Dave Lewis has been coaching in the Brandon minor hockey system at various levels from IP to AAA Midget for the past 15 years. His family includes his wife Cindy and two children, Ryann and Ty. His daughter Ryann is a competitive gymnast who has qualified for Elite Canada and his son Ty is currently playing on the Source for Sports AA Pee Wee Wheat Kings.

Dave began coaching after he finished his playing career with the Brandon University Bobcats in 1991. He began as an assistant coach of the Pee Wee AA Wheat Kings and moved up as an assistant coach with the AAA Midget program. Once his son Ty began playing, Dave began head coaching various teams from IP to AA Pee Wee. For the past 2 seasons, Dave has coached the Source for Sports AA Pee Wee Wheat Kings.

Dave indicated that the highlight of his coaching career came last season when his AA Pee Wee team went undefeated in the Winnipeg AA League. He expressed, "That group of players started playing together when they were 8 years old so it was nice to see all their hard work pay off last season. We were fortunate to have a group of kids who really understood the meaning of playing like a team."

Dave is currently a grade 8 teacher at George Fitton School in Brandon and would liketo thank the many parents and players who have supported him throughout his career. "More important than teaching hockey lessons, is the fact that we are teaching life lessons such as hard work, teamwork and a desire to achieve. Those characteristics will take you a long way both on and off the ice", he says.

Most importantly Dave would like to thank his family for their support. Without their support, Dave feels he would not have been able to devote as much time to coaching. "I feel fortunate to have had the family support that I have. It was always a lot of fun to go to the rink and was a good excuse to get out of housework."

Dave has proved without question his dedication to the development of players and commitment to the hockey program in the Brandon community. It is volunteers like this that are truly the driving force behind our sport.

Hockey Manitoba congratulates Dave Lewis as the September 2010 Volunteer of the Month.