MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A few months after earning his second Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference women's hockey coach of the year award in five years, Chris Leeming is joining the MacEwan Griffins.
Moving from Olds College, where he was at the helm of the Broncos for the past five seasons, Leeming has been named interim head coach of the Griffins women's hockey program.
The Harrow, Ont. native will guide the Griffins into their sophomore Canada West season in 2022-23 after longtime bench boss Lindsay McAlpine accepted a year-long secondment as MacEwan's Associate Director of Athletics.
"Chris has done some great work in his career as a women's hockey coach at the collegiate level and we are thrilled for him to join the Griffins this season," said Mrak. "He has a great work ethic and is well respected by his peers and colleagues.
"I think that he will be an excellent fit for the current group of young women on the roster."
Leeming has an extensive coaching history, including three seasons as an assistant coach in U SPORTS with the University of Windsor (2014-17) – his alma mater, where he earned Bachelor of Arts Honours and Bachelor of Education degrees in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Leeming garnered ACAC coach of the year honours in 2019-20 and 2021-22 with Olds College and has also built a strong resume as a go-to coach and mentor with Hockey Alberta. Since 2020, he also held the title of Student Success Coach for the Olds College Athletics department.
"First and foremost, I would like to say how appreciative I am of the opportunities that I received at Olds College to help me develop not only as a coach, but more importantly as a person, that have helped to set the stage for this new opportunity," said Leeming. "Secondly, I wanted to thank Joel and Lindsay for trusting me with the program that she has dedicated the past 12 years of her life to. Following in the steps of someone like her will have both advantages and challenges, however I am eager to begin working with the team to find opportunities for growth to build upon the foundation that is in place.
"Looking at the list of returning players, as well as the incoming recruits, I believe this team has a lot of potential to be actualized that will facilitate our own measures of success."
The Griffins women's hockey team opens the 2022-23 Canada West season on the road Sept. 30 at Regina.