Ardavan Jamalifard joined the Raptor senior coaching staff as Director of Athlete Development in 2024. Ardavan brings two decades of professional, national team, and international water polo experience as both a player and coach to the club.
A native of Iran, Ardavan was a selected to their Junior National Team at age 15, playing on that squad for four years (2000-2004), winning silver medals at the Junior Asian Championship in China (2002) and medal in Macao (2003) before advancing to Iran’s Under 23 National Team (2004-2007). He played on the Senior National Team from 2006-2011, during which time he won silver (2006) and bronze (2010) medals in the Senior Asian Water Polo Championship, silver (2010) and bronze (2009) medals in the Asian Club Water Polo Championship, and silver medals in both the Croatia International Water Polo Tournament, and the Iran Water Polo Championship (2007). He played in Iran’s professional Senior Water Polo League for thirteen years.
Ardavan became the Head Coach of Iran’s Fars Province Water Polo Team from 2007-2012, leading his players to the Iranian Water Polo Championships each year and earning the U14 Bronze Medal (2007), U16 Bronze Medal (2007), and U18 Gold Medal (2011). In 2012, four of Ardavan’s players were selected to Iran’s Junior National team, with one being crowned Best Player of Asian Championships. He also served as the Chair of the Fars Province Water Polo Committee from 2014-2016.
Ardavan’s family then fled Iran and landed in Ecuador, where he became Head Coach of Swimming and Trainer of Open Water and Ironman for Quito Tenis Y Golf Club. He directed training and skills development for 600+ swimmers aged 1-12 years old in Ecuador’s Acuakid and Aquatix programs, where he also led a team of 20 coaches.
In 2023, Ardvan and his wife Zhara relocated to Okemos with their now 10-year old daughter, Parva. He received his M.Sc. in Physical Education from Shiraz University (Iran) in 2008 and is fluent in Persian, Spanish, and English.
Coach Tom hails from sunny Southern California. Surfing and swimming led him to water polo as a freshman at Los Alamitos High School. As a senior he led his team in goals winning the competitive Orange County Empire League and reaching the CIF Southern Section 3A state finals where they fell 7-9 to league rival and defending state champions El Dorado High School.
High School Player Honors:
- All American Honorable Mention 1987
- All California CIF Southern Section 3A 2nd team 1987
- All Empire League 1st team 1987
After high school Tom joined the USC Trojan Water Polo Club where he played on the 1988 Junior Olympic championship team. He later attended USC as a walk-on, earning a spot on the 16-member varsity squad as a sophomore. The following year, as a redshirt junior, he decided it was time to hang up the suit and cap.
30+ years later Tom added “Coach” to his name as a member of the St. Xavier High School (Cincinnati) varsity boy’s water polo team as assistant coach for the Fall 2021 season.
For the fall of 2022, as head coach, Tom led the Sycamore High School (Cincinnati) varsity girls water polo team to a 3rd place finish in the Ohio State Championships. The Lady Aves finished the season 21-7, earning Coach Tom the honor of Ohio Girls’ Coach of The Year.
Currently, Tom is head coach for the Michigan State University men’s club team and assists with the East Lansing High School girls’ teams.
MSU Coaching Honors:
- Big10 Champions
- Big10 Coach of The Year
- 4th Place Club National Championships 2023
- Big10 Runner-ups 2024
A former Los Angeles-based advertising executive and small business operations consultant, Coach Tom now resides in Dewitt, Michigan with healthcare marketing superstar wife Kara and twin daughters Rae and Gus.
Brian Fickies has been involved with the sport of water polo since 1986. As a player he was a high school All-American, a member of the US National Youth Developmental Team and played collegiate water polo. As a coach he has had the privilege in developing several high school and collegiate All-conference and national All-Americans. Coach Fickies believes the key to developing robust water polo players is establishing a strong foundation in basic skills, balanced with dynamic drills that mirror game like situations.
Water Polo Coaching Experience: Head Coach Michigan State University Men's Team (1997-2007), Head Coach Okemos Girls Team (1996-2007), Head Coach Okemos Boys Team (1996-1997), Head Coach of Former Okemos/Capital Area Water Polo Club (1996-2007), Head Coach US Water polo Midwest Zone Men's 18 and Over team (2005), Volunteer Assistant Coach US National Youth Developmental Team (1998).
Water Polo Coaching Honors: Big Ten Champions (2000, 2004, 2005, 2006), Collegiate Water Polo Club National Champions (2000, 2006), Big Ten Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006), National Coach of the year (2000, 2006), Michigan High Water Polo Association Coach of the year (1996)
Madelyn has been involved with Raptor Water Polo since 2016 when she graduated from East Lansing High School and started coaching our middle school team. She has moved on down the road to Michigan State University and is finishing up her final year pursuing a degree in Mathematics that she plans on using to teach high school mathematics.
Madelyn has been the head coach to the girls Hotel Water Polo team for the past two seasons and recently joined the Holt HS Swimming coaching staff this fall. She been coaching our boys and girls Raptor high school teams for the past 2 years and is very excited to continue with both teams this year and keep the fun going!
Katie swam competitively for 9 years with both Shillington Streaks Rec. Team and Governor Mifflin Aquatics Program. She played water polo in high school for the Governor Mifflin Mustangs, playing Varsity her Junior and Senior year. During her Junior and Senior seasons, the team placed 7th in the Pennsylvania State Tournament. Katie went on to compete in inner-tube water polo at the collegiate level, her team dominating the league her freshman year. Throughout her college years, she returned home in the summer and volunteered with the Mustangs helping to prepare their new players for the coming school year.
After graduating from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and History Secondary Education in 2016, she returned home and worked as a volunteer coach with both the girls and boys Governor Mifflin Water Polo Teams for one year. Upon getting hired at East Lansing High School to manage their library, she was gifted the opportunity to coach for the Holt/EL Girls Water Polo Team in 2019 and the Boys Team in 2021 (now the East Lansing Water Polo Club) and has been coaching the high school Mid Michigan Raptor Clubs ever since.