Winnipeg – Hockey Manitoba is pleased to announce the following coaching staffs for our Under-18 and Under-16 Program of Excellence teams for the 2017 season.

Under-18

Returning for her third time as a head coach in the U18 program is Ashley Van Aggelen of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ashley is the head coach of the Winnipeg Avros of the MFMHL and was most recently the head coach of the 2015 U18 Team Manitoba who finished 5th at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC. Ashley will be joined on the bench by Chris McColm of Oakbank and Eugene Kaminsky of Winnipeg. Chris is fresh off of a Provincial Championship with the Eastman Selects Bantam AAA Female team and will be returning for his second year as an assistant coach with Team Manitoba. Chris served this past year as an assistant with the 2016 team who finished 7th at the U18 Nationals in Regina. Eugene is entering into his first year as a coach in the U18 Program of Excellence after multiple years as a bench coach at various selection camps. Eugene comes off of multiple years as the head coach of the Shaftesbury Titans Prep team and served this past season as the head coach of the Fort Garry Twins Bantam Female team in Winnipeg. The coaching staff will be joined by the following supports staff: Goalie Coach – Gord Woodhall (Winnipeg) & Skills Coach – Dave Cameron (Winnipeg).

Under-16

Hockey Manitoba are excited to introduce John Ferg of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba as the head coach of the inaugural Female U16 Team Manitoba. John most recently completed his first season as an assistant coach with the Central Plains Capitals of the MFMHL after several years as the head coach of the Bantam AAA female team. John will be joined on the bench by assistant coaches Todd Cook and Kelsi McGonigal of Winnipeg. Todd served as the head coach of the Northeast Predators Bantam AA program in Winnipeg for several years before making the jump to the Winnipeg Avros of the MFMHL as an assistant coach. Kelsi McGonigal, a former CIS player from the University of Toronto, enters into her first year with the Program of Excellence after completing this season as an assistant coach with the Female Bantam AA Winnipeg East Saints. The coaching staff will be joined by the following support staff: Goalie Coach – Terry Patrick (Eastman), Video Coach – Troy Gould (Westman) and Skills Coach – Addie Miles (Winnipeg).

Good luck to both staffs as they begin the process of player selection and prepare for the upcoming Spring Selection Camps.

The Female Program of Excellence is designed to provide high performance female players with the opportunity to develop advanced skills as well as an introduction to the concepts needed to play at an elite level. Players from the Program of Excellence go on to play at the CIS, NCAA and International level.

For more information please contact U18 and U16 Director of Operations, Dustin Stewart, at the Hockey Manitoba office.