AMHERST TIGERSHARKS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- ASSISTANT COACH - WHITE SQUAD
Job Titles:
- Coach
- ASSISTANT HEAD COACH
Coach Bill has enjoyed many years of coaching experience.
As a youth in Buffalo, he swam locally under the leadership of his father, John Niblock. Coach Bill has been through extensive swim training and coaching courses, including Total Immersion and USA Swimming.
Bill is an active US Masters swimmer and also coaches a masters team.
Job Titles:
- Safe Sport Club Representative
- Safe Sport Representative
Elizabeth has been a secondary special education teacher for over 20 years and a swim mom for many years. In addition to swimming, she enjoys supporting her 3 active children in all their endeavors, including gymnastics, baseball, softball, and several musical instruments and ensembles.
Jackie has been a swim mom (previously synchro, now speed swimming) for 6 years. She has a CPA background in Corporate Taxation, and currently works in the tax software side of Thomson Reuters. In addition to swimming, she enjoys watching her kids play hockey and run track.
Jessica works in development and marketing and is excited to be more involved with the Tiger Sharks. Growing up as a swimmer, Jessica loves being a part of the supportive community at the Tiger Sharks. She also enjoys watching her children participate in softball and band.
Job Titles:
- ASSISTANT COACH CO - LEAD TEAL SQUAD
Coach Liz is excited to work with and mentor our young swimmers. A competitive swimmer for nine years, Liz swam for West Seneca East for five years, while also competing as a member of USA Swimming. She went on to swim at Alfred University. Her high school and college records still stand.
Coach Mariah is happy watching her swimmers have fun and succeed, whether they make a goal time, or master a technique they've been working hard at.
Mariah enjoyed a long career as a competitive swimmer. She began swimming as a youth at the Oswego YMCA and finished at Niagara University.
Mariah spent four years coaching at the YMCA, including one year as head coach.
Coach Matthew was a member of the Amherst Varsity swim team for four years, from 1998 to 2002. He returned in 2005 as an assistant coach and took over as head coach of the boys' team the following year. For four years, Matthew worked alongside Coach Mike to build Amherst into one of the more competitive programs in the ECIC division.
In 2011, Matthew left to become the coach of a co-ed program in the Oakfield-Alabama school district, where he was a chemistry teacher for five years. He inherited a program that finished last in the league the previous year. He quickly turned around the program and won a division championship in 2013, for which he was voted Coach of the Year in the Genesee region.
Throughout his career, Matthew has coached multiple league and sectional champions, as well as helping student athletes set more than 10 school records. As he started both his swimming and coaching careers at the Amherst pool, returning to coach the TigerSharks is a homecoming for Matthew. He hopes to use his knowledge of the sport and strong coaching background to help the TigerSharks swimmers excel to their highest potential.
Coach Mike has been involved with competitive swimming in some capacity for the majority of his life. His swimming career began at age 9 with the YMCA. He swam for the varsity team at Amherst High School from 8th grade until graduation. He went on to swim for SUNY Buffalo State, where he majored in Criminal Justice and minored in Coaching.
Mike began his coaching career in 2006 when he returned to his childhood YMCA team and coached for seven seasons. Mike sent several swimmers to YMCA championships in each of his seasons as an assistant. Many of those swimmers won state titles and set team records. In 2007, he began coaching the Amherst Boys Varsity team as an intern and took over as head coach in 2009. In 2014, he took on the role of head coach of the Girls Varsity team at Amherst
Mike currently coaches both teams and has enjoyed great success with each. Mike has coached several individual ECIC champions, Sectional champions, and New York State qualifiers. In 2021, Mike led the Girls varsity team to the 1st team Sectional title in school history. Subsequently, he was named Coach of the Year by both the Amherst Central School District and the Amherst Bee.
When it comes to coaching philosophy, Mike is a strong believer in hard work. A desire to improve paired with a great work ethic will allow every swimmer the opportunity to succeed.
Stephanie brings over 20+ years of leadership experience in both the financial securities industry and the federal government. She currently works with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency leading programs, managing risk and developing relationships. In her free time Stephanie is actively involved with her children's schools, music and many sports.
Steve has been a swim dad for five years, and is a former swimmer and coach. He is an analyst for a local bank. In addition to swimming, he enjoys coaching and supporting his kids in baseball, softball, Irish dance and track.
Coach Tess is glad to pass on her love of the sport in which she competed for a dozen years. She enjoys seeing the excitement of her young swimmers when they come to practice every day, ready to swim!
Tess began her career at age 10 in USA Swimming. In her best season there, she made it to Sectionals, where her team finished in 3rd place overall. Tess also swam at Amherst High School, for four years. As team captain her senior year, she won ECIC Swimmer of the Meet and helped break the 200 freestyle relay record. She went on to swim at the University of Rochester, where she was named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Swimmer, and team captain during her senior year. She also set the school record for the 500 freestyle.