SEMIAHMOO RAVENS ANNOUNCE 23-24 COACHING LINE UP
RAVENS ANNOUNCE 23-24 COACHING LINEUP – KUSS, ERHART RETURN, JOINED BY BEACH, MUELLER, MUNRO, OLIVER, RENGERT, RUTHERFORD, SCARDINA, AND TRAINOR
White Rock / South Surrey (FRIDAY, JUNE 2 ) – The Semiahmoo Ravens are excited to announce their rep program and skill development coaching roster for the 2023-24 season. Shane Kuss and Matt Erhart recently renewed their agreement with the Association and will be taking a more active role in the overall hockey programming from U7 thru to U18. Since joining the Ravens five years ago, Semiahmoo has seen an increase in registrants while also enjoying significant on ice success, particularly at the U11 and U13 levels. The U11 A1 program, led by Kuss, has won the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley AAA banner the last three seasons, while Erhart’s U13 A1 team has won the provincials two of the last three seasons in addition to being invited to the Quebec Pee Wee Invitational two times.
Erhart and Kuss will continue to work with the coaching roster to ensure consistency within the program. Joining them will be a very skilled group of coaches who have years of playing and coaching experience.
Our U11 A2 team will be run by Jason Oliver. Oliver has over 30 years of coaching experience – most recently with Semiahmoo Ravens U13 Rep and U15 Rep. His experience spans skill development at all levels from Hockey 1 to NHL players. He has coached 4 different teams who have qualified for the U13 tournament in Quebec in the top division and had one team win it. He won the NAPHL league U16AAA and was named Coach of the Year in the league. Jason made it to the semi finals at U16 AAA Nationals (with a different team) as well. Jason has two sons, one that played in the BCHL and one that played in the WHL and now is in the Arizona Coyotes farm system.
Jordan Dawson supported Jason last season as an assistant coach for our U15 A2 Ravens. He will support the U11 A2 team and the U13 A3 team this season. Dawson has had a successful five-year career in the WHL and BCHL. He is excited to be a part of the Semiahmoo Ravens Minor Hockey Association once again.
Our U11 A3 team will be run by a paid coach yet to be determined.
Our U11 A4 team will be run by a parent coach who will be determined following the second phase of our tryout process in the fall.
Our U13 A2 team will be run by Keenan Scardina. A South Surrey resident, Scardina played three seasons of Junior Hockey in the VIJHL, BCHL and SJHL before moving into a career of real estate with his partner, Chloe Beamish, and coaching in the HPL the past three years. In addition to coaching, Keenan remains an active player in recreational leagues, demonstrating his ongoing dedication to the sport. He strives to instill in his players the same love and respect for hockey that he has and is proud to be a part of the Semiahmoo Ravens Hockey family once again.
Our U13 A3 will be coached by Chace Oliver. Oliver played AAA minor hockey in Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona. His team, the Arizona Bobcats, won the PeeWee Quebec Tournament. He also played in the BCHL with the Victoria Grizzlies. Chace has done some off season coaching for the past 4 years with ages 8 – Junior. Over the past 3 years he has been an assistant coach with his father with two teams at the U16 AAA level and this past season with the Semiahmoo Ravens U15A2 team. Jordan Dawson will also support Chace and the U13 A3 team this season. Dawson has had a successful five-year career in the WHL and BCHL.
Our U13 A4 team will be run by a parent elect, like the U11 A4 team. U13 will offer an A5 team should registration numbers allow it. Should that happen, the U11 A4 and A5 teams will be balanced to allow for a more competitive environment for both groups.
In our U15 age group, Chris Rengert is moving to the A2 team to allow more time for his new role as Head Coach of the Valley West Giants U15 Major Bantam team. In addition, Rengert will be the Director of Sports Performance with the Ravens and will work with all teams on their off-ice training programs. For more information on his off-ice training programs check out his website at https://www.rengertsports.com/.
Taking over the U15 A1 team will be David Rutherford. David spent last season as the Head Coach for the Cloverdale U13 A1 team which went to Provincials. Prior to that, he spent over 14 years playing professionally in North America and Europe. David was a member of the Surrey Eagles (BCHL) Championship team in 2004, the Vancouver Giants (WHL) Championship team in 2005 and wrapped up his junior career with a Memorial Cup Championship with the Spokane chiefs in 2008. He then went on to play in the CHL, ECHL and AHL before finally moving to Europe to play in various leagues across Sweden, the UK, France, and Hungary. David retired in 2020 while playing in the top French league (Ligue Magnus) with the Briancion Diablos. The U15 A1 team will also have Mark Whiteley as an Associate Coach. Whiteley enjoyed a four-year career in the BCHL before playing at St. Scholastic where he earned his degree. At Semiahmoo, David will also be involved in the overall development program across all age levels with Shane and Matt. David is married to his wife Amy and has two dogs. They live in the South Surrey area.
Finally, our U18 program will once again be run by Josh Daley in A1 and George Diamantopoulos in A2.
Josh Daley is passionate about developing players at all levels and helping them reach their full potential. Josh has coached for 20 years across a variety of levels and organizations from U11A to Junior. He brings a speciality to our coaching community with a background in mental health that has a focus on engagement and performance in sport. He currently is a partner and director with Reach Trauma Response Consulting, as well as an educator with the Richmond School District.
A critical part of success for athletes in today’s world is managing mental health, self-care and adversity, all while committing to learning and growing as an athlete and teammate. Josh brings a unique perspective and approach to coaching through practical and personalized strategies, workshops and on-ice training to empower players to develop their whole selves through the sport of hockey. Team culture is critical to success in sport, and by combining 20 years of coaching experience, current approaches to wellness in sport and a strong tactical development program, athletes receive a holistic approach to development that allows for success, fun and growth. Our U18A1 team is looking forward to building off the success of our double banner win this season, as we continue to create an environment for players to thrive and have success.
Having coached minor hockey for over 15 years and played for 24 years, Coach George prides himself in consistently developing players at all levels and focuses on leading teams to success. The experience he brings having coached in multiple organizations, allows him to understand the dynamics of a team and enables him to streamline his approach based on each team. George’s understanding of the game and his passion for development is evident in the way he coaches. As a director of both a non-profit organization and a Greek Dance Group, George understands how working as a team directly impacts results. His leadership skills and priority of creating a family within the team are evident with every team he’s coached. With each year of coaching, he has gained invaluable experience to continue creating a space where players can make lifelong friends, work together, and collaborate to get to the top.
In addition to the coaches named above, the Ravens will also be enhancing our extended skills program by offering more focused skill development in the areas of power skating and positional specific skills. These programs will be offered by the coaches above as well as Richard Mueller, Kyle Beach, Marcie Munro and Robin Trainor.
Mueller, who also recently completed a professional career in Europe is currently coaching the U15 Varsity program at Delta Hockey Academy and will be focusing on skating, puck skills, as well as helping with the U11, U13, and U15 rep teams.
Beach also just wrapped up a career in Europe after spending seven years in the AHL following being a lottery pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He is currently the Assistant Coach with Trinity Western University Spartans Men’s Hockey team in U Sports and will be focusing on skill development with our U9, U11 and U13 age groups as well as assisting with the rep team programs.
Munro joined the Association last season and will be expanding her role and focus on power skating this upcoming season, specifically working with the U7 and U9 age groups. The Ravens will also be adding power skating specific programming throughout the year available for all age groups and skill levels.
Trainor joined the Ravens last year as our U13 A3 coach and will be transitioning to skill development with a focus on U7 as well as working with our C program. Trainor played at Trinity Western University has been working in skill specific programming for the past ten years.
In summary, our coaching roster is as follows:
U11 A1: Shane Kuss
U11 A2: Jason Oliver (Jordan Dawson as an Associate Coach)
U11 A3: Paid coach TBD
U11 A4: Parent Elect
U13 A1: Matt Erhart
U13 A2: Keenan Scardina
U13 A3: Chace Oliver (Jordan Dawson as an Associate Coach)
U13 A4: Parent Elect
U13 A5: Parent Elect (if necessary)
U15 A1: David Rutherford (Mark Whiteley as an Associate Coach)
U15 A2: Chris Rengert
U15 A3: To be confirmed (if necessary)
U18 A1: Josh Daley
U18 A2: George Diamantopoulos
Also we want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the contributions Topher Plonka has made to the Semiahmoo Ravens Minor Hockey Association over the years. Topher has decided to take a position with another hockey association. We thank him and wish him well!
For more information on the Semiahmoo Ravens or how to get involved, please contact us at admin@semiahmooravens.ca
