By TRT Staff with notes from arenalacrosseleague.ca
BRITISH COLUMBIA — A familiar face in Lower Mainland lacrosse circles will serve in a pair of key roles for the new West Division of the Arena Lacrosse League, after the announcement of the ALL West logos and team names.
Kevin Hill will act in a scouting/management role for the ALL West Division. Originally from Six Nations, Hill moved to the Lower Mainland about 20 years ago. The former goaltender remains active in the game serving as general manager of the Western Lacrosse Association’s Burnaby Lakers as well as working as a western scout for the National Lacrosse League’s Halifax Thunderbirds. He was also a scout for the Iroquois Nationals at the 2019 World Lacrosse Indoor World Championship held at Langley Events Centre.
Hill’s role will focus on ensuring the league has the best available talent playing while also supporting the teams’ coaching staffs through the draft preparation and selection process.
The season is slated to begin December 11 and each of the four teams will play a 12-game schedule with Langley Events Centre hosting the games. The full schedule and team names, as well as coaching staffs, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
For the ALL West Division, there will be no shortage of knowledge when it comes to the coaches either. Russ Heard, Rob Williams, Rod Jensen, and Tyler Crompton will lead the four respective teams when the ALL West Division.
Russ Heard has coached since 2001, spending time in the Western Lacrosse Association as the head coach with both Burnaby and New Westminster, as well as in the National Lacrosse League as an offensive coordinator with the Colorado Mammoth. He is also currently the head coach of the Burnaby Lakers Junior A team. He will be assisted by Andy Ogilvie and Blair Bradley with Warren Goss and Troy Dickson serving as the team’s managers.
Rod Jensen, has 40 years coaching experience, including time in the NLL as a head coach (Colorado Mammoth), offensive coordinator (Vancouver Ravens) and defensive coordinator (Calgary Roughnecks), as well as in the WLA with Coquitlam and Langley and in the BCJALL with Delta. He was also the defensive coordinator for Coquitlam when the team won the 2010 Minto Cup. Jensen still spends his summers behind the bench with Langley in the WLA. Dave Pym and Fred Klomp will serve as Jensen’s assistants while Darcy Dagan is the team manager.
Thirty-six-year-old Tyler Crompton has spent about 20 years coaching at various levels, including serving as an assistant with Port Coquitlam at both the Junior A and Intermediate A levels. He also coaches a trio of youth teams in Chilliwack, an elite youth travel program and serves as president of the Chilliwack Hawks Field Lacrosse program.
While now retired from playing, Crompton isn’t that far removed from his own playing days, having suited up for Team Finland two years ago at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.
Crompton will have Adam Smith and Chase Porter as assistant coaches.
The final coaching staff features Rob Williams with Tewanee Joseph and Yul Baker as assistant coaches while Ryan Williams and Brian Borkowski are the team managers.
Williams is the current head coach of the WLA’s Maple Ridge Burrards and has previously served as an assistant coach in the NLL with the Calgary Roughnecks, as well as with the Iroquois Nationals at the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, helping the team win the silver medal.
The head coaches were selected by Rob Buchan, who will serve as the director of lacrosse operations for the ALL West. Buchan has been involved in the sport as a player, scout and manager and currently serves as the vice-president and general manager of the Langley Thunder senior A and junior A teams, as well as working as a western scout for the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits. Rob joins his older brother Ken, who is serving as the commissioner.
The season is set to begin December 11, 2021 with the four teams slated to play a dozen games apiece, all of them at Langley Events Centre.
