Meet our Kettlecoaches: Deresse Haile

Before he came to Seattle from Ethiopia in May 2017, Deresse Haile was a coach and athletic director at St Joseph School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As the athletic director, one of his main jobs was to design programs to keep the school athletes in shape. He also used his passion for exercise to advocate for more funding to be used towards athletics in his school district.  

  

“Sports have been a lifetime passion for me,” Deresse said. “It’s my lifestyle.” 

Photo Credit: Tumwater Creative

Along with his work stated above, Deresse was also president of the St Joseph Alumni Club and president of the International Schools Sport Association, which included 7 other schools. From writing the handbook, to organizing referees, and handling disputes, Deresse played a huge part in organizing the league and making it one the most successful school sport’s leagues in Ethiopia. With all his accomplishments back home, we’re sure Deresse’s colleagues were sad to see him go, but we’re so lucky to have him as one of the newest team members at SKC! 

“Some things are different, but having people who are into sports around me, I feel like I have found my community with Seattle Kettlebell Club,” Deresse said. 

Deresse enjoys the fact that the classes at SKC include strength plus endurance and since he’s not the biggest fan of running, he’s able to get his cardio during class too. 

Since he did so much previous work with kids at his old job, he hopes that he will be able to help motivate kids to pick up the sport early which is a great fit since SKC just kicked off a youth lifting league. 

“I’d like to motivate a lot of people to adapt a healthy lifestyle. I would like to be a role model, and progress in the sport,” Deresse said. 

On September 21, Deresse competed in the IKFF NW Championship where he placed second in his weight class for a five-minute biathlon and received a “Rank II” with 16-kilogram kettlebells. 

“The experience was educational. I ended up with a medal which I didn’t expect. It motivated me,” Deresse said. 

Deresse looks forward to competing again and hopes to eventually be able to achieve “Rank 1” in a 10-minute biathlon.

When Deresse isn’t at SKC, he enjoys hiking and photography blogging. Check out his blog Words for My Pictures to see his work. 

We’re happy to have you on the team, Deresse! Catch him teaching classes Mon, Weds, and Thurs evenings. 

-Camille Borodey