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Aug. 20, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Jim Cavallini and Alissa Goldman have joined the staff of the Virginia athletics department as assistant strength and conditioning coaches. Their appointments were announced Monday (Aug. 20) by Ed Nordenschild, Virginia’s director of strength and conditioning.
In their new positions, Cavallini and Goldman will each oversee the strength and conditioning needs of several athletics teams. Among their responsibilities are assessing student-athletes’ physical attributes to improve athletic performance, assisting in the maintenance of weight rooms and equipment, and managing and/or coordinating services with various departmental and University offices.
“We are fortunate to have join our staff two coaches with the knowledge and expertise Alissa and Jim possess,” Nordenschild said. “They both have significant experience with a number of sports and will be instrumental in the strength and conditioning of all athletes at Virginia. They will be assigned primary sports to work with, but will also assist with other teams and in the maintenance of the training facilities.”
Cavallini comes to Virginia after serving the last two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Olympic sports at Iowa. He worked primarily with the women’s soccer, men’s track and field (sprints and jumps), men’s golf, women’s volleyball, field hockey and rowing teams. He also assisted with the baseball, wrestling and men’s and women’s basketball teams.
While at Iowa, Cavallini created developmental and transitional training programs to be implemented in the training of all incoming student-athletes and post-injury athletes. He also created a movement assessment to identify weaknesses and restrictions in an athlete’s musculoskeletal system, and was responsible for the supervision of interns.
Prior to working at Iowa, Cavallini was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Ball State for two years. For one year he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Drexel while also serving as the head strength and conditioning coach at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pa. He also worked two years as an assistant ice hockey coach and a strength and conditioning coach at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa.
Cavallini earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in sport biomechanics from Ball State. He will work primarily with the wrestling, men’s lacrosse, volleyball and field hockey teams at Virginia.
“I am honored to be a member of the coaching staff at the University of Virginia,” Cavallini said. “Virginia has a tradition of academic and athletic excellence, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of that tradition. Working in one of the premier athletics departments in the country is going to be a great challenge. I will do my best to uphold the tradition and hopefully help to win some championships.”
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Alissa Goldman |
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Goldman joins the staff at Virginia after spending four years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at South Carolina. She worked primarily with the women’s basketball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, and equestrian teams. She was responsible for designing and implementing year round periodized training programs, and providing nutritional guidelines and consulting for student-athletes.
Prior to working at South Carolina, Goldman was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee for three years. She worked primarily with the women’s swimming and diving, tennis, softball, rowing and soccer teams, and assisted the men’s strength and conditioning staff with the spring and summer football training phases. She established the first organized summer conditioning sessions for women student-athletes at Tennessee from 2001-2003.
Goldman was also an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Ball State for two years and was a physical therapy aide in Irvine, Calif., for one year. She also worked as a personal trainer in Irvine.
Goldman earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in exercise science from Fresno State and a master’s degree in exercise science with an emphasis in sports biomechanics from Ball State. She will work primarily with the rowing, women’s lacrosse, women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Virginia.
“I’m very excited about the direction of the University of Virginia athletics department and I’m honored to now be a part of that experience,” Goldman said. “I look forward to the opportunity to further my professional career while assisting the Virginia coaches and student-athletes in reaching their goals. I’ve worked in the Southeastern Conference for seven years and joining the staff of a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference with its long-standing history of excellence is a challenging opportunity. It’s an opportunity I’m looking forward to very much.”
Cavallini and Goldman move into positions left open by the departure of Shad Pospahala and Lorenzo Rivers.