U18 AAA

Trevor Sprague will oversee both the Integrated and Female AAA programs in Northern B.C. Sprague has been involved in hockey in the north for over 30 years and has spent the last 17 years with teams in the BCEHL. He is entering his 11th season as the general manager of the Cariboo Cougars and seventh as the general manager of the Northern Capitals. Sprague coached in Prince George for over 20 years before moving to the management side of the game.  

During his coaching and management career, Sprague has won two provincial titles with the Cariboo Cougars’ U18 AAA team. Sprague is also a key driver behind the annual BC Hockey Winter Classic event that is held in Northern B.C. each winter. 

Tyler Brough began his coaching career in the 2013-14 season. He is entering his 12th season with the Cariboo Cougars program. His career coaching highlight is his first championship as head coach, in the 2017-18 season with the U18 AAA Cariboo Cougars.

During his playing days Brough won a National Junior A Championship with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) where he scored the game-winning goal. His stick and gloves from that game were taken to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Riley Emmerson is entering his fourth season with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and seventh in the BCEHL. He is entering his first season as Manager, Hockey, overseeing the U18 AAA, U17 AAA and U15 AAA programs, while also serving as head coach of the U15 AAA Thunderbirds. Emmerson previously served as head coach of the U18 AAA Thunderbirds and spent three seasons with the Valley West Giants.

Emmerson began his coaching career as a player-coach with the Edinburgh Capitals of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the U.K. during the final season of his playing career. Before transitioning to coaching, he enjoyed a 10-year professional playing career. In 2005, he was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Draft and went on to play in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), American Hockey League (AHL), Central Hockey League (CHL) and EIHL.

Leichel Duerksen enters her first season as manager of operations with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and her first season in the BCEHL. Duerksen has been involved in minor hockey for 10 years, beginning as a volunteer in 2016 before becoming a team manager in 2018. She joined the Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association board in 2020 and has since held roles as U15 director, U18 director, second vice-president, U7 co-ordinator and U9 director.

Duerksen helped introduce the Buddy Check for Jesse program to the association and organized its first Every Child Matters Orange Jersey Hockey Game. She holds an honours diploma in community support work and social services and works as an education assistant program co-ordinator at Vancouver Career College. Duerksen is passionate about inclusion, mental health awareness and creating positive environments that support the development and well-being of athletes.

The 2026-27 season will mark the fourth season in the BCEHL and third as head coach for Bronson Sharp. He joins the U18 Thunderbirds this season, after serving as head coach with the U15 Thunderbirds during the 2025-26 season. 

Sharp brings four seasons of Major Junior experience to Fraser Valley, playing with the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League from 2015-2019. Sharp grew up in Mission and got his start in hockey with Mission MHA. He is a graduate of the University of Fraser Valley and currently owns his own hockey skills business where he works with players at the NHL, AHL, Collegiate, WHL and AAA levels.

Steve Smith is entering his fifth season as a general manager in the BCEHL. Smith currently serves as the Director of Hockey Operations of Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association. Prior to this, he was the executive director of Kelowna Minor Hockey Association from 2017-2025, division director from 2010-2017, and a coach in the association from 2008-2017. 

The Kelowna native has compiled over 20 years of experience working in minor hockey in Kelowna.

After serving as an assistant coach within the U15 and U17 Okanagan Rocket squads for three seasons, Tyler Parfeniuk assumes the head coaching role with the U18 AAA Okanagan Rockets program for the 2026-27 season, his second year in the role. 

A former player with the Rockets’ program from 2007-2009, he continued his playing career in the junior ranks, spending three seasons with the Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Originally from Kelowna, Parfeniuk is a graduate of Okanagan College, where he earned a Bachelors of Business Administration. Away from the rink, Parfeniuk works as a litigated insurance adjuster.

Troy Larsen assumes the role as general manager of the Thompson Blazers program for a third consecutive season. Larsen is an experienced member of the hockey community in Kamloops, having served as the Vice President of Kamloops Minor Hockey Association from 2011-2019, and the Director of Hockey Operations for the Kamloops Junior Blazers Development program from 2015-2021.

Originally from Fort St. John, Larsen attended University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops. Outside of hockey, Larsen works for Bell Canada.

Ed Patterson enters his second season as head coach of the U18 Thompson Blazers. Prior to joining the Blazers, he served as head coach of the Female U18 Thompson-Okanagan Lakers for two seasons, and the U17 Okanagan Rockets for one season. He spent eight years coaching and facilitating clinics with Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, eight years as head coach of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Kamloops Storm and the two seasons as an assistant coach with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL).  

Patterson played his minor hockey with Delta Minor Hockey Association before playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds, Swift Current Broncos and Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He accumulated 15 years of professional hockey experience, playing in the International Hockey League (IHL) in North America, Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the United Kingdom and the National Hockey League, where he played 68 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1993 to 1997.  

Jamie Fiset is entering his ninth year as the general manager of the Valley West Giants and brings an additional nine years of working experience in minor hockey with him. He has previously been involved with BC Hockey's Program of Excellence, including a stint as the head coach of Team BC at the 2016 WHL Cup.  

Fiset was a board member with Langley Minor Hockey Association from 2010-2014. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor's Degree in Education at the University of British Columbia before earning his Master of Arts degree at Royal Roads University. Away from the rink, Fiset is a teacher.

Sony Grewal enters his first season as head coach of the U18 Valley West Giants and his third season in the BCEHL. Grewal served as an assistant and defence coach with the Giants during the 2025-26 season after holding the same role with the U17 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in 2024-25. His minor hockey experience also includes head coaching roles with Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association and two seasons as an assistant coach with Langley Minor Hockey Association’s U15 A1 team.

Grewal has been involved with BC Hockey’s Program of Excellence for three years and was selected for the Hockey Canada Certified Skills Program in June 2026. The Surrey, B.C., native played his junior hockey for the Seattle Totems and El Paso Rhinos of the Western States Hockey League. He owns Puck Pros Hockey, where he leads player development and high-performance training, and is also a Red Seal electrician.

Ken Guthrie is in his ninth season coaching with the Vancouver NE Chiefs and his third as head coach of the Chiefs' U18 AAA side. He grew up in Burnaby, B.C. and began coaching with Burnaby Minor Hockey Association. Guthrie started with the U18 AAA Chiefs as a Video Coach and was the head coach of the U17 AAA team for three seasons.

Guthrie enjoys the competitive environment and working with players to help them achieve their goals while building connections and helping them become better players and people.

Steph Wagner enters her first season as general manager of the Vancouver North West Hawks and her second season in the BCEHL. Wagner has been involved in minor hockey for 35 years and has served as president of PCMHA since 2022 after working as a division manager in 2020.

Wagner has been an assistant coach with the Prospects Spring Program since 2025 and was an assistant coach with the Tri-City Predators U18 team during the 2025-26 season. The Surrey, B.C., native played minor hockey with Surrey Minor Hockey and Surrey Female Hockey. She studied marketing and communications at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and real estate trading at the UBC Sauder School of Business. Wagner works as director of operations for Fusion West Lacrosse.

Tim Knight has coached hockey programs around the lower mainland and Sea to Sky area for the past 25 years. He has been involved with BC Hockey's U16 Pursuit of Excellence program for 10 years and has coached multiple U18AAA/U15AAA clubs with the BCEHL.

He is the founder of three High School hockey academies in the Sea to Sky Region and also was part of establishing the BC Hockey High School Championship BCHSHL Pilot. His goal is for the program to serve the young men throughout their years in hockey, but more importantly teach them values that they can take for the rest of their lives.