Four volunteers with Seafair Minor Hockey have been recognized for their dedication at the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association’s recent Annual General Meeting.
Bob Frid received the prestigious Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy as PCAHA Coach of the Year for his outstanding work with Seafair’s Atom C2 Dynasty.
His objectives for the season included challenging his players to make themselves and their teammates better; and challenge the coaching staff to develop player and team character and become better coaches and managers.
“I spend a great deal of time at the start of every season working on individual and team character skills,” explained Frid. “I give a lot of responsibility to the athlete leadership group to give it ownership in what the team culture is like and what is important for our team to be successful.”
To help accomplish this, he sent his team to the UBC Ropes Course. They worked on verbal and non-verbal communication, problem solving as a team, developing trust, team building, and pushing personal limits.
His philosophy of equal playing time for everyone regardless of the score or situation resulted in the Dynasty finishing second in the top playoff group. They also received the PCAHA Team Achievement Award.
One of his assistant coaches is a young man with intellectual disabilities who has been part of his staff for the past three seasons. Frid gave this Special Olympics athlete tasks where he could be successful. This coach has progressed each year, and this season he ran the forward lines.
Also recognized from Seafair was Cody Kusch — recipient of the PCAHA Safety and Risk Management Award.
This former Richmond Minor player saw his playing career cut short after a hit from behind that left him with two broken vertebrae and a major concussion — injuries that still have lingering effects today. It was during a visit to his athletic therapist, this volunteer coach and now Seafair executive wanted to do something about concussions.
Four years ago, Kusch and his colleagues, developed Seafair’s first ever “Return to Play” concussion policy. It involved using pre-season baseline testing and a “concussion management” flowchart that provided a graduated series of criteria, that identified when a player was fit to return to play. Since implementing it, over 95 percent of all eligible players take part in this voluntary program.
When a player receives a concussion, Kusch personally follows up to ensure that the player is properly monitored and evaluated before returning to play.
Wendy Rausch received the PCAHA Meritorious Award for her extensive run as a volunteer with the association. Her duties have included serving on the board of directors, sponsorship coordinator, organizing Vancouver Giants Night and being a Division Manager at the Atom and Pee Wee levels.
Finally, Dean Cardno was a recipient of the Gold Puck Award, recognized for a minimum 10 years of service. His duties have included Seafair president, Juvenile Division manager, Richmond Arenas Community Association (RACA) treasurer and PCAHA audit committee member.
