About John
- 27 years hockey experience
- 10 years of hockey coaching experience
- Bladez on Ice: (Learn to Play, House Hockey League, Power skating, Learn to Skate, Camp Programs, and Private Lessons)
- ECHA Jr Pirates: (Developmental Team, Squirts Travel Team, Clinics, Pirate Prep, Pirate University, Off Ice Development, and State Games)
- RYHA: (U18 Coach)
- Polar: (Learn to Skate, Camp Hockey Lessons, Slapshot Sam, Kindercanes, Hockey Basics, Youth Learn to Play, Adult Learn to Play, Power Skating, Hockey Clinics)
- Privates: Coaches hockey full time, and has coached over 150 private students in The Triangle. John currently has over 50 students that work with him ongoing each month, as well as others that work with him over summer break and track out breaks. He has helped many parents and other adults develop a love for the game while learning the game as well.
- USA Hockey Level 4 Coach
- PSA: CER Category C
Education
- East Carolina University 2007, BS in Physical Education
- Liberty University 2013, MS in Sports Management
John’s Background
John grew up skating and playing hockey in Long Island, New York in 1990. He played several years for the Police Athletic League (PAL) in Suffolk County, as well as his high school team. John attended East Carolina University where he competed in Division 1 Track and Field. Upon graduating, John began working for Bladez on Ice and the East Carolina Hockey Association (ECHA) in Greenville, North Carolina. He became an imperative piece in the organization, running the rink’s Learn to Play programs, ECHA’s developmental team, power skating classes, hockey clinics, and hockey camps. John also coached several teams and several Learn to Skate programs. In 2008, John added teaching elementary school to his resume until 2011 when he began his Masters degree in sports management. He became a level 3 USA Hockey coach in 2009. His background in teaching, experience coaching, and his love for helping others has mended him into an outstanding skating and hockey coach.
As Skating and Youth Learn to Play Director
In 2013, John became a member of the Polar coaching family. He was the Skating and Youth Learn to Play Director for The Polar Ice House in Cary and Garner for about a year and half. He consistently showed growth for the organization in the classes he taught and the programs in general. John successfully added a new extremely popular Sunday Learn to Skate at the Cary Ice House. John credited a lot of his success to bringing in outside members through various marketing. One big draw, was a Hockey Groupon “First Goal” that brought in 50 new hockey players to each rink. 80 % of them continued playing the game. He created and organized two hockey events at the Downtown Raleigh Winterfest outdoor rink. One has been hosted each year since it’s inaugural event. The 2013 Winterfest Classic and The 2014 Gold Medal Games were two successful inaugural events for U8 beginner hockey players. The 2nd Annual Winterfest Classic in 2014 grew from 40 participants in 2013 to 120 in 2015. 2016’s Winterfest Classic was also around 120 players and was a round robin tournament. John also successfully transformed the Polar Learn to Play programs to Hurricanes Learn to Play programs, by creating the proper hockey progression, curriculum’s, lesson plans, and hockey passports to help participants track their movement through the programs.
Coaching
In May 2013, John took the reigns as coach of the Cary Ice House Rinks Rats (Kindercanes) program. At the time the class had 2 participants. In February 2014, the Rink Rats program was booming with nearly 30 players. John has coached all hockey classes offered by Polar and continues as the “Head Hockey Coach” for Polar. He has taught over 500 different students in his 3 years of coaching in The Triangle. He continues to coach Cary’s Kindercanes and Hockey Basics classes; clinics; and camps. John hopes to one day see one of the many players he coaches playing on TV.