Dara Birnbaum started Albany Kids’ Corner in 1987 to meet the needs of students and working parents. She has worked in Early Childhood Development for the past 27 years with families from many cultures and serves as the Youth Services Director at the University Village.

Ken Cober began his study of Kojosho karate in 1990 and received his black belt in 1994. At that time he became an assistant instructor in Kojosho karate. Since 1999 he has been the main instructor of the Berkeley Albany class. He currently now holds a fourth degree black belt.

Lindsay Harris has been working with the University Village Recreation Program for the past year in the Gymnastics Plus Program. When she is not with us, she coaches with the Rebels Elite in South San Francisco! Some highlights from Lindsay’s accomplishments are:
• NCA National Champion Senior Best Cheerleader 2004
• American Grand Champion Senior Group Leader 2006
• Choreographer for 6 All-Star teams and 7 High Schools
• Positive Coach Alliance Level 3 Certification

Dawn Martin-Rugo has taught and coached gymnastics since 1972. She has worked with Masayuki Watanabe, Muriel Grossfeld, Fritz Reiter among other elite level and national coaches over the years. She served on the coaching staff for the UCB Women’s Gymnastics team with Dan Millman and was
one of the founding coaches for Golden Bear Gymnastics. She has directed the Gymnastics Plus program since 1986 and the University Village Recreation Program since 1992.

Teale Matteson, founder and director of Pacific Soccer has been coaching soccer for the past 19 years. He was the Assistant Coach for the Men’s Soccer team at Cal from 1985-87 and is currently coaching at St. Mary’s College High School and the ACCYSL Mavericks. He has served as an evaluator for the Olympic Development Program and provided coaches training
through the ACCYSL.

Joe Pearse has more than nine years of coaching
and teaching experience. While a Division 1 player at Fresno
State for four years, he was elected to the All-West
Regional Team in 1998. Known as a motivator and team
builder, Joe has been teaching and coaching baseball at
Alameda High School for the past 4 years. He was on the Double Diamond staff at University Village from 1998-2004 and its director since 2007, inspiring players to reach higher levels of excellence.

Matthew Schwey We’d like to welcome Matt Schwey as our new Head Instructor for the Gymnastics Plus Program! He came out on top of a field of applicants from as far as Connecticut and Thailand! Matt hails from Florida via the South Bay where he
worked with children in recreational settings as well as gymnastics competitors through Level 10 over the past 13 years. He holds a BS in Recreation and Leisure Services and is USA Gymnastics Safety Certified.

Mike Smith, a local Poppin’ artist, has taught through the Albany Unified School District and University Village Recreation Program.

Rick Slettedahl, a former collegiate player with the University of Washington, has been coaching for over 20 years. He directed the YMCA’s Youth Basketball Program from 1993-95, founded the East Bay Youth Basketball Programs and has been Youth Basketball Director at University Village since 1996.

back to top

Back Home