KMHA Announces 2022/23 Rep Coaches

KMHA would like to announce the following coaches for the coming season:

U13 Tier 1 – Nate Gilles

Nate has been coaching for the past 15 years. He has coached at the  U9-U18 level, in both winter and spring seasons. His coaching philosophy is very simple “Put the work, get the results”. Nate believes in having a fun atmosphere on and off the ice where the players enjoy coming to hockey wanting to learn and have fun doing so. He always strives to get the best out of each and every single player when they show up to the rink.

Over the past 15 years of coaching Nate has worked with some great organizations, Semiahmoo, Cloverdale, Langley and West Kelowna, as well as being part of on and off ice skill development. Nate was part of the skill development team the past few years under James Eccles in West Kelowna.

 

U15 Tier 2 – Ralph Jarrett

Ralph played for the Victoria Royals for 5 years. When his playing career ended he found a passion for coaching and transitioned into the assistant coach of the Minor Midgets in Kelowna. Since then he has also coached the U13 tier 1 West Kelowna Warriors. He is currently working with the Victoria Royals as a volunteer Assistant Coach. I have always had a passion for hockey and enjoy being able to help younger players develop their skills.

 

U15 Tier 3 – Kelsey Byrne

Kelsey grew up playing Rep hockey in Kelowna winning a provincial gold medal in U18.  He played 2 years of Junior B splitting time between North Okanagan Knights and the Kelowna Chiefs.  He was an assistant coach for the Kelowna U13 Tier 3 team two years ago. In 2021/22 he was the head coach of the U13 Tier 1 team. Kelsey has been a power skating and skills coach for the past 8 years in Kelowna.

 

U18 Tier 2 – Tim Nikolai

Tim has played hockey for almost 50 years starting in Vancouver and moving all over Canada as well as overseas.  For the past 13 years he has been coaching minor hockey, lacrosse and baseball mostly at the Tier 1 or 2 level.  His coaching philosophy has been influenced by European techniques as well as the best hockey processes from across Canada.  Tim has coached our U18 Tier 2 team the last 3 years. In 2021/22 Tim coached the U18 Tier 2 to an OMAHA championship and a bronze medal at the Provincials.  Tim has done an amazing job developing players both on and off the ice.