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Issue #84 November 2019
www.sportsenergynews.com
Seaway Valley Rapids Coaching Profile: Matt Gray
C
oaching hockey runs in Matt Gray’s family. “I have a 5-yearold who wants to play hockey,” says Gray. “It was a pretty cool feeling as I thought of the days that my dad coached my brother and me as kids, and how we still talk about those times today.” Coach Gray’s ten years behind the bench isn’t the only experience he brings to the Rapids table. He played minor hockey in Char-Lan until his first year in peewee, and he played for the Rapids until major bantam. Then it was off to the CJHL and eventually to university where he played for Western. “My first experience with coaching came when I was younger and still playing hockey,” says Coach Gray. “We used to work a lot of hockey schools throughout the season and into the summer. My teammates and I would sometimes travel to different cities and live there while we worked different hockey schools as a job to make money. We mainly did a lot of on ice instruction with a little bit
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of coaching in there as well. It was something I really enjoyed and always thought that I would do it in the future,” he says. Currently, Gray is at the helm of the minor peewee AA Rapids, eleven-yearolds who were born in 2008. “This age group is really fun to coach,” says Gray. “They are very keen to learn new things and are now getting old enough and strong enough where we can introduce new skills and systems.” Of course, every group of kids comes with challenges. “At this age our players are becoming young men and ladies who know a lot about everything. We work with them on this and listen to everyone. It can be challenging; however, sometimes they have really good things to say,” says Gray. When it comes to a coaching philosophy, it’s team first as far as Coach Gray is concerned. “We stress the importance of respect, hard work and discipline, both on and off the ice,” says Gray. “No question we want to win, but we need to be a team first, especially if we are going to win the big games.”
“Good Call Ref” Cole Fraser-Dupuis
November’s featured referee is soccer enthusiast Cole Fraser-Dupuis. Cole is a grade twelve student at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School who hopes to one day attend college to study Police Foundations and to, of course, play soccer. Cole has been refereeing for the Seaway
Valley Soccer Club. Now 17, he started when he was 15 years old. He has done some matches in Ottawa, and refereeing is his summer job. For Cole, the best part of refereeing is being around the sport he loves. “I enjoy the simplicity of the game,” he says. “It’s a great team sport.” Cole has officiated matches for boys and girls teams, from U10 to U15. He prefers to ref at higher levels. “I enjoy the action and the challenge,” he says. As for challenges, Cole says the most challenging aspect of being a young official is dealing with disgruntled parents and coaches.
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U 18 Colts Player Profile Brayden Bowen
Grade: 10 Age: 15 School: Ecole Secondaire la Citadelle Home Town: Cornwall This Colts forward hit the ice at an early age. “I started playing hockey when I was three years old on our backyard rink,” he says. “I love playing hockey because it is a fast-paced game, and I am able to make new friends”. Before joining the Colts, Brayden played AAA hockey for the Eastern Ontario Wild. “We won our league three years in a row,” Brayden says. In his major
Peewee and major Bantam seasons, he had the opportunity to play in the OHF All Ontario Provincials Tournament held in Toronto. He plans to attend college and study business. 1916 Pitt Street N., Unit 1A (Heritage Business Centre) CORNWALL • 613-933-1200
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