Kapusta brings invaluable coaching experience T
Wildcats Hockey Club By Larry O’Connor
omas Kapusta is a teacher whose pupils just hap- pen to wear skates and carry sticks. The newly named Wildcats Hockey Club head
coach and the organization’s first-ever director of play- er development will oversee the progression of some 200 players on 13 teams for the Anaheim-based outfit. Kapusta previously served as the Los Angeles Jr. Kings’ director of coaching and Toyota Sports Center’s director of hockey opera- tions.
With the Wildcats, the 1995 Czech
Olympic Team member will work with fledglings in the organization’s grassroots California Development Hockey League all the way through to the program’s elite travel players.
Kapusta, 45, an Edmonton Oilers
fifth-round draft choice in 1985, earned his bachelor’s degree and teaching certifi- cate at Cal State Long Beach and worked as a middle and high school substitute teacher.
Tomas Kapusta
When it comes to teaching the hockey basics, the husband and father of two doesn’t prefer the antiquat- ed one-room school approach, though he learned the game in his native Czechoslovakia through rigid rep- etition.
“For me, it was always hard work and discipline, but at the same time, while working with kids, they need competition and fun,” Kapusta said. “To accom- plish that, they want to play a game - any sort of game:
a small-area game, cross-ice game, full-ice game. “They need a variety of things to work on so they don’t get bored. That’s exactly what the Wildcats and the CDHL program has the intention to do.” Kapusta will oversee all facets of the Wildcats pro- gram, including the club’s burgeoning girls enterprise. All players - whether in-house or on AAA travel teams - get the same attention, he said. He’ll work with Wildcats president Ben Frank and hockey director Paul Esdale in craft- ing development programs.
“Everything matters to us,” said Ka- pusta, whose son Samuel, 12, plays for the Wildcats. “That’s why it’s so impor- tant that we work as a team.”
Frank was impressed with Kapusta’s extensive resume, which included playing professionally in the Czech Republic, Fin- land and Canada, as well as the U.S. with the West Coast Hockey League’s Long Beach Ice Dogs. Kapusta was a member of the Czech
National Team at the 1994 Winter Olym- pics and won silver medals at the World Junior Cham- pionship in 1985 and 1987 and a bronze in the 1993 World Championship. The Wildcats president also appreciated Kapusta’s coaching acumen. He’s won Bantam A and Squirt A SCAHA and CAHA titles with the Jr. Kings. Kapusta has a Masters (Level 5) certification from USA Hockey. “Tomas’ experience is strong in building players
from the ground up - the right way through hard work and character,” Frank said. “With that mindset, he’s
WildcatsHockey.com nus. challenges
Being in the classroom, he’s acutely aware of the reaching
today’s youth, which weren’t
present when he was growing up in Eastern Europe. Programs have to be tailored to meet those divergent needs, he said.
“Right now, it’s a different environment from when I was growing up and many of my peers were growing up; we were learning the skills on our own,” he said. “Even here or back in Europe, the emphasis was on playing games outside of organized hockey. “I think that trend shifted because society shifted and now we try to bring the outside world I grew up in into the hockey arena where kids can spend the whole day there playing in an organized and unorganized fashion, to be able to be creative. “I don’t think we can go back,” he added. “We can only go forward in implementing the things we were doing.”
proven to develop successful teams that win, but never by ‘win at all cost.’” Kapusta’s arrival adds another dynamic in terms of
teaching. The Wildcats have a Canadian influence with Frank (Toronto) and Esdale (Edmonton) both hailing from north of the border, while Alex Semenov and Alex Vasilevski provide a Russian perspective to hockey development. “We’re really well-rounded there and we plan to use all of those experiences together,” Frank said. Kapusta’s educational background is an added bo-
2012-2013 COACHING ASSIGNMENTS
Mite B: Tomas Kapusta & Sean Riley, Asst. Mite A: Tomas Kapusta Squirt BB: Alex Semenov Squirt A2: Alex Vasilevski Squirt A1: Paul Esdale Pee Wee B: Mike Lind Pee Wee A 2: Blake Rielly Pee Wee A 1: Berkley Hoagland Pee Wee AA 01: Ben Frank & Alex Semenov Pee Wee AA 00: Ben Frank & Peter Khachatrian Pee Wee AAA: Tomas Kapusta & Ben Frank, Asst.
Bantam B: Alex Semenov Bantam A 98/99: Peter Khachatrian Bantam A 99: Berkley Hoagland Bantam A 98: Maik Tatavosian Bantam AA 98/99: Steve Savage Bantam AA 99: Alex Vasilevski Bantam AA 98: Don Johnson Bantam AAA: Tomas Kapusta & Alex Vasilevski, Asst. Midget 16 A: Maik Tatavosian Midget 16 AAA: Tomas Kapusta & Mike Lind, Asst. Midget 18 AAA: Paul Esdale
C L INI C S & TRYOUT S
A/B pre-tryout clinics: June 19-21 AA pre-tryout clinics: June 5-7
AAA pre-tryout clinics: please contact
tomas@wildcatshockey.com to apply
AAA tryouts: June 1-3 AA tryouts: June 8-10
LADY WILDCATS TRYOUTS 10U AAA . 12U AAA . 14U AAA . 16U AAA
WildcatsHockey.com RubberHockey .com 9
The fastest growing program in SCAHA! THE BEST IN PROFESSIONAL COACHING FOCUSED ON LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT!
All tryouts at KHS Ice Arena
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