Coach Bios 2024-2025 (Central York Girls Hockey Association)

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U22AA (Junior)
Head Coach: Steve Dempsey
[email protected]
Steve Dempsey will be going into his sixth season with the U22 AA team. For the past five years he has focused his energy on both recruiting and building an elite homegrown high performance program that offers players the opportunity to train and practice in a unique pre-university setting. Focusing on family core values like accountability, selflessness, attitude, and respect he is determined to build a program that resonates with like minded character focused players.

Previous to taking on this position, he was an assistant coach for 12 years with the York University Lions women's hockey team beginning in 2009 working with Dan Church, the former Canadian Olympic Coach.

Steve was responsible for taking the lead role with the defense and the penalty kill units. Under Steve's guidance he has helped several defenders receive Ontario and Canadian First and Second Team All-star positions. The penalty kill unit was ranked as one of the top 5 penalty kill units in the country twice during his time at York.

In addition to his work with the Lions, Steve has been a Head Coach with the Ontario Women's Hockey Association High Performance U16 and U18 programs. In 2014 and 2019 his team went undefeated during the summer development camp.

Internationally, he has also worked with the New Zealand National Women's team program as a mentor coach. In 2012 he helped New Zealand to their best IIHF World ranking and their best finish at the IIHF World Championships.

Steve Dempsey is a fully certified NCCP HP1 and HP2 level coach and has been certified in Hockey Canada's High Performance Program.

He has been coaching for over 35 years in competitive, house league, and high school settings in hockey, soccer, and softball.

U18AA
Head Coach:Steve Dempsey
[email protected]
U15AA
Head Coach:David Heath
[email protected]

Dave has an extensive background in coaching, spanning over 20 years. He has been involved in the Panthers organization for 9 years including the last four at the Midget level. In addition to coaching, he has also served on the board of BWGMHA as VP of Rep and is currently the VP of Hockey Operations for the York Simcoe Express AAA. With this experience he brings a wealth of knowledge on building competitive programs.

The U15AA team will be working closely with other PHP teams and our head Junior coach to ensure that the player’s individual skill development and team concepts are aligned. This collaboration will provide the foundation, exposure, and pathway for player progression at the AA level and beyond. 

For more details on the program please contact [email protected]

U13AA
Head Coach:Mike Macgillivray
[email protected]
Mike has been involved with the Panthers organization for 6 years in various coach/assistant roles, currently coaching the U11AA Panthers.  Hockey has always been a part of his life and he places the highest value on strength of character, commitment and camaraderie.  These values are the true benefits of team sport.  He looks forward to providing an environment where positive life experiences can be gained by these young athletes.
 
Mike’s focus will be on providing an engaging and progressive skill development program for the players as they enter into the Panthers High Performance stream. 
 
U11AA
 Head Coach: Christine Bailkowski
[email protected]
 Christine brings 15 years of coaching and skill development experience to the U11AA program, with past coaching experiences at the U9 level up to the U22 Junior Panther program.  She has most recently coached at the U9 and U11 level, where she has focused on fostering a positive learning environment to allow players to continue to build their core foundational skills.  

Christine is a CYGHA Panther alumni who competed at the NCAA Division 1 level for Clarkson University after graduating from the Junior Panther program.  She also has extensive experience in individual skill development having run a hockey skill program privately for 15+ years. 

Christine believes in a team-first coaching philosophy, with a focus on ensuring players have the skills needed to succeed at the next level.

For details on the program please contact Christine at [email protected]