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Junior Team Canada U18 & U20 Coaching Staff Announcement
2017-10-22
It’s my honour on behalf of the Canadian Ball Hockey Association...
It’s my honour on behalf of the Canadian Ball Hockey Association and our 4 member High Performance committee to announce the successful candidates who will guide and lead our Junior Team Canada U18 & U20 teams at the 2018 ISBHF World Junior Championships next July in St. John’s Newfoundland.
The High Performance committee received 27 applications/resume’s and identified 18 outstanding candidates for interviews which is an unprecedented number of interviews and outstanding applicants.
All of our Junior Team Canada coaches have extensive experience playing and coaching Ball Hockey at the highest levels nationally and most internationally, in addition they also have certification and experience with elite Juniors in Ice Hockey.
Head Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Kevin Marchuk (Manitoba)
As a player Kevin has been involved with the Manitoba Ball Hockey Association for 15 years and has represented Manitoba 11 times at the Men’s Canadian Championships winning Bronze in 2014 and Silver in 2015. Kevin was also chosen to play for Men’s Team Canada at the 2017 ISBHF Men’s World Championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic helping Canada win a Silver medal. Mr. Marchuk also spent one season playing professionally with the Sierra Lions of the NLA in Switzerland as an import player in 2011.
Kevin has spent 5 years coaching juniors in Manitoba and has coached them at 5 Canadian Junior Championships, winning a Canadian Junior Championship in 2013. Internationally he has served as Mentor/Coach with the Junior Team Canada U20 in 2014 in Bratislava, Slovakia and last year Kevin was an Assistant Coach on the Junior Team Canada U18 team that won the ISBHF World Junior Championship in Sheffield , England.
Kevin’s combination of elite playing and coaching experience makes him the ideal person to lead our Junior Team Canada group going for a repeat World U18 Championship.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Jagpal Sandhu (British Columbia)
Jag has 13 years of elite Ball Hockey playing experience and as a player has won 7 Provincial Championships, 4 WCC Championships and 2 Silver Medals at the Canadian Junior Championships earning spots on Junior Team Canada U18 for 2008 and Junior Team Canada U20 in 2010. Jagpal played a key role on Defense on both of those Junior Team Canada teams winning Worldr Championships in Zvolen Slovakia in 2008 and in Villach, Czech Austria in 2010. Jagpal has also played at the Canadian Men’s National championships and represented Canada at the Plzen cup in 2015 in the Czech Republic.
Jagpal has an extensive ball hockey coaching resume as he has coached at Provincials BC teams at WCC’s and 5 times at the Canadian Junior Nationals, he began his international Coaching experience in 2012 as a Mentor/Coach with the JTC U16 team that won Bronze in Pisek, Czech Republic. Mr. Sandhu continued on as an Assistant Coach with 2014 Junior Team Canada U16 in Bratislava, Slovakia helping them win the Silver Medal. In 2016 Jagpal was an Assistant Coach for the Junior Team Canada U16 that went undefeated winning the World Championship in Sheffield, England. He has also coached and refereed in the Metro BC minor program and has been a volunteer with the Vancouver Police Department neighborhood Community Policing program.
Jagpal’s combination of elite playing and coaching experience make him a very valuable member of our Junior Team Canada U18 coaching team.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Steve March (Alberta)
Steve has an extensive amount of playing experience in both Ball and Ice hockey . In Ball Hockey Steve started in 1997 was the Captain of the Alberta team that participated at the 1st ever Canadian Junior Championships. Steve has gone on to play at numerous Provincial, Western and Canadian Men’s National Championships and scored the winning goal in Double OT that won Alberta men their first National Championship playing with the Master’s team in 2016 at the Canadian Championship’s in Burnaby, BC, he was also a member of the Canadian team that played in the Plzen Cup in 2015 in Plzen Czech republic. In ice Hockey he has played on provincial AA Champions in addition to playing on the Grant McEwan University Men’s team.
Mr. March started coaching at a downtown YMCA in Edmonton giving under privileged young adults an introduction to ball hockey and to experience the great community that Ball Hockey provides. Steve has gone on to coach several league Championship teams in the MBHE and was a Coach on the 2016 U15 Canadian Champions and on the U17 Canadian Silver Medal winners. Steve has coached several years of AAA Ice Hockey with the SSAC and SPKAC organizations and graduated to the CSSHL where he has coached elite teams to CSSHL Championships, KIMMIT Championships and currently serves as Head Coach of the 1st place Elite 15 CSSHL NAX team (Northern Alberta Xtreme). Mr. March has completed several levels of NCCP Coaching certification and currently holds the highest level of NCCP High Performance having learned from long time NHL head Coaches Ken Hitchcock (Dallas Stars NHL) and Barry Trotz (Washington Capitals NHL) to name 2. Steve is looking forward to getting to know the players and staff on Junior Team Canada U18 and supporting them in our journey to be World Champions.
Head Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Tyrel Spitzer (Alberta)
Tyrel has been involved in elite Ball & Ice Hockey for more than 19 years, in Ball Hockey he has played in the 1800+ member MBHE league leading the Edmonton Xtreme to several league championships, he has also lead the Xtreme to numerous WCC’s winning the 2005 U17 Championships going undefeated and earning Most Valuable Player Honours. Tyrel played 3 times at the U19 Canadian Junior Championships as a 16, 17 and 18 year old leading Alberta to a Silver Medal at the 2006 Canadian Junior Championships in Kitchener. In Men’s Ball Hockey Tyrel has won a Western Canadian Championship in 2012, played at 5 Canadian Men’s Championships winning Bronze in 2013, he also played at the 2013 ISBHF World Championships leading Team Germany in scoring and the entire A Pool playoff scoring with 6 pts in 2 games. Tyrel also represented Canada at the 2015 Plzen Cup in the Czech Republic. In Ice hockey he has played at the elite AA/AAA levels all the way up and was a leader on the SSAC Midget AAA team that won the 2005 AMHL Provincial Championships, defeated the BC Champions to win the Pacific Regional Championship and went on to the Telus Cup National Midget AAA Championships.
Coaching Mr. Spitzer’s resume is perhaps even more impressive. In Ball Hockey Tyrel has coached teams to several league championships, Provincial Championships, WCC Championships, he has coached at 7 Canadian Junior Championships winning several Medals. From 2014 to 2017 Tyrel was Head Coach of 3 Canadian Junior Champions
and 2 Silver Medal winning teams at the Junior Nationals. Tyrel was recruited and coached Alberta Men’s Masters to a Canadian Championship in 2016. Internationally Tyrel has coached at 4 ISBHF World Junior Championships winning 3 World Championships and most recently was Head Coach of the 2016 Junior Team Canada U16 team that went undefeated winning the World Championship in Sheffield , England.
Tyrel currently is the Director of Hockey operations for the NAX CSSHL Hockey Academy and also serves as Head Coach on 1 of their 4 teams.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Tom Kourkolitis (Ontario)
Tom’s Ball Hockey experience is threefold having played, coached and refereed at the highest levels for the past 13 years. Tom has been coaching competitive Ball hockey since 2005 and has led teams to the North American Dek hockey championship in 2009 and Silver Medal at the Ontario summer games in 2010, Mr. Kourkolitis has coached Winthrow to 7 Provincial medals including 3 Gold’s and 2 Silver’s. Tom has coached at 3 Canadian Junior Championships including Asst Coach of the Winthrow Silver Medal winning team in St. Johns 2015 and this year he led Winthrow as Head Coach going undefeated and winning the U19 Canadian Junior Championship in Kitchener. Tom has also Head Coached in Ice Hockey at the rep levels in the GTHL since 2008 and currently Head coaches the Toronto Aeros PeeWee AA team.
Tom also brings elite playing experience having played for 6 years in the Tier 1 division and having played and coached winning a Gold and Silver in the Provincials at the Men’s Masters level.
Mr. Kourkolitis has been on the Winthrow Park Board of Directors since 2011 (1150 Junior Players)is a registered OBHF official and has been officiating since 2008. Tom currently holds the position of Referee in Chief for the Junior division.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Mark Fraser (British Columbia)
Mark brings 25 + years of elite Ball hockey experience to Junior Team Canada as a Player, Coach and Official. Mark’s playing experience includes several A division Provincial Championships, numerous Western Canadian Championships and has represented BC 3 times at the Men’s Canadian Championships. Mark holds several NCCP coaching certifications including Level 2 Advanced. In Ice Hockey Mark has won 32 PCAHA tournaments as Head Coach and 18 PCAHA League and playoff Championships in addition to 5 Most Sportsmanlike team awards.
Mr. Fraser’s experience in Juniors at Ball hockey includes several Provincials and WCC’s and was Head Coach of a Gold Medal winning team at the 2016 WCC’s. Mark this year helped coach the U17 BC team to a Bronze medal at the Canadian junior Championships in Kitchener.
Mark also brings 3 years of Junior A scouting experience (Merrit Centennials) and 15 + years of experience as Shooting and Stickhandling Instructor, Tactical and Conditioning Coach and certified Power Skating Instructor to name a few. Mr. Fraser is a National Level referee and has been for a long time officiating at League, Provincial, Western and Nationals levels which helps
bring greater understanding to the Coaching team.
I am pleased that we have 3 Coaches of Tyrel’s, Tom and Marks experience to lead Junior Team Canada U20 as they take up the challenge of improving on our 2016 Silver Medal winning performance and guide JTC U20 to our first U20 World Championship since 2012.
Junior Team Canada Goaltending Coach U18/U20:
Andrew “Chevy” Platt (Ontario)
Andrew has been playing Ball Hockey for the past 30 years and for the last 10 years has been a Goaltender in the Ontario premier division. “Chevy” was a Goaltender on the Canadian Men’s team that won the World Championships in Germany in 2007 and a Goaltender on the Canadian Men’s Master’s team that won Gold in 2014 and Silver in 2016.
As a Coach Andrew has helped prepare Ontario teams for the past several years for the Provincial Championships and has served as a Mentor/Coach for the Silver Medal winning Junior Team Canada U18 team in Most, Czech republic in 2010 and last year served as an Assistant Coach on the undefeated Junior Team Canada U16 team that won the ISBHF World Junior Championship in Sheffield, England.
Mr. Platt has also served at the High performance level at the 2014 Junior High Performance Junior camp in Caledon and as a Junior Team Canada scout at the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships in Kitchener.
Our goaltenders and Junior Team Canada U18 and U20 teams will benefit from Chevy’s knowledge and experience of several years at National and International Championships.
The High Performance committee received 27 applications/resume’s and identified 18 outstanding candidates for interviews which is an unprecedented number of interviews and outstanding applicants.
All of our Junior Team Canada coaches have extensive experience playing and coaching Ball Hockey at the highest levels nationally and most internationally, in addition they also have certification and experience with elite Juniors in Ice Hockey.
Head Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Kevin Marchuk (Manitoba)
As a player Kevin has been involved with the Manitoba Ball Hockey Association for 15 years and has represented Manitoba 11 times at the Men’s Canadian Championships winning Bronze in 2014 and Silver in 2015. Kevin was also chosen to play for Men’s Team Canada at the 2017 ISBHF Men’s World Championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic helping Canada win a Silver medal. Mr. Marchuk also spent one season playing professionally with the Sierra Lions of the NLA in Switzerland as an import player in 2011.
Kevin has spent 5 years coaching juniors in Manitoba and has coached them at 5 Canadian Junior Championships, winning a Canadian Junior Championship in 2013. Internationally he has served as Mentor/Coach with the Junior Team Canada U20 in 2014 in Bratislava, Slovakia and last year Kevin was an Assistant Coach on the Junior Team Canada U18 team that won the ISBHF World Junior Championship in Sheffield , England.
Kevin’s combination of elite playing and coaching experience makes him the ideal person to lead our Junior Team Canada group going for a repeat World U18 Championship.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Jagpal Sandhu (British Columbia)
Jag has 13 years of elite Ball Hockey playing experience and as a player has won 7 Provincial Championships, 4 WCC Championships and 2 Silver Medals at the Canadian Junior Championships earning spots on Junior Team Canada U18 for 2008 and Junior Team Canada U20 in 2010. Jagpal played a key role on Defense on both of those Junior Team Canada teams winning Worldr Championships in Zvolen Slovakia in 2008 and in Villach, Czech Austria in 2010. Jagpal has also played at the Canadian Men’s National championships and represented Canada at the Plzen cup in 2015 in the Czech Republic.
Jagpal has an extensive ball hockey coaching resume as he has coached at Provincials BC teams at WCC’s and 5 times at the Canadian Junior Nationals, he began his international Coaching experience in 2012 as a Mentor/Coach with the JTC U16 team that won Bronze in Pisek, Czech Republic. Mr. Sandhu continued on as an Assistant Coach with 2014 Junior Team Canada U16 in Bratislava, Slovakia helping them win the Silver Medal. In 2016 Jagpal was an Assistant Coach for the Junior Team Canada U16 that went undefeated winning the World Championship in Sheffield, England. He has also coached and refereed in the Metro BC minor program and has been a volunteer with the Vancouver Police Department neighborhood Community Policing program.
Jagpal’s combination of elite playing and coaching experience make him a very valuable member of our Junior Team Canada U18 coaching team.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U18:
Steve March (Alberta)
Steve has an extensive amount of playing experience in both Ball and Ice hockey . In Ball Hockey Steve started in 1997 was the Captain of the Alberta team that participated at the 1st ever Canadian Junior Championships. Steve has gone on to play at numerous Provincial, Western and Canadian Men’s National Championships and scored the winning goal in Double OT that won Alberta men their first National Championship playing with the Master’s team in 2016 at the Canadian Championship’s in Burnaby, BC, he was also a member of the Canadian team that played in the Plzen Cup in 2015 in Plzen Czech republic. In ice Hockey he has played on provincial AA Champions in addition to playing on the Grant McEwan University Men’s team.
Mr. March started coaching at a downtown YMCA in Edmonton giving under privileged young adults an introduction to ball hockey and to experience the great community that Ball Hockey provides. Steve has gone on to coach several league Championship teams in the MBHE and was a Coach on the 2016 U15 Canadian Champions and on the U17 Canadian Silver Medal winners. Steve has coached several years of AAA Ice Hockey with the SSAC and SPKAC organizations and graduated to the CSSHL where he has coached elite teams to CSSHL Championships, KIMMIT Championships and currently serves as Head Coach of the 1st place Elite 15 CSSHL NAX team (Northern Alberta Xtreme). Mr. March has completed several levels of NCCP Coaching certification and currently holds the highest level of NCCP High Performance having learned from long time NHL head Coaches Ken Hitchcock (Dallas Stars NHL) and Barry Trotz (Washington Capitals NHL) to name 2. Steve is looking forward to getting to know the players and staff on Junior Team Canada U18 and supporting them in our journey to be World Champions.
Head Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Tyrel Spitzer (Alberta)
Tyrel has been involved in elite Ball & Ice Hockey for more than 19 years, in Ball Hockey he has played in the 1800+ member MBHE league leading the Edmonton Xtreme to several league championships, he has also lead the Xtreme to numerous WCC’s winning the 2005 U17 Championships going undefeated and earning Most Valuable Player Honours. Tyrel played 3 times at the U19 Canadian Junior Championships as a 16, 17 and 18 year old leading Alberta to a Silver Medal at the 2006 Canadian Junior Championships in Kitchener. In Men’s Ball Hockey Tyrel has won a Western Canadian Championship in 2012, played at 5 Canadian Men’s Championships winning Bronze in 2013, he also played at the 2013 ISBHF World Championships leading Team Germany in scoring and the entire A Pool playoff scoring with 6 pts in 2 games. Tyrel also represented Canada at the 2015 Plzen Cup in the Czech Republic. In Ice hockey he has played at the elite AA/AAA levels all the way up and was a leader on the SSAC Midget AAA team that won the 2005 AMHL Provincial Championships, defeated the BC Champions to win the Pacific Regional Championship and went on to the Telus Cup National Midget AAA Championships.
Coaching Mr. Spitzer’s resume is perhaps even more impressive. In Ball Hockey Tyrel has coached teams to several league championships, Provincial Championships, WCC Championships, he has coached at 7 Canadian Junior Championships winning several Medals. From 2014 to 2017 Tyrel was Head Coach of 3 Canadian Junior Champions
and 2 Silver Medal winning teams at the Junior Nationals. Tyrel was recruited and coached Alberta Men’s Masters to a Canadian Championship in 2016. Internationally Tyrel has coached at 4 ISBHF World Junior Championships winning 3 World Championships and most recently was Head Coach of the 2016 Junior Team Canada U16 team that went undefeated winning the World Championship in Sheffield , England.
Tyrel currently is the Director of Hockey operations for the NAX CSSHL Hockey Academy and also serves as Head Coach on 1 of their 4 teams.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Tom Kourkolitis (Ontario)
Tom’s Ball Hockey experience is threefold having played, coached and refereed at the highest levels for the past 13 years. Tom has been coaching competitive Ball hockey since 2005 and has led teams to the North American Dek hockey championship in 2009 and Silver Medal at the Ontario summer games in 2010, Mr. Kourkolitis has coached Winthrow to 7 Provincial medals including 3 Gold’s and 2 Silver’s. Tom has coached at 3 Canadian Junior Championships including Asst Coach of the Winthrow Silver Medal winning team in St. Johns 2015 and this year he led Winthrow as Head Coach going undefeated and winning the U19 Canadian Junior Championship in Kitchener. Tom has also Head Coached in Ice Hockey at the rep levels in the GTHL since 2008 and currently Head coaches the Toronto Aeros PeeWee AA team.
Tom also brings elite playing experience having played for 6 years in the Tier 1 division and having played and coached winning a Gold and Silver in the Provincials at the Men’s Masters level.
Mr. Kourkolitis has been on the Winthrow Park Board of Directors since 2011 (1150 Junior Players)is a registered OBHF official and has been officiating since 2008. Tom currently holds the position of Referee in Chief for the Junior division.
Assistant Coach Junior Team Canada U20:
Mark Fraser (British Columbia)
Mark brings 25 + years of elite Ball hockey experience to Junior Team Canada as a Player, Coach and Official. Mark’s playing experience includes several A division Provincial Championships, numerous Western Canadian Championships and has represented BC 3 times at the Men’s Canadian Championships. Mark holds several NCCP coaching certifications including Level 2 Advanced. In Ice Hockey Mark has won 32 PCAHA tournaments as Head Coach and 18 PCAHA League and playoff Championships in addition to 5 Most Sportsmanlike team awards.
Mr. Fraser’s experience in Juniors at Ball hockey includes several Provincials and WCC’s and was Head Coach of a Gold Medal winning team at the 2016 WCC’s. Mark this year helped coach the U17 BC team to a Bronze medal at the Canadian junior Championships in Kitchener.
Mark also brings 3 years of Junior A scouting experience (Merrit Centennials) and 15 + years of experience as Shooting and Stickhandling Instructor, Tactical and Conditioning Coach and certified Power Skating Instructor to name a few. Mr. Fraser is a National Level referee and has been for a long time officiating at League, Provincial, Western and Nationals levels which helps
bring greater understanding to the Coaching team.
I am pleased that we have 3 Coaches of Tyrel’s, Tom and Marks experience to lead Junior Team Canada U20 as they take up the challenge of improving on our 2016 Silver Medal winning performance and guide JTC U20 to our first U20 World Championship since 2012.
Junior Team Canada Goaltending Coach U18/U20:
Andrew “Chevy” Platt (Ontario)
Andrew has been playing Ball Hockey for the past 30 years and for the last 10 years has been a Goaltender in the Ontario premier division. “Chevy” was a Goaltender on the Canadian Men’s team that won the World Championships in Germany in 2007 and a Goaltender on the Canadian Men’s Master’s team that won Gold in 2014 and Silver in 2016.
As a Coach Andrew has helped prepare Ontario teams for the past several years for the Provincial Championships and has served as a Mentor/Coach for the Silver Medal winning Junior Team Canada U18 team in Most, Czech republic in 2010 and last year served as an Assistant Coach on the undefeated Junior Team Canada U16 team that won the ISBHF World Junior Championship in Sheffield, England.
Mr. Platt has also served at the High performance level at the 2014 Junior High Performance Junior camp in Caledon and as a Junior Team Canada scout at the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships in Kitchener.
Our goaltenders and Junior Team Canada U18 and U20 teams will benefit from Chevy’s knowledge and experience of several years at National and International Championships.