Sherwood Park Minor Hockey is pleased to announce that Sherwood Park natives Dylan Wiwchar and Adam Kelly are both returning to their roots, having been chosen as the respective head coaches of the U11AA Barons and Arrows, teams they themselves played for when they were young Sherwood Park hockey players.

Coach Wiwchar and Coach Kelly, along with their yet to be formed teams, will be taking part in the new Hockey Alberta Development Pilot (HADP) for 2022-23. Both teams are also part of SPMHA’s Junior Kings enhanced development program.

U11AA Barons – Dylan Wiwchar

Wiwchar is a long-time Sherwood Park resident, having played all of his minor hockey for SPMHA. Playing two years as an Atom AA Baron himself, he spent years playing in the Kings program before moving on to the Sherwood Park Crusaders and Bonnyville Pontiacs of the AJHL.

After finishing his last year in the AJHL, Wiwchar was offered an NCAA Div 1 scholarship to play hockey for Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where he earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Throughout his hockey career, Wiwchar was fortunate to have played under great coaches with professional playing and coach experience, including the National Hockey League. For the past six years, Dylan has been giving back to the game of hockey though coaching at various levels within SPMHA. He is extremely excited to take on the role as Barons head coach for the 2022-23 season.

U11AA Arrows – Adam Kelly

Also a longtime Sherwood Park resident, Adam Kelly played entire minor hockey career in our community (including two seasons as an Arrow!). He then went on to play Junior B with the Sherwood Park Knights and Fort Sask Chevys.

Kelly moved straight into coaching at the conclusion of his playing career, serving as an assistant coach, then Head Coach of the Bantam AA Leafs. He led the team to a league & provincial championship, earning him a Coach of the Year Award.

Kelly then moved on to coach several seasons of Bantam AAA & Midget AAA with Sherwood Park and Fort Saskatchewan before deciding to take a break from coaching. He had just gotten married in 2012, and knew he would get behind the bench again when his children were old enough. True to his word, Kelly re-joined our SPMHA coaching ranks when his oldest son started playing, and has been active and engaged with SPMHA every since.

Coach Kelly believes coaching is a step-by-step process, and is excited to further develop the U11 HADP players, giving them the skills to succeed at the next level.

SPMHA is extremely excited to promote these two individuals, possessing both vast hockey knowledge and strong ties to the community, into our SPMHA U11 Junior Kings program. We look forward to seeing the benefits that their leadership will bring to our young U11 athletes.

Posted in Main Page Posts, U11 Posts

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