American Community School

Scott Deisley is the Managing Director of SST, joining in February 2016. Scott has been working in the hospitality and amusement industries for over 30 years, starting as a licensed Lifeguard in 1987 at Raging Waters, Mariner’s Landing in Wildwood, New Jersey, USA.

Scott’s involvement with Ellis & Associates has progressed over the years. Receiving his Instructor License from Jeff Ellis himself during 1990 in Huntsville, Texas. He later attended National and subsequently International Aquatic Safety Schools, with his first being the fifth annual safety school in Orlando, Florida.

As time passed, Scott served as a member of faculty for the safety school and later as a Director. He was made an Associate and Senior Associate and is now a recipient of the Legacy of Service Award, issued to only those with 20 plus years of service to Ellis & Associates.

Scott has served as an Auditor, textbook review committee member and developer of the Basic Leadership Program, the precursor to the new Vanguard Program.

Most recently Scott served as Vice President of Waterpark Operations for Atlantis the Palm, Dubai, for 8 years, and has held management roles with industry giants such as Jumeirah/Wild Wadi, Palace Entertainment, the Morey Organization and Schlitterbahn. Along with his operational experience, Scott was fortunate enough to have served as a member of installation team with NBGS International and as an operational and start-up consultant in several projects under their flag over the years.

Scott was honored in 2016 with the World Waterpark Association’s Al Turner Memorial Commitment to Excellence Award. An award made all that much more special to him having been a friend and industry colleague of Al’s for many years.

The commercial lessons learnt by Scott throughout his career and his knowledge of E&A and their programs, positions him greatly to help make a difference for our clients and their guests. His strong commitment to safety and risk management started years ago and is just as passionate today as he was all those years ago.

With nearly 15 years of aquatic experience, Fred Chen is an aquatic industry veteran whose career has spanned across numerous types of aquatic environments.

Fred began his career at Folsom Parks and Recreation in Folsom, California. During his time in Folsom, Fred was involved in both operations and training, receiving his instructor license from Ellis & Associates in 2012.

In 2014, Fred accepted a position with E&A as a National Staff Auditor, where he conducted operational audits at a variety of aquatic facilities across the United States. Since 2015, Fred has worked in management roles with Great Wolf Lodge and Camelback Lodge – Aquatopia, where he played a critical role in building award winning teams.

Fred comes from a Taiwanese background, speaking Mandarin Chinese and English. Fred joins the Operations department of SST, where he will support both Middle East and Asian Operations.

Richard Carroll, infamously known as RAC to those in the industry. Richard – Director at SST, is also the SVP/COO for Ellis and Associates, providing aquatic safety and risk management services for over 600 worldwide clients in the aquatic industry including Lifeguard training, Aquatic Safety Operational Auditing, Aquatic Facility Safety Inspections, Accident Investigation.

Richard has over 31 years experience training Ellis & Associates programs around the world and operating facilities with trained staff. Richard is also an Instructor Trainer and developed the Leadership Training, Operational Audit and Lifeguard Vigilance Awareness Training Programmes at Ellis & Associates. Richard has had the privilege of speaking at IAAPA Safety Institutes around the world educating the aquatic industry. Richard is currently serves on the IAAPA Board of Directors, multiple IAAPA and World Waterpark Association committee and an active Member of ASTM F-24.

As a Director and Shareholder in SST, Richard is responsible for the development of the training programmes and client services, ensuring the integrity of the training delivered by SST in the Middle East.

Ryan is an 11 year veteran of the industry. Beginning his career with Coco Key Water Resort in Newark, Ohio as the Aquatics Senior Supervisor. After a few years in that role, Ryan moved on to Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark, Columbus, where he became the Aquatics Manager. After setting a solid operational foundation, Ryan moved on to work for Jeff Ellis & Associates as a National Staff Auditor. While working for E&A, Ryan completed his Instructor Trainer track resulting in his promotion to Associate. Most recently serving as the Assistant Director of Aquatics and Safety Coordinator for Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells.

A member of the 2015 ILTP Textbook Review Committee, Ryan also served as Chairman of the Great Wolf Properties Safety Committee where he led their program designed to track and report incidents on property with a vision to reducing or eliminating risks. Ryan also holds a current CPO certification.

Ryan has been with SST since May 2016. During his time he has spearheaded our Handling Medical Emergencies program, helped the SST Team achieve ISO 17024:2012 certification, been part of several pre-opening projects and served as the Client Manager for several of our international clients.

Charne has been with SST as a trainer since April 2016 and has a clear passion for teaching and safety, in and out of the water.

Charne relocated to Dubai in 2010 and started her career in the aquatic industry at Wild Wadi Waterpark as a lifeguard. She worked her way up the ranks to Assistant Manager of Operations and received her Lifeguard Instructor License in 2013.

Not long after her promotion, she took over the lifeguard training program handling all training for all new lifeguards, as well as creating and developing training plans and conducting internal audits.

During her time in Wild Wadi she was involved in events such as the  World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, Junior Lifeguard Programs and various lifeguard and swim competitions.

Charne is a valuable asset to the SST team bringing an infectious, fun instructing technique, which clients love –  consistently requesting her to return as their instructor.