Brantford Midget “AA” Ice Cats
2018-19 Team Philosophy and Program
Kahla Durrant - (Head Coach) I would like to thank you for taking the time to read about the Brantford Ice Cats MAA program. I am extremely excited about the 2018-19 season and thrilled to be back as the Head Coach for our Brantford Ice Cats MAA program. As a former goaltender of the University of Waterloo Warriors (OUA/CIS), I have been fortunate enough to expand my playing days into a coaching career as both a Head Coach, Assistant Coach and Trainer for the Brantford Ice Cats MAA team over the past 7 years. I truly believe that we are building a first class program here in Brantford, that any player or parent would be proud to be a part of. I am honored to have coached several Brantford (and surrounding area) elite female athletes who have gone on to continue their hockey careers in the NCAA, CIS and PWHL. In addition, I was a part of the Esso Cup Championship team in 2015 with an amazing group of young athletes - some of whom will be heading off to the US next year on NCAA scholarships. As a coach, it is those successes that are the true inspiration for me and continues to give me the passion and drive year after year to develop and mentor young athletes to be the best hockey player and person that they can be. Below is my coaching philosophy and an outline of our program for your reference. Please feel free to contact me any time to discuss this further. I look forward to talking with you about the possibility of you/your daughter being a participant in the Brantford Ice Cats MAA program for the upcoming season.
- Kahla
Team Philosophy
The 2018-19 Brantford Ice Cat MAA program will consist of a team of 17 elite female athletes whose work ethic, commitment to excel and dedication are second to none. We will be a team that consists of hard working, skilled players that will compete at the highest level possible while representing the city of Brantford, BGHA, their families and themselves with pride and respect both on and off the ice. Our team systems will be integrated according to team strengths and will be implemented by coaching staff that has a breadth of experience both as players in the CIS, OHL Major Junior A, University and Professional levels and who have coached at the Representative level in both girls and boys hockey. Our open door policy between players and coaches will be instrumental in creating a family type atmosphere where the coaches care about players and players care about each other. The Coaching Staff and BGHA are committed to this team of young elite female athletes and will continue to provide all the necessary resources to ensure that their experience as a member of the Brantford Ice Cats MAA program is an experience of a lifetime. BGHA’s Scholarship Award, Mentorship Program, Affiliation with the Cambridge Rivulettes (PWHL), Development Program, and playing out of an 80 million dollar facility, make Brantford a great choice for Midget AA players who are looking to be part of a first class Midget AA program. For those who are looking to take their hockey career to the next level, we offer huge exposure through our Representative program’s network to NCAA and CIS opportunities.
BRANTFORD ICE CATS TEAM GOALS 2018-2019
TEAM GOALS AND PROGRAM
· Win LLFHL Regular Season/LLFHL League Championship/LLFHL Championship Weekend
· Win Provincial Play Downs Round Robin/Provincial Championship/Esso Cup
· Compete in minimum 5 tournaments with the potential for 6
· University Tours
· Develop each player to their maximum potential to ensure:
- Each player has become a better player since the beginning of the year
- Each player has developed their individual skills and team systems
- Each player has advanced their hockey IQ to another level
- Each player has the potential to advance to the next level/University/ PWHL/Intermediate A
- Each player has matured both on and off the ice as a person
- Each player experiences a season of success and fun
- Each player will build lifelong positive habits for their future
- Each player can have the experience of a lifetime
- Each player to say this was their best year of hockey ever
Team Environment/Culture
Coaches and the evaluation team will be looking for coachable players with inner drive to be the best they can be. Players with drive factors and compete levels that are off the charts who are team players and understand that this is a process and to “trust” the process. Elite athletes who understand that skill has to go hand in hand with an incredible work ethic and that “commitment” means this MAA program comes first and everything else is secondary. We are looking to build habits with our players that will carry on with them the rest of their life.
Program Overview
Commencing the first of June, off-ice and on-ice programs will be starting to ensure that all players are in the best shape possible to start the season. There will be testing evaluations completed to establish a baseline measurement, midpoint testing part way through the summer, final testing the first of September and individual evaluations completed throughout the season. Off-ice individual programs will also be given to each player from our off-ice strength and conditioning coach. This past year BGHA hired Vanessa Crone for our on-ice development. Vanessa was an Olympic figure skater from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and is a vital component of the skating development within our MAA program.
MAA is fully outfitted with off-ice apparel including warm-up suits, backpacks, off-ice warm up shorts and shirts, practice jerseys and socks, hoodies, etc.
BGHA purchased and will continue purchasing practice aids for all the teams to use at practice as part of our development strategy.
BGHA has a Scholarship Award program for Midget age players to help offset their University and College costs. BGHA is putting in place a software package for video analysis that all teams to use throughout the summer. Nutritional programs will be included to create healthy training habits from training experts in the field. The coaching staff will challenge each player with specific skills to work on throughout the summer as well. We will also be planning team building activities for both players and parents to help create a team bond amongst our players and families throughout the year.
Brantford Ice Cats MAA/Why Us
- Minimum 5, potentially 6 tournaments, including our home tournament in Brantford.
- Summer on and off-ice training, fitness testing, skills development sessions, nutritional and motivational sessions, team building events.
- Games and practices are at the 80 million dollar state of the art Wayne Gretzky Centre, with home games on Rink 1.
- Top notch off-ice training program with trainers that specialize in hockey training.
- Outfitted with full apparel including warm up suits, off-ice work out shorts and shirts, backpacks, hockey bags, practice jerseys and socks, hoodies etc.
- Affiliation with Cambridge Rivulettes of the PWHL. Players throughout the year are able to practice with the PW team with the potential of call-ups as well.
- BGHA has designed New Uniforms and Ice Cat logo this year that has been a huge success.
- BGHA has a generous development budget and invests in its members including on ice practice aids for coaches and will be introducing a “best in business” video software tool for the 2018 season that will be instrumental in team and individual development. Player profiles/bio’s will also include game video from this software.
- BGHA hired Vanessa Crone for 70 sessions throughout the year as our skating development coach. Vanessa was in the 2010 Olympics as a pair skater for Canada.
- BGHA has implemented a mentorship program for Midget age players to engage with the younger levels to help students complete their high school volunteer hours.
- BGHA player of the week awards.
- Coaches within our Rep program have direct access to NCAA and Canadian Universities who were on full scholarships. Brianne Kilgour (University of Maine) and Sarah Dagg (RIT) who coach our top Atom team.
- Several other coaches in rep have played in the NHL, OHL, American Hockey League.