Region gets new hockey director
Alex Roche brings passion for sport to new position with Hockey NWT
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A familiar face among Fort Simpson's hockey crowd will be taking a leadership position overseeing the Deh Cho region's hockey teams in the coming months for territorial sports organization Hockey NWT.
Alex Roche has been named the new director for hockey in the Deh Cho. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
|
Alex Roche has acted as coach for the Moosehide Mammas women's hockey team in Fort Simpson as well as minor hockey teams. He now joins Hockey NWT as the regional director for Deh Cho hockey.
"They brought me in because they're looking for somebody younger to try to bring a spark to this region," Roche said.
"(We're) basically trying to revitalize programs that have, in smaller communities - even this one - not been as big as they used to be."
Roche grew up playing minor hockey in Fort Simpson. He recalls hearing about the days when Fort Simpson's minor hockey team was full but the sport started to dwindle after 2003.
As a youth, he found himself playing with older youth, including his older brothers, due to the lack of youth his age playing hockey.
Now, he hopes to encourage a team effort to get youth out to play.
"I'm going to start simple, basically," he said.
"It takes a team to make a hockey player. It takes a family effort to get kids playing - parents, aunties, uncles always have to take their kids out."
Although he lives in Fort Simpson, Roche will be responsible for the entire region, including smaller communities.
As he heads into this third year of coaching, Roche said he wants to rekindle the minor hockey teams. That could include getting youth out to tournaments elsewhere in the territory, such as Hay River.
This winter, he will be coaching midget and bantam teams as well as the Moosehide Mammas.
"I just want to try and refuel that passion for what hockey used to be, and maybe take it to the next level in a way that gets more people involved," he said.
"It's one of the few sports I stuck with throughout my years of playing sports; it's a good community to be around in its own self.
"It provides an outlet for people . and also you meet a lot of people who give you good morals."
To begin with, Roche plans to get used to his new position first, and will be attending Hockey NWT's annual general meeting in Yellowknife on Nov. 19.
"I came back (to hockey) because they needed help with coaching - I figured, why not? And it turns out I'm in it for the long run now," he said.
