STAFF
Andrew Kessinger
Program Director, Varsity Head Coach
awkess@att.net
Kessinger was named head coach in 2020 and has a long and strong background in soccer, both as a coach and a player.
He formerly served as the men’s varsity assistant at Ohio Wesleyan University under Hall of Fame coach Jay Martin before becoming director of coaching at Eagles Soccer Club in Upper Arlington. He coached high-school-age girls teams to state and regional championships with the club, coaching many college-level players in the process. He helped oversee the merger of Eagles Soccer with Ohio Premier, giving the program a two-community presence. He holds a USSF National C License and a United Soccer Coaches Advanced National Diploma.
Kessinger is a former professional player, having taken the pitch for VFR Baumholder in Germany as well as the Dayton Dynamo and Columbus Xoggz here in the U.S. He was a two-time college All-American and a four-year starter and letter winner at Ohio Wesleyan. His teams earned two trips to the NCAA Division III Final Four, and he was named DIII Player of the Year in 1991. He scored 61 goals, assisted on 32 more, and earned 154 points at OWU, where he is a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with a concentration in management from the school.
Kessinger was a member of the very first club team in central Ohio (Dingos), where he won a state championship. He also won state and regional titles and earned a spot in the national finals playing for coach Ron Wigg at Club Ohio.
As a high school player at St. Francis DeSales, he was a four-year letter winner and starter and a two-time All-Ohio selection. He was a member of the Stallions’ very first state championship team, was the first soccer player inducted into the DeSales Hall of Fame, and still holds the program record for goals in a season. He was also a standout runner at the school, earning three varsity letters in cross country and two in track. He was two-time state qualifier in cross country and continues to hold the school record.
Kessinger is a Senior Wealth Advisor for Huntington Financial Advisors and a longtime member of the UA community. He’s lived here with his wife and three children for more than 25 years. He continues to be an avid runner, with 20 marathons under his belt, including the famed New York City and Boston marathons.
Chad Blomgren
Assistant Program Director, Varsity Assistant Coach
cblomgren39@gmail.com
Blomgren joined the Upper Arlington coaching staff in 2020 after serving two seasons as varsity assistant at The Wellington School. During his time on the Wellington staff, his teams made consecutive district semifinal appearances. He was also previously on staff for the Ohio State Women's Club team, where he helped lead the squad to its second of back-to-back national championships in 2019.
He currently coaches club soccer for Ohio Premier, working with girls in the U15-U19 NPL, ECRL, ECNL levels/age groups. Blomgren holds the following licenses: USSF National C, La Liga Levels 2 and 3, and 11v11, 9v9, 7v7, and 4v4 USSF Grassroots licenses.
A Mason, Ohio native and graduate of Mason High School, he grew up playing in the BPYSL, MRL and NPL for Warren County Soccer Club. He also enjoyed short stints with Crystal Palace in England and Dakota Rev in Minnesota.
Blomgren is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University (bachelor’s degree in Middle Childhood Education) and Capital University (post-baccalaureate degree in education). He is currently a Physical Science teacher at Upper Arlington HS and lives in Powell, Ohio with his wife, Kara.
Alyx Zavodny
JVA Head Coach
alyx.zavodny@gmail.com
Prior to joining the UA Girls Soccer staff in 2020, Zavodny coached the Bishop Watterson High School varsity squad for eight seasons, leading the team to 83 wins. Her teams earned a spot in the District Final in four of her eight seasons and made the Regional Semifinals in 2013. Bishop Watterson never failed to capture a league championship during her tenure, finishing with a
conference record of 31-1-1.
Before coaching at Watterson, Zavodny served as varsity assistant at The Wellington School for two seasons. She also coached club soccer locally, serving at both Santos FC, where she was girls assistant director for five seasons, and Ohio Premier. A former state and regional ODP coach, she holds a USSF National C License.
Her college playing career included stints at the University of South Alabama and The Ohio State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in educational administration. She completed her teacher licensure program in middle childhood education at Capital University. She is currently working on her doctorate in Special Education with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis.
Zavodny is a Special Education Coordinator for Columbus City Schools. She enjoys mountain biking, running, and spending time with her family. She lives in Sunbury with her husband, Rusty, and their dogs, Lucy and Kaplan.
Jordan Fike
JVB Head Coach
1jordan6@columbus.rr.com
Fike joined the Upper Arlington coaching staff in 2020 as head coach of the program’s JVB team. An experienced high school and youth camp coach, she was most recently on the camp staffs at Denison University and Capital University.
A decorated college player, she was a four-year starter at Capital, tallying 25 goals and 21 assists for her career. She received the Scholar All-American award from United Soccer Coaches her senior season, when she was also named first-team All-Great Lakes Region, second-team Scholar All-North/Central Region, first-team All-OAC, and Academic All-OAC. She was first-team All-OAC and Academic All-OAC as a junior and second-team All-OAC and Academic All-OAC as a sophomore.
Fike was a three-time varsity letter winner at Olentangy Liberty High School. As a senior she earned first-team All-OCC honors and helped lead her team to the state Final Four. She was selected for the Central District All-Star Game following the season. She also tallied 16 goals and 4 assists for the region’s number-one-ranked team as a junior and received second-team All-OCC honors as a result.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education from Capital, with an emphasis in math and science. She was a member of the university’s Kappa Mu Epsilon Math Honor Society and its Student Athletic Advisory Committee. She's now a 6th grade science teacher at Olentangy Hyatt's Middle School.
Sarah Wall
Assistant Coach
swall10@gmail.com
Wall has been a member of the UAGS coaching staff since 2020 after a decade-long hiatus to pursue her medical education. She previously coached U-10 and U-12 girls teams in the NCSL Eagles Soccer Club (now part of Ohio Premier). She was also a longtime staff member of the Summer Soccer School camps in Upper Arlington and the Barnes Soccer Academy camps at Ohio Wesleyan University, where she served as assistant director. She holds a USSF National E License.
A three-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American and four-time Conference Player of the Year at Ohio Wesleyan University, Wall helped lead her team to an NCAA Division III National Championship in 2002. She continues to hold the North Coast Athletic Conference record for career assists and the school records for career assists, assists in a season, points in a game, and goals in a game. She was named to the conference All-Decade team in 2012 and was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Hall of Fame in 2016. During her college career, she also played semi-professionally for the Columbus Shooting Stars in the W-League, earning All-Conference honors.
A four-year varsity starter at UA, Wall earned Academic All-Ohio honors as a senior in 2001. She was also a three-time All-Conference selection and earned a spot in the Central Ohio All-Star Game her senior year. She was a member of the very first NCSL Eagles Soccer Club team and was named to the ODP State Team in 2000-01.
Wall is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University. She specializes in blood and marrow transplantation. She earned her medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine, completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and completed her fellowship training in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Ohio State. She also holds a Master of Public Health degree from Ohio State.
She lives in Upper Arlington with her husband, Brett, and their three children, Jack , AJ, and Mason.
Josh Haverick
JV Assistant Coach and UAGS Social Media
josh.haverick@gmail.com
Haverick joined the program as a goalkeeper coach in 2020 and was named JV assistant the following season. A former high school and college club team keeper, he previously coached the Upper Arlington High School JVA boys team and spent five years as coach of the Jones Middle School seventh and eighth grade teams.
Haverick began playing for a select team while growing up in California. After moving to UA as a middle schooler, he played at Hastings and the high school before earning the starting keeper role on the varsity squad as a junior. After graduating in 1992, he played for the club team at Ohio State University.
Haverick is a property manager and realtor for Wagenbrenner. He and his wife Ericka reside in Upper Arlington with their daughters Naomi and Reese.
Michela Paradiso
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Paradiso joined the staff as a volunteer assistant in 2020, helping coach the team she once starred for.
A former Ohio State standout, Paradiso was a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain for the Buckeyes, concluding her tenure in 2015 ranked fourth in career assists. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and four-time OSU Scholar-Athlete, she helped lead the soccer Bucks to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen her senior season.
As a prep player for the Golden Bears, she earned a varsity letter in each of her three seasons, graduating in 2012 with 72 goals and 29 assists. Her teams won three District titles and remain the only UA squad to earn a spot in the state Final Four. Individually, she was a three-time OCC Player of the Year, three-time ThisWeek Super 12 captain, three-time All-State selection, and a NSCAA High School All-American.
Paradiso played her youth soccer with Eagles Soccer Club and Ohio Premier, winning a club state championship with current UA head coach Andrew Kessinger.
A summa cum laude graduate of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, she’s currently a dermatology resident at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She continues to work closely with OSU student-athletes as co-founder of Athletes in Medicine, a program that mentors undergraduates interested in pursuing medical careers. She lives in Upper Arlington with her family and her English Mastiff, Guido.
Tom Evans
Athletic Trainer
tevans@uaschools.org
Katelyn Dilley
Athletic Trainer
kdilley@uaschools.org
Brandon Spickler
Strength & Conditioning Coach
bspickler@uaschools.org
Spencer Smith
Director of Student Life
ssmith@uaschools.org
Robin Hotham
Athletic Secretary
rhotham@uaschools.org
Phone: (614) 487-5210