HOCKEY NOVA SCOTIA ANNOUNCES 2015 CANADA WINTER GAMES COACHING STAFFS

Dartmouth, 4 March, 2013 – Hockey Nova Scotia (HNS) is pleased to announce their coaching staffs for the 2015 Male and Female Canada Winter Games Hockey Teams who will compete at the 2015 Canada Games in Prince George, British Columbia.

The male coaching staff will be led by Head Coach Jim Midgley of the Halifax Mooseheads. Midgley has several years’ experience with the Hockey Nova Scotia High Performance Program and is a past head coach of Team Atlantic at the World Under 17 Championships. Joining Jim on the male staff will be assistant coaches of Kevin Mitchell of Halifax and Aaron Rice of Sydney. Mitchell is currently the Head Coach of the Halifax Major Bantam Hawks, leading them to an Atlantic Championship last season, while Rice  is the head coach of the Cape Breton Tradesman of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League and also served as an assistant coach for Team Nova Scotia at the 2011 Canada Games and has also been an assistant coach of Team Atlantic at the World Under 17 Championships.

The female coaching staff will be led by Head Coach Ron Watkins of Musquodobit Harbour. Watkins has  been involved in the Hockey Nova Scotia High Performance Program for close to 20 years and brings a wealth of experience on both the female and male coaching side. Watkins has been to previous Canada Games as  a coach with both the male and female teams , and has won a Royal Bank Cup Junior A National Championship as an assistant coach with the Halifax Oland Exports. Joining Ron on the female staff will be  assistant coaches Amanda Boulegon and Mike Lunn, both of Cole Harbour. Boulegon is currently an Assistant Coach with the St. Mary’s Huskies of the AUS and has been involved with Hockey Nova Scotia in a variety of roles over the past 5 years. Lunn is presently the Head Coach of the Harbour Storm Major Bantam hockey club in the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League and has been involved with Hockey Nova Scotia High Performance programs for a number of years.

Jim, Ron, Kevin, Aaron and Mike have all completed their NCCP Advanced I coach certification and Amanda will be completing hers over the next year.

Hockey Nova Scotia Chair of Development, Terry Moore commented, “I am pleased to have such top quality coaches available to lead our programs as we build to the games in 2015. In naming our coaches now, we believe it will provide all players involved in both the male and female selection process a fair and positive experience.”

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For further information please contact:

Darren Cossar

Executive Director

HOCKEY NOVA SCOTIA

7 Mellor Ave. Unit 17

Dartmouth, NS   B3B 0E8

Phone: (902) 454-9400

Fax: (902) 454-3883