In 1992, Steve started his formal coaching career as the Head Women’s Coach at Whitworth University. Over the following thirty-one years, he enjoyed head coaching stints at the high school level, where his team was ranked #1 in Washington State 4A classification. Thereafter, he joined the University of Washington staff as the 1st Volleyball Assistant as their Recruiting Coordinator. Following, he coached the US National Team in Colorado Springs, CO as an Assistant Coach of the USA Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team. Steve was extremely fortunate to coach under two Gold medal winning coaches and mentors in Bill Neville, while at the University of Washington, and Doug Beal, as an assistant with the USA Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team. The sport has been a lifelong passion since age 10. Introduced to the sport by his father in a dimly lit Spokane YMCA gym in a meeting with Bill Neville, who later coached the USA Men’s Team to a Gold Medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Neville showed the eager but unpromising fifth grader how to set. Volleyball has taken Gillis to five continents, three Olympics, and to Brazil where he met his lifelong best friend and wife (see Julia). They enjoy three small children.

Julia was born in Brazil where she began playing volleyball year-round at age nine. She trained with the top professional women’s team in Brazil, Minas Tenis Clube in Belo Horizonte, where she won a total of seven metropolitan volleyball championships and three state championships. Julia attended North Carolina State University on a volleyball scholarship as an Outside Hitter, where she was named to the All ACC-Freshmen team. She transferred to finish her collegiate volleyball experience at Eastern Washington University as a Setter. Julia and her teammates were Big Sky champions. Julia achieved athletic and All-Academic honors three years in a row. She graduated a B.S. in Business Management. A lifelong athlete and fitness fan (she attended a sports club on a weekly basis since age six), she incorporated years of physical training as a player and developed her physiological knowledge, to become a fitness Master Personal Trainer. Julia is a wife, a mother of three small children and a passionate fan of Atletico (futebol) and the Seattle Seahawks. Julia’s father played professional basketball and her uncle, Tostão, played on the Brazilian World Cup winning team in 1970 with Pelé.

Most recently, Julia earned a gold medal as a National Champion on her  masters womens' team  held  in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Julia expects to return in 2023 to defend their first place finish. 

“Our daughter really liked the awesome UNLV clinics, the beach training, and the Seattle tournament. It was a lifetime memory!”

- SVA Parent