more recently,
earned a Master's of Science in Education from Walden
University. Coach Tavani grew up in the Atlanta
area, and was an All-State player at Dunwoody High
School in 1994. He currently resides in Alpharetta
with his wife, Tracy, and their daughter Emily.
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Vince Hayes - Head Coach Women's
Varsity
Vince
Hayes grew up in Gwinnett County, playing both at
Dacula High School (4 years Varsity) and Club Soccer
at West Gwinnett Soccer Club (now Atlanta Fire United)
on their top team ages 11-18.
Vince
has coached soccer at Duluth High School since 2002,
starting out as the Men's Junior Varsity Head Coach
and Varsity Assistant Coach. In those early years,
the Duluth Men's program went to state playoffs
in all but one year, making it to the state Semi-Finals
twice and the State Championship once. In 2007,
Vince accepted the position as Varsity Women's Head
Coach.
Vince
is involved in the sport throughout the year. When
he is not at Duluth High School, he coaches Club
Soccer. At Forsyth Fusion, he served as a coach
for the Girls' Academy for 4 years where he trained
several successful elite youth teams. In 2007, Vince
moved to the Norcross Soccer Academy where he coaches
elite Junior Select teams. During the Summer, Vince
coaches at many camps in the area.
Vince was the staff coach for the 1996 Olympic Women's
Development Program (ODP). He currently holds a
National Youth training license along with a USSF
'B' License. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in
Education from the University of Georgia (2001)
and a Master's Degree in Social Science Education
from Piedmont College (2006). In 2008, Vince earned
the FA Psychology Level 1 Diploma as well as the
NSCAA High School Diploma.
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Tessa
Heaton - Coach Women's Junior Varsity
Tessa
Heaton joined the Duluth Soccer Coaching Staff in
2010. She grew up in Gwinnett County and attended
Berkmar High School where she played soccer and
was a 4-year starter as the Varsity keeper. While
in high school, she earned Gwinnett County Goal
Club/All County Player in 2002. She also played
competitive Club Soccer at Gwinnett Soccer Association.
Following
high school, she attended NAIA Emmanuel College
on athletic and academic scholarships. During her
4 years at Emmanuel, Tessa played both as a goalkeeper
and field player. Tessa earned honors as a 3-time
member on the All-Conference Team and All-Academic
Team as well as the team's Most Valuable Player
her senior year. In 2006, she received her undergraduate
degree in Secondary Social Sciences and finished
with a 3.95 GPA.
After
graduating from Emmanuel, she attended Piedmont
College where she earned her Master's Degree in
Early Childhood Education with a Reading Endorsement
in 2009 (4.0 GPA). While at Piedmont, Tessa was
assistant soccer coach and goalkeeper coach for
both the Men's and Women's programs. Additionally,
she continues to play competitive indoor and outdoor
soccer year-round.
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Kalvens
Weah - Assistant Coach Duluth Soccer's Men's team
Kalvens
started playing soccer at the age of 9 and played
throughout middle and high school as a goalie, a
striker, and a right back / defender.
While
in high school, Kalvens also played volleyball and
basketball. Additionally, he was a member of the
high school track and field team. Kalvens won two
silver medals and a bronze medal in the javelin,
short pull and discuss during the 1989 Liberian
National Track and Field competition. After high
school, Kalvens played amateur soccer in Liberia
(his home country), Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory
Coast and Ghana before traveling to Europe and finally
to the United States in 1997. While in New York,
he was the captain for a local soccer club on Staten
Island called ROZA.
In
2003, he earned a BBA from the Metropolitan College
of New York in New York, New York. In 2005, Kalvens
earned his MBA from American Intercontinental University
(AIU) Huffman Estate, Illinois, having studied Human
Resource Management and Marketing. In 2006, Kalvens
Weah became a faculty member at Duluth High School
as a Para Pro.
Currently, he is a Special Education Teacher at
Duluth High School and continues to play soccer
for an Old Timers Club in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
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Lauren
Dodson - Women's Varsity Assistant Coach & Goal
Keeper Coach
Lauren
Dodson grew up in Dekalb County and attended Tucker
High School. At Tucker, she was a four-year letter
recipient in soccer, basketball, and softball. She
also earned all-county goalkeeper honors in 2000.
After
high school, Lauren attended Reinhardt College where
she was a member of the Reinhardt College women's
soccer team from 2002-2006. At Reinhardt, she was
a 4-year starter, captain of the squad for 3 years,
an All American Scholar athlete for 2 years. Additionally,
she earned honors as an All Conference Goalkeeper.
She led the Lady Eagles to their first region tournament
appearance, was president of the biological honor
society Tri Beta, and was a resident assistant.
In May 2006, Lauren graduated from Reinhardt with
a Bachelor of Science in Biology with the honor
of cum laude.
Upon
graduation, Coach Dodson returned to be the assistant
soccer coach at Reinhardt from 2006-2009, where
she primarily focusing on goalkeeper training. Coach
Dodson received her Master's of Arts in Teaching
in Science Education from Georgia State University
in the summer of 2009.
Currently,
Coach Dodson resides in Lawrenceville with her husband
Shaun.
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