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Coaching staffs announced for 2025 Women’s U18 POE and 2025 Girls’ U16 POE

by Ezra Ginsburg  |  January 24, 2025 10:00 am

Hockey Manitoba is excited to announce the coaching staffs for the 2025 Women’s Under-18 (U18) Program of Excellence and the 2025 Girls’ Under-16 (U16) Program of Excellence.

Women’s U18 Team Manitoba will be led by Karissa Kirkup (Brandon) who was recently an Assistant Coach for U18 Team Manitoba at the 2024 National Women’s U18 Championship in Quispamis, New Brunswick. This will be Karissa’s third year as a coach within the Women’s U18 POE program. Kirkup is currently in her first season as the Head Coach of the Female U18 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings team. Prior to this season, Kirkup was the Head Coach of the Female U15 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings team for four seasons. Kirkup played two seasons of college hockey with the University of Maine and University of Minnesota-Duluth followed by three seasons with the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team. Her coaching experience includes coaching the Director’s Cup for three years, and serving as an assistant coach of the U16 Junior Bison team.

Kirkup will be joined by Assistant Coaches Brendan Edie (Morden) and Aaron Kaatz (Winnipeg). This will be Eadie’s second year as a coach within the Women’s U18 POE program as he was the video coach for U18 Team Manitoba last season. Edie has coached with the Pembina Valley Hawks AAA program for five seasons. He was the Head Coach of the Pembina Valley Hawks Male U18 AAA team last season and prior to that, he coached the Pembina Valley Hawks Male U15 AAA for two seasons. Edie also coached the Morden Thunder in the Zone 4 High School League (2017-2018) and has over a decade of player development experience.

This will be Aaron Kaatz’s first year as a coach within the Women’s U18 POE program. Kaatz was recently an Assistant Coach with U16 Team Manitoba who competed at the 2024 WHL Cup in Red Deer, Alberta. He also helped out as coach with the Girls’ U16 POE during the 2023-2024 season. For the past three seasons, Kaatz has been the Head Coach of the Interlake Lightning U18 AAA Male Program.  He is currently entering his 8th season of coaching AAA at the minor hockey level. In 2018-19, he was awarded the Wayne Fleming Coaching Scholarship from Sport Manitoba that recognized him for his determination to complete a post-secondary degree while head coaching a minor hockey team..

The goaltending coach for Women’s U18 Team Manitoba will be Riley Sveistrup (Portage la Prairie). This will be Sveistrup’s third year as U18 Team Manitoba’s goaltending coach. Sveistrup has been coaching netminders for the U18 AAA Female Central Plains Capitals for the last six years. The video coach for Women’s U18 Team Manitoba will be Brooke Anderson (St.Andrews). This will be Anderson’s first year as a video coach with U18 Team Manitoba. Anderson coached in the Girls’ U16 POE for the last two years. Rounding out the staff are Deanna Pesun (East St.Paul) who returns as the team’s athletic therapist and Owen Dixon (Winnipeg), who returns as the team’s equipment manager.

The scouts for U18 Team Manitoba are Rob Voth (Winnipeg) and Jenelle Kohanchuk (Winnipeg). Voth has been a scout for the Women’s U18 Program of Excellence for several years. Voth previously coached and scouted for the University of Manitoba Bison’s women’s hockey team and was also previously the Head Coach of the Women’s U18 PoE (2019-2020). This is Kohanchuk’s first year as a scout within the Women’s U18 program. Kohanchuk played for Boston University for five seasons followed by the Toronto Fury in the CWHL for three seasons. She also played professionally in Sweden. Kohanchuk has been involved in player development at the provincial level for many years and brings a wealth of experience to the Women’s U18 POE program. The two Women’s U18 POE scouts are responsible for evaluating all eligible athletes and are responsible for compiling the Top-68 list.

Director of Operations for the Female U18 POE is Matt Relf (Hockey Manitoba).

The Women’s U18 Program of Excellence process will begin in February with the Top-68 Camp which will be held from February 15-17, 2025 at hockey for all centre in Winnipeg. Following the Top-68 Camp, approximately forty players will be invited to the POE Top-40 Camp which will be held from June 6-8 2025 at J & G Arena in Brandon. The third stage of the Women’s U18 POE process will see Team Manitoba compete in an exhibition series against the University of Bisons women’s hockey team from September 5 – 7, 2025 at Wayne Fleming Arena.

The final stage of the 2025 Women’s U18 Program of Excellence will see Team Manitoba compete at the 2025 National Women’s U18 Championship which is scheduled to take place from November 3-9, 2025 in Mount Pearl and Town of Conception Bay South, NL.

The Women’s U18 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.

Hockey Manitoba is excited to announce the group of coaches who will be leading the 2025 Girls U16 Program of Excellence. This year’s program will be led by Head Coaches Trevor Hildebrand (Winnipeg) and Matt Victor (Morden).

This will be Trevor Hildebrand’s first year as a coach within the Girls’ U16 POE program. Hildebrand has 14+ years of female coaching experience – including U9, U11, U15, U18, and Prep. Hildebrand is currently in his third consecutive season coaching the U15 AAA Female Eastman Selects. Prior to this season, Hildebrand was the Head Coach of the Female U18 AAA Eastman Selects (2021-22).

This will also be Matt Victor’s first year as a coach within the Girls’ U16 POE. Victor has extensive coaching experience and played in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for the OCN Blizzard and Waywayseecappo Wolverines (1999-2001). Victor is currently coaching the U18 AAA Female Pembina Valley Hawks. Prior to this season, Victor was the Head Coach of the U15 AA Female Pembina Valley Hawks.

The assistant coaches for the Girls U16 POE are Kylie Klassen (Winnipeg), Brenley Anderson (Winnipeg), Steph Jones (Winnipeg), Jenelle Kohanchuk (Winnipeg). The goalie coaches are Meagan Relf (Oakbank) and Riley Sveistrup (Portage la Prairie).

The Girls U16 Program of Excellence process will begin with an Open Evaluation Tournament which will be held from April 11 – 13, 2025 at hockey for all centre in Winnipeg. Following the Open Evaluation Tournament, approximately 68 players will be invited to a Top-68 Camp which will be held from June 20 – 22, 2025 at hockey for all centre in Winnipeg. The third stage of the Girls U16 POE process will see approximately 40 players invited to participate in a Team Manitoba Black vs. Team Manitoba White Exhibition Series which will be held from August 20 – 22, 2025.

The Girls U16 Program of Excellence has been redesigned as a development focused program for Female Under-16 athletes in Manitoba. The goal of the program is to teach our up-and-coming female athletes the skills, concepts and tactics specific to the Women’s U18 Program of Excellence, ensuring that these athletes are given the proper development time in order to move to the U18 level and beyond.

Hockey Manitoba is pleased to recognize CCM Hockey and the Western Hockey League as Official Partners of the Program of Excellence. The POE is our high performance program that offers developing athletes who are on track to be elite with the opportunity to represent their province while providing a solid development path to the National and International stages.

For more information about the Hockey Manitoba Program of Excellence please visit www.hockeymanitoba.ca/programs/poe/.


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Nov 2, 2005
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