Coaching Team
Vlad Shteynberg (Coach Vlad), Co-President, Head Coach
Coach Vlad has been in love with football since seeing the legendary Oranje Dutch team play in the European and World Cups of the 1980s.
Growing up playing in the streets of Ukraine, Vlad went on to play for his high school and then Kyiv Trade Economy University in the years 1994-1997. After immigrating to the USA, Vlad played in amateur and semi-professional leagues in the late 90s, and 00s. Vlad played for Cyclones in the regional leagues and cups for a number of years, before he took up coaching. Vlad’s understanding and knowledge of the individual and team tactical principles of the game have benefited greatly due to his playing in a number of different positions on the field - CAM, CDM, CB, Fullback, and Winger.
Vlad took a keen interest in coaching in 2013, becoming a coach for his son’s first team at Cyclones. Over the next 10 years, Vlad went on to coach teams of various ages - from U7 to U17s in the regional leagues of the North Atlantic area, as well as advancing his USSA Coaching License work to level C. Coach Vlad is known for his dedication and commitment to his teams and players, his practices are run in an intense and disciplined manner. Coach Vlad takes time to explain concepts and values player input and questions. Vlad is also a licensed adults and kids yoga teacher. He leads Yoga sessions in the summer camp, as Yoga has become an integral part of the curriculum at professional clubs.
In 2021 Coach Vlad became a partner and co-President at Cyclones. Vlad is dedicated to leading Cyclones into the future, using his organizational, management, communication, and leadership skills.
Yevgeniy Rutitskiy (Coach Jimmy), Co-President, Head Coach, Director of Coaching
Coach Jimmy grew up Kiev, Ukraine, and started playing soccer when he was 5 for a local club. He joined an academy program when he was 11 and played for the youth teams of Smena (Kiev) and FK Rostov (Rostov).
Coach Jimmy immigrated to the US in 1994 and went on to play for James Madison high school. Coach Jimmy was the captain of the team, which won the Brooklyn Highschool Championship. After graduating from high school, coach Jimmy was invited on a scholarship to play for Adelphy University Division 1. After graduating from college coach Jimmy continued playing for semi-professional teams, as well as traveling to tournaments in Europe.
Jimmy played mainly in the Center Mid position and was known as a player for his technical ability and high IQ. It is his high football intelligence and understanding of the game that empowered him to transition into coaching and to share his love and knowledge of the game with youth players.
Jimmy began coaching at Cyclones in 2015. Over the years he has coached teams of all youth age groups and developed further as a coach. Jimmy runs his practices in a disciplined and engaging manner. He encourages player communication and initiative, and values players’ input as a key to developing strong personality and leadership.
Coach Jimmy became a partner at the club in June 2021. As Director of Coaching, Jimmy’s responsibilities include overseeing all travel teams and continuously evolving the curriculum for the player and team development at Cyclones.
Kantemir Batsev (Coach Kante), Head Coach
Coach Kante was a professional soccer player with 10 years of experience in the second Russian professional league, before immigrating to the USA. At the youth level, Kante played for Spartak-Nalchik Academy. Upon turning 18 years old, coach Kante signed his first professional contract with the main team. Coach Kante played at a professional level for 8 different teams in Russia.
After moving to the USA, coach Kante had tryouts with Charlotte Independence (USL 1 league) and Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL championship), but suffered an injury and decided to end his career as a player. He set out to begin a new chapter to become a Coach.
Coach Kante always knew he would go into coaching after his career as a professional player, as he is very passionate about sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience of soccer with youth players.
Coach Kante is the Head coach for Cyclones 2006, 2014, and 2015 travel teams. Kante holds a USSF coaching License D.
Felipe Mendez (Coach Felipe), Head Coach
Coach Felipe is a soccer enthusiast, born and raised in Brazil, with soccer literally everywhere. Since 7 years old young, the sport has been part of Felipe’s life. Just like every little boy in Brazil Felipe wanted to be a professional player and spent his childhood years playing in the local Brazilian academies. In 2014 coach Felipe had an opportunity to come to the USA, receiving an athletic soccer scholarship for college, with soccer paying for his education (which made his parents very happy!).
From 2014-2018 he played collegiate-level soccer in the Midwest, at Hannibal LaGrange University NAIA. His team made it through to the nationals twice (2015 & 2016). Since his sophomore year in college, Felipe has been coaching youth soccer, and in 2019 it became his main job.
Since very young, Felipe always played in the last third of the field (striker, wings, offensive midfielder), and that’s absolutely his favorite part of coaching – his offensive players.
As a youth soccer coach, Felipe always reinforces discipline, respect, and sportsmanship with his young athletes. Eventually, the player's career will end, but these principles stay for life. “Soccer is life” that’s what coach Felipe will always say, Ronaldo will always be the best player of all time to him (that’s Brazilian Ronaldo, the real one!).
Valentin Kirykovich (Coach Val), Head Coach
Coach Val inherited his passion for the beautiful game from his father. In the summer of 1990, Val remembers soaking in every minute of every World Cup match with his dad, and running in the streets of a small town in Belarus, proudly wearing a t-shirt with Maradona's face on it. The obsession with soccer only grew since then and soccer played a big part in shaping Valentin's character.
After graduating from high school, Valentin went to study at Minsk State Linguistic University, where he played on the University soccer team. After arriving in the United States as a twenty-year-old, Valentin fell in love with his new homeland and embraced all the cultural differences and diversity that the U.S. and New York City could offer. Val played for 4 years for his team at Baruch College. His coaches and teammates gave him the nickname "Bombardier" for his ability to run past opposing players and score goals. After college Val continued playing in various amateur leagues, picking up along the way different styles of soccer.
In 2020 Val decided to change his career path to become a soccer coach. A big part of that decision was Val’s desire to share his love for soccer with his first-born son, Adrian, who is currently a Cyclones U9 travel team player. Coach Val started coaching at Cyclones and is currently the Head Coach of the U8 and U15 groups.
Coach Val truly enjoys working with the youth. He focuses on teaching young players the mastery of the ball, a broad understanding of the game, and the principles of discipline, hard work, and teamwork. His main motivation is the spark in the eyes of the kids, seeing them after the practice not wanting to leave the field and continuing playing with their friends. Teaching them love and passion for the game is the main objective of Coach Val.
Stas Khadzivoyandzis (Coach Stas), Head Coach
Coach Stas grew up in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, constantly playing football in the streets. Coach Stas could not imagine his life without soccer. He played anytime and anywhere. In 1999, at the age of 10, Stas joined a local soccer club, where he played for 6 years. At the age of 15 Coach Stas moved to a big Tashkent Football club – Traktor. Stas played in Traktor’s youth academy for a year before signing his first professional contract at the age of 16, with a Division 2 team CSKA Tashkent.
Coach Stas moved to New York at the age of 19. Due to an injury, he had to stop his career as a professional player. Since then he has been playing on and off in the amateur leagues around New York.
A few years ago, Stas turned his focus to becoming a Soccer Coach. He has been advancing his US Soccer License work and is currently working on his National C Coaching License. Stas joined Cyclones 2 years ago and is currently coaching U17 and U14 teams. Stas is a passionate and committed coach, who is eager to educate and coach youth players, and enjoys seeing and helping them develop and transform on their soccer path.
Igor Oleynik (Coach Igor)
Coach Igor grew up playing soccer in Ukraine. As a kid, Igor was a standout player in his town and played for the town youth teams in the regional leagues and competitions. After moving to the US, coach Igor continued playing and was the captain of his Origins high school team, as junior and senior. He typically played Center Mid due to his technical ability, vision, understanding & reading of the game.
Coach Igor played for Cyclones U17s in his last year of highschool, and was invited to join Cyclones as an Assistant coach after graduating. Coach Igor loves working with youth soccer players and has experience of working with kids, as he often helped at the kindergarten, where his mom worked.
Coach Igor is hard working and reliable, and eager to learn and progress as a soccer coach, while helping youth players progress with their skills.
Shawn Galaburda (Coach Shawn), Assistant Coach
Coach Shawn is an Assistant Coach for Travel Teams and Head Coach for development groups at Cyclones.
Shawn is a coach who is passionate about teaching kids the fundamentals of soccer. He has been involved with CI Cyclones nearly his entire life, joining as a young player in 2009 and starting coaching in 2017. He loves watching, playing, and discussing the sport and is eager to continue to grow as a coach.
Dylan Rybalov (Coach Dylan), Assistant Coach
Coach Dylan is an Assistant Coach for Travel Teams and Head Coach for development groups at Cyclones.
Soccer has brought Dylan to meet many new people and is a game that requires skill, strategy, and working together as a team. Dylan has played for Cyclones since he was 8 years old. Soccer is more than just a game for Coach Dylan, it's something that he really loves. The sound of the ball hitting the net, the excitement of a tough match, and the feeling of being part of a team are all part of what makes soccer so special. Being coached by club coaches and playing high school for four years Dylan has gained a lot of experience, which he loves to share with young players, now as a coach. It's rewarding to see kids grow in their skills and confidence and learn important life lessons such as how to be a good sport and work well with others.
Brian Medinskiy (Coach Brian), Assistant Coach
Coach Brian is an Assistant Coach for Travel Teams and Head Coach for development groups at Cyclones.
Brian is a coach who is motivated to teach kids the sport of soccer. A coach who started playing the sport of soccer at the age of 4, Brian continued his career by beginning to coach in 2020. Brian is passionate about helping kids develop their skills. Brian loves to watch, discuss and analyze the sport so he is able to improve as a coach.
