Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 84

THE COACHES
HALEY’S PASSIONS
B Y S C O T T TAY L O R
Photos by Laurie Anderson
H
aley Vandepoele
has two passions:
a lifelong dream to
become a member of
the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police
and a deep enduring love
for the game of hockey.
However, Haley will say
her passion for hockey has
changed over the years.
Although only 23, she is
no longer a player. These
days, a co-coach with the
defending champion Silvertips
of the Manitoba Women’s
Junior Hockey League, she
is all-in. Helping young
players get better is how she
approaches the game now.
Haley Vandepoele is a
coach. “I’m in RCMP limbo,”
she said with a smile. “There
are quite q few steps to
becoming an RCMP officer
and I’ve completed many
of them, but I’m still not a
member of of the force. I’m
still waiting to be accepted
so I can spend 26 weeks at
RCMP school in Regina.
“It’s always been a dream of
mine to be in the RCMP and
I know I’m getting closer to
having an opportunity to mix
8 4 | G AM E ON | N OVEM BER 2017
my two passions: The RCMP
and coaching. Community
involvement is a big part of
being a member of the force
and my goal is to be able to do
my job and coach no matter
where I might be stationed.”
Vandepoele was an
outstanding player who
became an accomplished
coach. She started playing at
age five in Gillam, where he
dad Neil worked for Manitoba
Hydro. The family later
moved to Landmark, just
south of the city, and Haley
played boys hockey until she
reached the Midget level.
After playing midget with the
female Eastman Selects, she
went to the Northern Alberta
Institute of Technology
for three seasons where
she took personal fitness
training and emergency
management to set herself
up for a career in the RCMP.
When she returned to
Manitoba in 2015, she started
coaching a boys’ Peewee team
in LaBroquerie and then
joined her father and Curtis
Smith as an assistant coach
with the 2016-17 MWJHL
champion Silvertips.
“I did some coaching when
I played Midget,” she said.
“I helped my dad coach my
younger sister’s Bantam
team. So I guess I started
coaching when I was 16.
Then I came back in May of
2015 from NAIT and that
fall, I started coaching in
LaBroquerie. That same year
I helped the Silvertips and
then last year, I was solely
committed to the Silvertips.
“Winning last season was
quite exciting,” she added. “I
had never won anything until
I got to NAIT and we won
three straight championships.
I wanted to win last year for
our girls. We really pulled
together and played well as
a team. Everyone says it’s
hard to win a championship
and that’s true. It’s just so
humbling and rewarding.”
Vandepoele, whose father
Neil has gained a reputation
as one of the top coaches
in junior women’s hockey,
believes more women should
be involved in coaching. To
that end, she encouraged
Nicole Gregoire to come
aboard this season to learn
the ropes as one of the
Silvertips’ assistants.
“Nicole has never coached
before and she’s getting her
certificate, but I really believe
that in our league, more
women should be coaching,”
she said. “I just think that
as a woman who has played,
I get the attention of the
girls a little more quickly.
It’s one thing to draw a
drill on the board and talk
about it. It’s another to be
able to jump into that drill
when you’re on the ice and
show the girls how it’s done
and take it up a notch.”
Vandepoele’s coaching
philosophy is simple. “I
just love the game and I
love sharing my hockey
experiences,” she said. “For
me it’s all about improving.
Winning is great, but it’s very
satisfying to see our players
get better with every game
and every practice. Player
development is the thing I
love. We had a saying on the
wall at NAIT that I used last
year: BEST – Better Every
Single Time. I was gratified
to know they were listening
when the players brought
it back last season. ❍