Meet
the Team
Sportlinx360 is a close-knit team that brings different experiences to help you achieve your goals.
Sportlinx360 was born from the personal experience of Jesica Umansky, who was also a student-athlete in women’s volleyball at George Mason University from 2001 to 2006. Jesica led the Patriots to two CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) championships and graduated with honors in Systems Engineering. In the 2005-2006 season, she was an assistant coach in the GMU and thus learned in detail the rules for the recruitment of student-athletes. Before the United States, Jesica played in Argentina and Brazil and after university, professionally in Spain, Switzerland and Italy. In 2011, Jesica was one of the assistant coaches of the Peruvian Women’s National Volleyball Team, in which she participated in various international competitions such as the South American Cup and the World Grand Prix. In 2013, she obtained a Master’s degree in Sports Economics and Management at Il Sole 24 ore Business School in Rome, his current city of residence.
Elitza Krasteva joined Sportlinx360 in 2013 after practicing volleyball for more than 20 years, 10 of which as a professional athlete in Italy. She has always combined sports with study. During her volleyball career, she graduated in Languages and International Communication in 2005 at the University of Roma Tre. Elitza later obtained a master’s degree in Modern Languages for International Communication at the same university in 2012. She also works as a translator in English, Italian, Bulgarian and Spanish. She was born in Sofia (Bulgaria), but grew up in Rome, where she still lives.
Danna Gomes is a 4-time NAIA Volleyball All-American and graduated from Park University in Parkville (USA) with a degree in chemistry. During her 4 years in college, Danna earned several accolades such as: 4 times All Conference, 3 times All Region, record for most assists in school history (5,545 assists), 3 times All-Academic, 2015 Freshman of the year, 2017 Setter of the year, 5 times Conference Setter of the Week, 2018 NAIA All-Tournament Team and, last but not least: 2018 Women’s Volleyball NAIA National Champion. Danna played volleyball in Brazil from 2006 to 2014 until she was approached by Park University to continue her volleyball and academic career in the United States. After graduating in 2019, Danna was offered another opportunity to continue her studies while playing volleyball in Italy. She obtaining a Master’s degree in Sports Management from the Olympic Management Institute. Danna joined the Sportlinx360 family as an intern in 2020. At the beginning of 2021, she officially joined the team as a Consultant. Danna currently lives in Rome but grew up in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and is fluent in Portuguese, English and Italian.
Rodrigo Ribeiro was born in Brazil and has been playing volleyball since he was a child. Rodrigo graduated in Law from the Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazilian university) in 2018. Rodrigo is also a former collegiate volleyball player for (Park University), reaching the final 4 at the NAIA National Tournament (2015). Rodrigo moved to Rome Italy in 2020. He earned his Master’s degree in Sports Management from the Olympic Management Institute. Rodrigo then began his career as a volleyball coach and is now becoming a licensed volleyball coach in Italy. In 2020, he did an internship at Sportlinx360 and became a full member in 2021. Specializing in men’s volleyball and football.
Margherita Bianchin is an FIVB beach volleyball player and member of the Italian national beach volleyball team. After graduating from Classical High School, she took a year off to figure out what her future would look like. Thanks to Sportlinx360, she left Italy in 2015 and played indoor for 2 years at St. John’s University, NY. Her talent and passion for the game of beach volleyball led her to transfer to Florida International University, in Miami, where she became a 2-time All-American. Margherita graduated from FIU with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations, and obtained a secondary degree in General Marketing, along with two master’s degrees in (Sports Management and International Affairs). She joined the Sportlinx360 family in 2020 as an intern. Shortly thereafter, Margherita became a beach volleyball coordinator. She is fluent in Italian and English. Her goal is to pass on the love of the game and the same great experience she had in college as a student-athlete thanks to Sportlinx360.
Gary Preston has over 10 years of experience as a college volleyball coach in the United States at the NCAA Division I/II/III level. Most notably, in 2017, Gary helped bring Hunter College’s men’s volleyball program to the Elite 8 of the NCAA DII National Championships. In women’s volleyball, in 2018, Gary served as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and the team won the Heartland Conference. In 2019, Gary was an assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman University (NCAA DI) and in 2020-2021, he was a head coach at Mercy College (NCAA DII). In addition to collegiate volleyball, Gary coached full-time for Brooklyn Elite Volleyball Club in 2020-2021 and in London in 2018 as an assistant with London Orcas, making it to the finals of the Women’s Super 8. Gary also had an intense collegiate-level setter career at New Jersey City University, during which he was named Second Team All-Skyline Conference in 2014. Gary obtained a master’s degree in Sports Management at Rome City Institute.
Social Media and Communication Manager, Valentino has been part of the Sportlinx360 team since 2017. Through PSM Sport – an agency specialized in communication applied to sport of which he is Admin – Valentino coordinates and manages all activities related to social, branding and ADV. With a degree in Sports Management, he was able to combine his two passions in a single job.
Tatijana Fucka is a volleyball player who, thanks to Sportlinx360, had the opportunity to play and study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), where she played in Division I and completed a degree in Communication in two years – after starting online university in Italy. Tatijana then decided to transfer to Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she earned her Master’s degree in Business and Marketing. During her last stint she was named NEC Conference Player of the Year, and was also named NEC All-Conference First Team for two consecutive years. For the first time, his team managed to win the Conference and thanks to his contribution they managed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Once back in Italy in May 2024, she started collaborating with Sportlinx360 officially becoming a member of the staff. Tatijanasta continues to play volleyball in Serie A2 and is fluent in three languages: Italian, English and Spanish.
