Program of Excellence
Program of Excellence
BC Hockey athletes have the opportunity to try-out for and represent their province, region or country in various national and international competitions throughout their career.
The U12/14 Female Program of Excellence (formerly High Performance Program) acts as a feeder for the Female U16 and U18 POE. Players, coaches and officials have the opportunity to progress throughout the programs. Club team coaches are encouraged to get involved with U12/14 and learn about high performance hockey within B.C..
The Female U12/14 POE is the product of the Female Hockey Development model and considered developmental only, where no teams will be selected and there is no evaluation/feedback component. The purpose of the program is to introduce eligible athletes to high performance hockey. The athletes will be exposed to sport science principals in the areas of nutrition, mental training, and physical preparation.
The inclusion of a U12/14 POE level is a result of BC Hockey adopting the Long Term Athlete Development Model. Research shows that athletes aged 10 and 13 are considered a key age range in several skill and physical development phases. Using age and developmentally appropriate materials, the program will introduce key areas of on-ice skill development and off-ice training allowing them to be successful regardless of the path they choose within the game.
If you have any additional questions please contact the BC Hockey Office at highperformance@bchockey.net.
Click the links below for some resources from the 2023 POE Female U12/14 Camps
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2024 POE Female U12/U14 Regional Camp |
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BC Hockey’s Female Program of Excellence (POE) staff consists of B.C.'s top individuals from across the province. Team BC staff will be selected based on their performance at the U14 and/or U16 events.
For more information or any inquiries, please contact the BC Hockey POE Coordinator here: highperformance@bchockey.net
2024-25 Team: Shawnigan Lake School Female U18 Prep (CSSHL)
Megan Price, Head Coach
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Megan Price will make her debut behind the Team BC bench as head coach for the 2024 Program of Excellence (POE) season. Price brings a wealth of experience previously having served as head coach for several teams. During 2022-23, she was a head coach for RINK Hockey Academy (CSSHL) in Winnipeg. Price was also the associate head coach for the Ontario Hockey Academy (CSSHL) during the 2021-22 season.
She also was the head coach for the U15 Victoria Admirals of the Victoria Minor Hockey Association (MHA) during the 2021-22 season and the Northen Capitals of the British Columbia Elite Hockey League (BCEHL) from 2017-2019.
Price is currently an assistant coach with the Shawnigan Lake School Female U18 Prep Team, serving initially in the 2019-20 season and continuing in that role from 2023 to the present. She has additional assistant coaching experience with Edge School (CSSHL) from 2020-2021. Megan has POE experience as she was support staff and evaluator during the 2019 Shawnigan Lake Team BC camp. Price was part of the NAHC (National Aboriginal Hockey Championship) staff as an assistant coach in 2022 in Membertou, Nova Scotia where they took home the bronze medal with Team BC.
Price's playing career included years at Niagara University of the NCAA from 2006-2009, and was with Mount Royal University (U Sports) for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. She has a Bachelor of Business in Sport and Recreation degree as well as a Masters of Education in Coaching Studies from the University of Victoria.
2024-25 Team: Chilliwack Minor Hockey Association U18 Tier 1
Kelsey Firkus, Assistant Coach
Hometown: Chilliwack, B.C.
The 2024 season will mark the first for Kelsey Firkus behind the Program of Excellence (POE) bench. She has assistant coaching experience with Chilliwack MHA’s U15 A1 team and Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association’s U15 Female Development Team from 2022-2024. Firkus has also volunteered with the Program of Excellence over the past two seasons as a regional camp coach and evaluator.
Firkus grew up playing in the BC Hockey ranks with Chilliwack MHA and the Fraser Valley Phantoms Female AAA program, now Fraser Valley Rush of the British Columbia Elite Hockey League (BCEHL), from the 2007-08 season to the 2009-10 season. Firkus moved on to the collegiate ranks with the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the NCAA, where she played four seasons and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Firkus is currently working in Aviation Management.
2024-25 Team: Female U18 Team BC
Kira Makuk, Assistant Coach
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Kira Makuk will join the Team BC coaching staff for the first time during the 2024 Program of Excellence (POE) season. Residing in Whitehorse, Yukon, Makuk has served as a skills coach with the Female U18 Yukon Wild Hockey Club since 2023. Makuk head coaching experience has been with the U15 Hockey Canada Skills Academy in Calgary (2021-22) as well as U9 Her-ricanes Spring Hockey Club in the spring of 2022.
Makuk served as Team Yukon’s assistant coach in the 2023 Canada Winter Games, and the 2023 and 2024 Arctic Winter Games. From 2018 through 2020, she was the assistant coach for the U13 and U15 Hockey Canada Skills Academy.
Makuk's playing career included a four-year stint with the University of Calgary from 2016-2020, where she obtained a Bachelor of Health Sciences, majoring in Health and Society. She currently works as a Project Manager for the Yukon First Nation Cancer Care Initiative.
2024-25 Team: Trinity Western University Men's Hockey Team (U Sports)
Allan Russell, Video Coach
Hometown: Nanaimo, B.C.
Allan Russell begins his second season with the BC Hockey POE program as the Female U18 Video Coach. Russell spent the last three seasons as Director of Video & Analytics with the Trinity Western Spartans Men’s Hockey team (U Sports). He is also the British Columbia Scout with the Northeast Generals of the North American Hockey League (NAHL).
Originally from Nanaimo, B.C., and a graduate of Nanaimo Minor Hockey Association, he was North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association’s Goaltending Lead from 2021 to 2023. Russell has coached and scouted with multiple teams and leagues across the globe. He has worked as a scout with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays (North American Hockey League), U Sports scout for Espberg Energy of the Metal Ligaen (Denmark's Professional League) and Video & Analytics Coach with the Botany Swarm in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League.
2024-25 Team: Richmond Sockeyes (PJHL)
SJ Sanghera, Athletic Therapist
Hometown: Richmond, B.C.
SJ Sanghera will be joining BC Hockey’s Program of Excellence (POE) staff as an athletic therapist. Sanghera has been involved with hockey spanning over seven years. Since the 2020-21 season she has spent her time with the Richmond Sockeyes (PJHL) as an athletic therapist. She has also been an athletic therapist for BC Hockey’s POE provincial camps since 2019.
Sanghera’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Athletic & Exercise Therapy from Camosun College, attained in 2020.
2024-25 Team: Fraser Valley Rush (BCEHL)
Jen Collins, Equipment Manager
Hometown: Cavan, Ontario
Jen Collins joins BC Hockey’s Program of Excellence (POE) for her first season as an equipment manager. Jen has been involved in hockey for 10 years. Beyond the role of equipment manager, she has coached during that time period. Including the past two years volunteering with BC Hockey’s Program of Excellence (POE) she has coached at the MHA level since 2021.
She has served as the head coach for Chilliwack MHA’s U13 C1 (2023-24) and has been an assistant coach at the U13 level for both Chilliwack MHA and Abbotsford Female Hockey Academy since 2022.
She is now pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with a Kinesiology minor at the University of the Fraser Valley. She currently works as a Court Liaison Officer for Chilliwack RCMP Support Services. She is set to join the BCEHL’s Fraser Valley Rush this upcoming season in the role of co-head coach.
2024-25 Team: Okanagan Rockets (BCEHL)
Travis Martell, Strength & Conditioning Coach
Hometown: Kelowna, B.C.
Travis Martell joins the Female U18 POE program for a second season as the Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has been involved with strength and conditioning within hockey over the last 15 years. Martell has also worked with the BCEHL’s Okanagan Rockets for seven seasons as their strength and conditioning coach.
Martell is a full-time strength and conditioning coach and specializes in helping athletes take their games to the next level.
Originally from Kelowna, Martell played four years of junior hockey split between the Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League and the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He also played professional hockey in the United States, Netherlands and Germany. A graduate of Castleton State University in Vermont, Martell obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and played on the Men’s Hockey Team for three seasons.
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2024-25 Team: Female U18 Team BC (POE)
Patrick Thibeault, Head Scout & Coach Mentor
Hometown: Qualicum Beach, B.C.
With over 10 years of experience with Team BC, Patrick Thibeault brings many years of knowledge to the role of Head Scout and Coach Mentor to the 2024 Program of Excellence (POE) season. Through his 30 years in hockey, Thibeault has held coaching roles with BC Hockey’s POE program, along with time spent at North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association (MHA), Ridge Meadows Flames of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL), the University of British Columbia’s Women’s Hockey Team and the Vancouver Fusion Female AAA program (now Greater Vancouver Comets in the BCEHL).
Thibeault currently resides in Qualicum Beach, B.C. and is retired. He attended both Douglas College in Vancouver, and Cégep André Laurendeau in LaSalle, Quebec, where he studied Languages & Literature.
BC Athlete Assistance Program & CSCP Targeted Athlete
Each season BC Hockey is awarded the opportunity to nominate players to be designated by Canadian Sport Centre Pacific as “identified athletes”. The athletes are designated as a result of participation / selection / performance in the BC Hockey High Performance Program. The CSC Pacific performance model assists national and provincial sport organizations and their targeted athletes, across the province, providing services to both summer and winter sports. Registered athletes gain access to benefits including; Gymworks (gym passes), performance enhancement seminars, links to medical services, and career services. Their coaches also have access to these services.