Rep Head Coach Appointments & Tryout Process

 

U11- We are extremely fortunate to have a number of qualified parent-coaches within the U11 age group. In order to maintain the integrity of the evaluation process and to mitigate any potential issues, we will not be naming our U11 Rep coaches at any point prior to at least the first phase of the rep tryout process. All applicants have been notified of this decision. We will update membership as soon as we have finalized our coaches. 

 

U13 A1- Chilliwack Minor Hockey is very proud to announce the hiring of Steven Ahuja. Steven has spent the past 4 years coaching at the AAA, and AA levels with Abbotsford Minor Hockey, as well as the North East Chiefs Major Bantam program. He has a master of Kinesiology with a specialty in coaching sport science. He was named Abbotsford Minor Hockey’s Coach of the Year in 2018/19 and is the Founder and Lead Instructor of Advancement of Athleticism which runs programs that improve hockey related athleticism on and off the ice. Steven will also be assisted by Andrew Shaw who will be a part of the group in an Associate Coach capacity. Andrew is currently the Video Coach for the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, and has been a member of Chilliwack Minor Hockey both as a player and as a coach. He has spent the past two seasons with the Midget A1 and Bantam A1 programs respectively. His tactical approach and understanding of the game today will be a welcome and extremely valuable asset to the U13 A1 program. 

 

U13 A2- The Player and Coach Development Committee is thrilled to announce the hiring of Matt Elder. Matt had an excellent interview with our committee, and did a wonderful job conveying the importance of respect, and inclusivity within his teams. He has a wealth of knowledge, and experience at a number of levels which will serve him well in his new position. Matt displays a lot of passion for the game and has coached for the past 7 seasons. He has worked in initiation all the way up to Female U18 AAA. He has been fortunate to win back to back Provincial Championships as a coach and is looking forward to using that experience to give back to young players within Chilliwack. Matt is a young coach who is eager to learn, and looks forward to the opportunity to be a part of the new direction of CMHA. 

 

U15 A1- We are extremely fortunate to announce the hiring of Chilliwack resident Bobby Henderson to coach our U15 A1 program this upcoming season. A former captain of the Chilliwack Chiefs, Bobby went to the University of Nebraska Omaha to finish his degree while playing NCAA Division 1 hockey prior to beginning his coaching career. A high performance certified coach, Bobby will also be joining Chilliwack Minor Hockey as a Lead instructor on the Association’s development team. Bobby has an extremely strong knowledge of the game, and spent the better part of the last decade as the Head Coach and General Manager of the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen. Bobby won the BCHL Coach of the Year award in 2014, (finalist for the Canadian Junior Hockey League) and throughout his tenure in the BCHL racked up an impressive 226-182-41-13 record. Bobby is an excellent skill developer, and will be a fantastic addition both for the U15 A1 program, as well as the entire Association as a member of the development staff. 

 

U18 A1- Chilliwack Minor Hockey is extremely happy to have Scott Lindhout returning to coach our U18 A1 program this upcoming season. Scott has been a part of Chilliwack Minor for over a decade, and spent two seasons as the Player Development Director. Scott has an extensive knowledge of the game, and will continue to be a great asset for the U18 age group. His understanding of today’s athlete as well as the game itself will allow him to continue to make a positive impact on our U18 A1 players. Scott is a coach that is constantly driven to improve, and instills that same work ethic in his players. 

 

U18 A2- We are very fortunate to have hired last season’s U15 A1 Head Coach Clarke Wismer as our U18 A2 coach for this upcoming season. Clarke has run skill development camps in Abbotsford and Chilliwack for the past 10 years. He is a High Performance certified coach who has worked with many elite coaches in his career, including Scott Jones of the Vegas Golden Knights. Clarke has coached in Chilliwack Minor for 14 years at all levels, and is currently a program instructor at the Robert Bateman Secondary Skills Academy. Clarke is an elite coach who is eager to continue to learn and grow, we are very fortunate to have him back for his 15th season in Chilliwack!

 

As mentioned above, we will name the remainder of our coaches across all divisions at a later date which corresponds with the rep tryout process. 

 

 

We are very excited to begin the Rep-Tryouts and officially kick off the upcoming season come September. Tryouts will officially commence on September 7th (please note that due to Hockey Canada regulations U11 players will begin their tryout process slightly later). While we will be informing membership in more detail closer to the date, we felt it important to inform everyone of our initial plans pertaining to rep tryouts, and how the evaluation process will take place. 

 

Our committee will assemble a group of independent evaluators who will be contracted to evaluate all of our players in an unbiased environment. The evaluation staff will be utilizing Team Genius, and all results will be compiled accordingly. Throughout the tryout process, members of the evaluation staff will be ensuring that all player selection is done in a proper, efficient, and unbiased manner. We do understand the importance of having coaches involved in the tryout process, however the coaches that have been hired will not have any bearing on the data that is inputted and collected via Team Genius. We will allow coaches that have been selected to view the tryout process, and form their own opinions. At the conclusion of each phase of the tryout process, the Coach will meet with members of the evaluation committee, where they will present their personal rankings to be compared and contrasted with that of the evaluation staff. While coaches will be able to have their opinions heard, the integrity of the tryout process will be ensured by the final selections being made in conjunction with the evaluation staff. We will rely solely on the performance of each individual player in the tryout process, we believe that with the expertise of the evaluation staff put in place that the data will show us which players merit being on which team.