RED DEER - Hockey Alberta’s Coach of the Month for January is Joe Bouvier of Clive.
In addition to serving as the Head Coach of the Clive Atom team, Joe is the Assistant Coach of Clive’s Novice and Initiation teams, to go along with his duties as the Vice President and Coach Mentor of the Clive Minor Hockey Association.
Joe has a long history as a player and a coach. Growing up, Joe played minor hockey in Central Alberta and went on to play in the WHL in Saskatchewan. He then moved to New Brunswick for University, where he played CIS hockey. Shortly after University, he moved to Austria to play professional hockey. Joe has been coaching for a total of twelve years at all levels across Canada.
“Joe has a passion for hockey, a skill set for teaching, knowledge of the game, and the skills to demonstrate and understand the process of making kids love and learn the game, and maybe most importantly, Joe believes there is a place in hockey for all kids,” said a fellow coach, who nominated Joe for the award. “He (Joe) is always available for our association’s coaches to ask him questions. And, he understands the game and the kids so well that he can give good guidance to all our coaches on a daily basis. Once a month, he goes on the ice with each of our teams and mentors the coaches by running a skills and drills practice. This gives the coaches age appropriate drills and explanations why to do these drills, as well as what to look for to correct and develop each child. Joe has been a huge role model for all of our players and has helped our Clive kids reach their full potential.”
For more details on Hockey Alberta’s Coach of the Month, click here.