Hockey / New Coaches for U18 Braves - Recorder & Times

New Coaches for U18 Braves - Recorder & Times

Date:  Source: CJHL Brockville Braves

Jonathon Brodie - Recorder & Times

The Brockville Braves organization look to be making a culture change from top to bottom.

The Braves announced Tuesday Steve Smith would be taking over the head coaching duties of the Braves U18 team, accepting the reins from Jesse Winchester who had a brief stint with the club after filling in for Karl Herbison's departure.

Smith has coached different minor and junior hockey teams in the area and this past season he was the bench boss for the Rideau St. Lawrence Kings Midget AA team that finished first in the south division to become OEMHL champions with a 25-4-3 record.

The addition seems to be a style of meshing on multiple levels.

Braves management approached Smith a few weeks ago. The two sides came to an agreement Monday and Smith was part of a package deal that included Ron Spero as his assistant coach. The two have been working on and off together for roughly 20 years.

In less than 24 hours of officially accepting the position, Smith has described things as moving "fullspeed ahead" as he spent the early parts of his job talking with Brockville Braves co-owner and general manager Dustin Traylen, Braves scout Dan Armstrong and Brockville Tikis head coach Grahame Hughes.

"I spent hours on the phone talking about different kids and different makeups of what we're looking for in the future," Smith said.

The new U18 coach added he wants to work closely with Hughes and the Jr. A Braves coach, which has yet to be named, to develop a game plan for his midget squad that would create a smoother transition for players who make the jump in the Braves development system.

Smith described his coaching style as holding players accountable to work within the systems the teams are practicing.

"The type of culture that we bring to our kids every year we preach accountability and we preach ownership," Smith said. You could almost replace Traylen's name for Smith's quote there because the Braves co-owner has been reading from that same script since coming to Brockville two seasons ago.

For the Braves as an organization, adding Smith and Spero check off a few boxes for the team.

Traylen said they had spoken to parents and people within Hockey Eastern Ontario, who made it clear finding a local and area coach was important.

The fact the coaching pair have seen success behind the bench checks off another box, added Traylen.

"After the season (Smith and Spero) had in midget we'd be hardpressed finding better coaches that are available and willing to help out and make the midget program that much stronger," Traylen said.

A big focus this year will be on adding more local talent to the U18 roster.

"We need to develop more local talent and these two guys right now are the best in the business to develop kids in the area," Traylen said. "They know everyone, they've coached for many years, they've had success and they're very knowledgeable hockey people."

Original Story at Recorder.ca