Speakers, Coaches & Instructors

Instructor/Coach

Nick Levett

Nick is now working as a consultant in the space of player development, particularly in grassroots. He is a strong believer in supporting people to become adaptable, thoughtful and curious individuals, whether they are in the sports field or business world. He enjoys asking the challenging questions, helping people see new things and make creative connections to allow them to thrive in a healthier and happier way.

Nick served previously as Head of Coaching at UK Coaching, Nick brings a passionate and engaging approach to coach and player development, helping drive forward change and challenge the status quo.

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As part of this role Nick led the Coaching Team, which plays a crucial role in developing coaches and the coach development workforce across NGBs, and looks to revolutionise ways of working. He is an active coach developer, supporting coaches working in grassroots sport through to international and professional coaches across four different sports.

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Nick worked at the English Football Association for 14 years, leading national projects in a variety of areas from education to setting up the FA Skills Programme in 2007; a programme with 90 full-time coaches focusing on the 5-11 age group. For six years Nick led the revolutionising of grassroots football in England as National Development Manager, before becoming FA Talent Identification Manager in 2015

Instructor/Coach - Field Hockey

Michel Kinnen

FIH High-Performance District Manager & Coach, FIH Hockey Academy Instructor, European Hockey Federation Mentor, Belgian Hockey Federation High-Performance Mentor

Instructor/Coach - Field Hockey

Patricia Wright-Alexis

Patricia is the Provincial Head Coach for Field Hockey BC and is a certified FIH Hockey Academy Level 3 Coach and FIH educator with eleven years coaching experience. She has been involved in development and strategic planning for field hockey for over eight years.

She is a former national player and captain and represented Trinidad and Tobago at the junior and senior levels for fifteen years before retiring and going full time into coaching.

Coach/Instructor

Krista Thompson

Krista was appointed Head Coach at the University of Victoria in 2022. Previously, Thompson spent 26 years (1997-2022) as the assistant coach for the Vikes.

She earned her NCCP level 4 coaching certification from the National Coaching Institute in 2000, and her Masters of Coaching Studies from the University of Victoria in 2003. She is an FIH Educator, NCCP Level 4 Coach, Former National Player (Canada). Thompson graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Physical Education in Sports Science in 1996.
 
Thompson has coached field hockey at the middle school, high school, regional, provincial, national, and international levels. In March, 2011 she was the recipient of the PISE Women in Sport - Female Coach of the Year. Thompson is Vancouver Island's regional high performance girls head coach for Field Hockey BC and has coached multiple provincial team programs. Thompson travelled with the senior team as they competed in the 2014 XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and has been a staff member on numerous tours. 

Instructor/Coach

Dave Cox

Dave has coached in the US, UK, and Canada. He has spent the last 25 years coaching kids, recreational adults, university athletes, provincial and high performance athletes. In teams he has run programs as the Head Coach and managed specific tasks as an Assistant Coach. Dave's approach is very athlete centric and he believes in empowering players to be confident and make decision on their own. Dave
specializes in goalie training, video analysis and penalty corner optimization.

Coach/Instructor - Field Hockey

Mark Egner

Mark currently serves as the Dartmouth Field Hockey Head Coach. In addition to this role, he is the Head Coach of the USA Field Hockey U18 national team & works as a Coach Educator.

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A passionate learner Mark holds an M.Sc in Performance Coaching from the University of Stirling and is currently an FIH Performance Coach Candidate.

Egner also has several years of experience with USA Field Hockey, having served as coach, site director and selector for the Futures program in Virginia. In those roles, he worked with various individuals in the high school and collegiate ranks to identify and train those on the path playing for their country. 

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Egner earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the Church of Ireland College of Education in 2009, and completed the same degree with Honors the following year at Trinity College Dublin. He completed his Master's of Science in Performance Coaching from the University of Stirling in Scotland in 2019. Mark is also FIH High-Performance Coach.

Coach/Instructor - Football

Chris Morris

Coach Morris was named 2023 USports Coach of the year as he lead the University of Alberta Golden Bears in an extremely successful season. Originally from Scarborough, Ont., Morris holds two degrees (bachelor of physical and health education – University of Toronto 1995 and bachelor of education – University of Alberta 1997), is a two-time CIS all-Canadian while playing for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, and he won the J.P. Metras Trophy as the most outstanding down lineman in the country in 1990. Coach Morris played with the Edmonton Eskimos,  was a team captain, and he played in five Grey Cup games with the Esks, winning three (1993, 2003, and 2005), and was given a plaque on the Eskimos’ Wall of Honour in Commonwealth Stadium in 2008.

Coach/Instructor - Water Polo

Branko Peković

Branko Peković is a Serbian water polo coach and former player. He was a member of the Serbia men's national water polo team which won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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Coach/Instructor

Cory Philpot - Football

Cory Philpot is a Canadian football coach and a former professional running back who is currently the head Provincial, Head Coach for the British Columbia Provincial Football Association.  He played for eight seasons in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played on the Lions' winning Grey Cup team in 1994.

Coach/Instructor - Water Polo

Christina Kouvousis

Christina is a coach/learning facilitator and previous NCAA Athlete.Christina Kouvousis was recently the Provincial Head Coach for Water Polo West and led the development of the Provincial Training Centre and Team BC programs.

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Referee Developer - Water Polo

Tyler Pagel

Bio to come