U15AA women’s hockey team nabs two Kindersley coaches

By Jordan Parker

The brand new U15AA Women’s Hockey team will see two Kindersley-born coaches behind the bench.

Hockey Saskatchewan announced their acceptance of Western Prairie Thunder teams for the U13AA, U15AA, and U18AA on March 27, 2023, and opened competition for coaches.

Marley Ervine and Amber Rennie have been selected as co-coaches by the Western Prairie AA Committee, and they’re excited to bring their ideas to the team.

Amber Rennie and Marley Ervine have been selected as co-coaches for  Western Prairie Thunder.

“This is definitely exciting. We have a lot of great local talent in the West Central area. They’re a great age group to work with, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Ervine.

Ervine is excited to share coaching duties with Rennie, who she’s known for a long time.

“She has extensive knowledge over the game through her playing. We always got along well, and we have the same vision and mindset for this team,” she said.

“We grew up together, but we didn’t play against each other too much due to our age difference. Her family moved to Saskatoon when she was younger, then she went to Notre Dame. But now we’re both back here and we’ve done skill sessions together and had fun on golf courses.”

Ervine has experience coaching the U15 age for three years, and is happy that Hockey Saskatchewan awarded them a team in Kindersley.

“I’ve worked with the age group for a while. They’re pretty mature, and you can have good conversations with them. It’s less babysitting. They’re motivated to play at the next level,” she said.

“Amber has been coaching and working with players as they move up. We can share our knowledge with athletes, and help them with on-ice skills and in life.”

The U15 AA league began five years ago, and while it was great for the area, it came with its challenges.

“The girls in the West Central area didn’t have a team, so sometimes they were traveling 400 kilometres round-trip, twice a week for practices. That didn’t include travel for games. That’s a lot of wear and tear on players and families,” she said.

“We finally have a team right here and can be competitive. Instead of committing four hours of week-night travel, our players can now focus on school, where focus should be.”

Ervine knows where she wants to start to help the girls be the best on-and-off the ice.

“We want to hone in on skills development and support them. We have a program, and we want to make sure the team and girls are competitive for the next step, which is U18 AAA. We want to bridge that gap, support players, and help them make big decisions,” she said.

She says the talent in the area is incredible, and the U9-U18 camp held in September is proof of that.

“We had over 100 registrations last fall. Tons of girls want to be playing, so to have this team is really special. It gives the option, especially if families don’t have resources or time to commute,” she said.

“Amber and I talked about this, and we knew the travel could be draining. It makes a season tough, so this can be easier. They can play in the West Central area with kids they grew up with, go to school with and cross paths with. They’ll really feel like a team.”