"Aldis is an incredible coach that has completely changed my experience with fencing as a sport. His positive attitude and relentless kindness and support allow me and my teammates to imagine achieving our goals and pushes us to work towards them. He's done so much work to bolster our team culture, as well -- he sets up workshops about mental health, eating and nutrition, and whatever topic we think is important to discuss. He spends time meeting with the captains every week to go over any issues that have come up in the team and helps us work through them. He makes it very clear through his actions and words that he cares deeply about everyone on the team, everything from their fencing to their academics to their social life and adjustment to college. Something that exemplifies all of these qualities to me is that after every meet we have, Aldis will announce to the whole bus on the way home that there's an empty seat next to him and anyone can come to talk about how they felt about the day or how they're doing in general. I've overcome many mental blocks in my fencing by talking to him on the bus on the way home. Overall, I could not imagine a better assistant coach for our team."