As Rocky Mountain Raiders hockey enters a new era it will be led by a new face behind the bench.
J’nai Mahadeo was named the head coach of the Rocky Mountain Raiders U18 AAA team in the Alberta Female Hockey League as it makes the transition to daytime programming through Okotoks schools four days per week.
“I think they’re going in a great direction,” Mahadeo said. “And you actually get to have a life outside of school and also study academics, put some work in the other things and be part of the community as well.
“It’s always been my goal to coach at the highest level and this is a great stepping stone, the AAA level, and working with the best athletes at this age level. The further I got in and the talks I had I’m just super excited with what they’re trying to do with the program, a big shift.”
Mahadeo, who skated for the then Highwood Raiders in 2008-09, brings a great deal of experience at several levels as a player before making the switch to coaching two seasons ago.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to come back and help the young women out there to have a path to go forward. I’m someone that experienced it all and can help them,” she said. “I think the OOAA (Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association) is going in a great direction with the female program and making sure the gender equality piece is matched with the boys there.
“And helping them grow the game and not only grow the game, but give them opportunities such as I had and I think that’s my goal is to get OOAA as a recognized program and the Raiders and hopefully down the line people want to come and universities are reaching out to us or teams from overseas.”
The new bench boss can speak from first-hand experience.
After three seasons with the Edge Academy she moved onto four years of collegiate hockey with Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania from 2012-16, and twice appeared in the NCAA Frozen Four tournament with the Lakers.
“That was a great experience,” she said. “After that I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go and one of the coaches from Edge contacted me, she coaches in Berlin, and I had the opportunity to go out there.
“I only planned to stay one year, but it was a great opportunity and I loved it, fell in love with travelling and the European lifestyle.”
Mahadeo skated for two seasons in Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga with OSC Eisladies and Eisbaren Junior in the capital city.
“Coming from North America I was able to learn a different style of hockey, my coach was also from Calgary, she was trying to get the girls over there to learn so I got to play with some national players,” she said. “It was a great experience, playing overseas is something that’s very appealing to a lot of players after university.”
Upon returning to Calgary, she got back into coaching with the Calgary Fire’s U18 AA program for the past two seasons and quickly found her voice behind the bench.
“I knew I couldn’t give up hockey and as soon as I got behind the bench and saw the passion from the girls and the impact you can make on an individual I fell in love with it right away,” she said. “I always look back at my time (playing) and someone put in their time for me and now I see it as my time to give back and put my time in for someone else, especially in the female game.
“My goal is to help these young women whether it’s education or moving on to post-secondary, helping them achieve their goals.”
Joining Mahadeo on the staff are assistant coaches Maia Smith-Merovitz and Lauren Dormer, the former she coached with in Calgary and the latter a childhood friend currently studying gender equity in sports.
“We all bring different skill sets and experiences which we feel will be very beneficial for these girls,” she said. “We’ve got that diverse background where we can help them get to the next level.
“Hockey is not the same as it was 60 years ago, I consider myself a student of the game and I’m still learning new things every day to help these young women.”
Looking ahead to the 2020-21 campaign, there’s groundwork being done to build towards the future, particularly on the female AAA side of things were there are no geographic boundaries when it comes to recruiting.
“We’re putting in the work now, doing the research on the players and trying to build a tryout system, reaching out and encouraging everyone to tryout, that’s our biggest thing,” she added. “We’re new faces to the association, come out, try out and let us see what you have.
“A lot of work goes into the back end with seasonal planning and we’re approaching it as if COVID is not a thing and we’re ready to hit the ground running in August and go from there.”
