Back in his days as a kid attending Thompson Elementary School, AJ Sander recalled doing a little coaching from the sidelines during floor hockey games. Little did he know he had discovered his niche that would evolve into such a big part of his life.
Sander is among 10 inductees who will be welcomed to the Richmond Sports Wall of Fame during an official ceremony on Saturday at city hall thanks to a remarkable minor hockey coaching career that is now in its 37th season.
He has enjoyed an outstanding run guiding the Richmond Ravens Midget rep girls team that includes 10 consecutive appearances at the provincial championships and nine podium finishes. Four were gold medal wins. Prior to that he spent 25 years coaching boys teams in the Richmond Minor Hockey Association.
Along the way there has been plenty of individual recognition too including twice being named Pacific Coast Amateur Coach of Year and a winner at the annual Richmond Sports Awards.
His tireless volunteer commitment is not for the accolades but for love of the game.
“I just found a passion and coaching was something I was able to excel at,” said the 50-year-old father of three who works for the City of Richmond. “I don’t think I could walk away. I think I have just invested too much time now. Someone at my work said ‘you use your vacation time (to coach) hockey?’ I don’t think twice about it and just adjust my life schedule around it.”
It was Sander’s late introduction to the game as a player that actually led to such an early start behind the bench. He didn’t begin playing until he was in Pee Wee and that left his skating and skills behind many of his peers.
“I really couldn’t even skate well at the time and it was definitely a rocky road,” recalled Sander. “My brother then started playing and his coach asked if I wanted to help out at his practices. I figured why not with my brother being there already. So I began assistant coaching for several years.
“I found when I got into coaching my game improved too. When you are teaching them you are learning as well and I was applying it to my own game.”
Richmond Minor’s Pee Wee House manager eventually assigned Sander his own team.
A bumpy start to his inaugural season was followed by a blistering second half. The winning only provided more fuel for Sander. Season two saw his team win the league and playoff banners.
The next step was moving onto Richmond Minor’s rep program where he ironically got help from Stan Sutherland — the father of NHL referee Kelly Sutherland who also will be inducted on Saturday. Sander also worked with Ted Nagata and Bob Booth at the Pee Wee and Bantam levels.
“All these people who have touched and worked with me through years have been a big part of it,” said Sander.
He discovered his ultimate comfort zone was the Midget level and that’s where Sander remained until he was approached by Pat and John Korenic about coming to the Ravens for a new challenge to lead the midget girls team.
“I talked about what we needed to put into the program and they bought into it,” said Sander. “Patti Martin was the president at the time and she understood it needed to be a long term commitment and not switching coaches every year.
“The goal was set to make the provincials and that first year we qualified. The next year the plan was to stay there and make it into the top three. We went on to make eight straight finals.”
Sander got the opportunity to coach his two sons at some point of their minor hockey careers. He also cherished the chance to watch them play from the stands as a “hockey dad” where they would be his sole focus.
His daughter never played hockey which made his move to the Ravens even more remarkable, although he did get to coach his two nieces on what proved to be championship teams.
Easing the time away from home is his wife Satwant being part of the Ravens staff since day one as the team’s safety person.
“Here were these guys coming over to coach girls with no daughters on the team. I thought we needed a female presence and she happens to be a nurse. So she is there with me on the bench for all the games and tournaments,” continued Sander. “It has worked out great.”
Today, Sander’s assistants happen to be some former Raven players. It’s part of the tradition the program has built up over the years and includes an alumni game as well.
With so many paid positions in youth hockey, Sander admits there have been opportunities he has passed up on, including an offer from Switzerland and China where he was doing player evaluations last spring.
“Benefitting financially from coaching has never been a driving force for me,” he concluded. “I have just never thought of it that way. I had my loyalty with Richmond Minor where I played as well and now it’s with the Ravens also being a Richmond association.
“This is my hometown.”
