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AAA Stars to name new head coach within two weeks

Jun 15, 2016 | 7:00 PM

The Battlefords AAA Stars will soon name their new head coach according to Chairman Bruce Yockey.

The search for a new bench boss began at the end of April when it was announced that long-time coaches Martin Smith and Jody Reiter wouldn’t be returning to the team due to scheduling conflicts with personal commitments.

“We’ve interviewed six applicants over the past two weeks and met as a board again so now we’re in a situation where we’ll probably narrow it down to the top three candidates,” Yockey said. “We’re going to go through this slowly to get a person we’re comfortable with.”

Yockey said the applicants they’ve received have been highly qualified for the job, stating they’ve received applicants who have experience as head coaches and assistant coaches at levels ranging from Bantam to Junior.

The Stars have been one of the top teams in the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League in recent years, reaching back to back league finals in 2014 and 2015. Yockey said choosing a new coach isn’t just about success on the ice, however.

“We feel it’s not just producing a team, it’s about fitting in with our organization as well,” Yockey said. “We want to know why they’ve applied to our program, what they know about it and what they know about our league. How much do they value community involvement? Education is extremely important at the Midget AAA level, so we want to make sure we’re looking after the players in that sense.”

Yockey feels the team has done an excellent job of recruiting during the offseason, and believes the importance of hiring the right coach for the job is magnified because of it.

The Stars have 10 full-time players eligible to return next season, the most prolific of which are defenceman Luke Reid and goaltender Lance Alm. Reid was second round draft pick of the Victoria Royals in this year’s WHL draft, while Alm was a fourth round pick of the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2015.

 

Email: cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @craig_beauch