Club Leadership

Club Policies
Club Philosophy

Sue Soolsma

Club Director / Athlete and Coach Development / 15U – 17U Coach Mentor

Sue is an experienced and dedicated volleyball coach with a strong track record across club, provincial, and post-secondary levels. She spent eight years running a volleyball club in Maple Ridge and has served as head coach for the Ducks Volleyball Club. In addition, she has coached with both 604 Volleyball Club and BCO, contributing to athlete development across the Lower Mainland.

Beyond club volleyball, Sue has played a key role in Team BC programs. She has led the Ignite program, coached multiple medal-winning teams at the BC Summer Games (indoor and beach), and served as an assistant coach for Team BC’s U16 team.

Over the past three years, Sue has coached at Capilano University and was appointed head coach of the women’s volleyball team in January. She has also been running and coaching the REP North Vancouver program for the past four years. With two of her three children having played post-secondary volleyball in both the U.S. and Canada, Sue brings a deep understanding of the student-athlete experience. She continues to grow in her coaching journey and is currently working towards completing her Level 3 coaching certification.

We are SO excited to welcome Sue this year as our Powerwest Club Director!! Sue will be in charge of athlete development, coach mentorship and more!

Mike Walkinshaw

Club President / Financial and Admin / 12/13U Head Coach

Mike is a Trained Advanced Development Coach, and has a long history of playing competitive sports, including volleyball, ultimate, football, and soccer.   

Mike combines passion for coaching volleyball with strong analytical skills to help Powerwest teams achieve their best performances. 

Mike re-started Powerwest in 2019 to fill the huge gap in demand for volleyball on the North Shore building the club from 1 team to 9 teams in the up-coming season.

Kaitlin Lomas

Administrative Director / 16U White Head Coach & 18U Assistant Coach

Kaitlin is returning for her third year coaching with Powerwest. Originally from Ponoka, Alberta, Kaitlin competed for the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack where she obtained her Undergraduate Degree in Psychology. Kaitlin has a considerable amount of development coaching knowledge and continues to mentor athletes all over the lower mainland with both Powerwest and the West Vancouver Academy.

Kaitlin now resides in Vancouver, training fulltime with The Beach Co. to continue represent Canada on the World Tour! Kaitlin bringing considerable wisdom and value to our athletes both on and off the court.

Benjamin Ta

Development Lead / 12U – 14U Coach Mentor

Ben Ta is a former varsity volleyball athlete at Capilano University and the University of British Columbia. Ben has been previously involved in coaching beach and indoor volleyball for youth, adults, and high performance athletes for many years. His experiences include assisting the senior women’s national team in 2017 alongside SFU head coach Gina Schmidt, assistant coaching for Team B.C. in 2018, working at the VCCE Academy in North Vancouver, and coaching various clubs and camps for Volleyball BC and other organizations prior to completing his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from UBC in 2022. Ben has been an assistant coach with the SFU women’s varsity team for 8 years and has also spent time coaching with Capilano University’s Men’s and Women’s volleyball programs. 

Dr. Ben is currently a practicing dentist and is an owner at an office in Port Coquitlam called Elemental Dental. Dr. Ben has a passion for the development of youth volleyball in BC and comes to Powerwest for the first year as our Lead Development Coordinator, helping coach and mentor our 12/13/14U athletes and coaches! Welcome To Powerwest Ben!!