After a successful season in an interim role, Leeming named fifth head coach in program history
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It's been an unforgettable couple of weeks for Chris Leeming.
On May 25, Hockey Alberta named him head coach of Team Alberta's U18 female squad for the nationals in November.
And on Friday, he officially had the interim tag removed from his position as bench boss of the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team.
After guiding the Griffins through their second Canada West season in 2023-24, the Harrow, Ont. native will officially become the fifth head coach in the program's 24-year history.
"We are really happy to have Chris back with the women's hockey program," said MacEwan Director of Athletics Joel Mrak. "He did a great job stepping in to fill some big shoes with Lindsay (McAlpine) on secondment as our Associate Director of Athletics last season.
"Chris received full support from his team to lead them through this transitionary period moving forward, and I am looking forward to watching the team move the needle under his leadership."
In 2022, Leeming left his position at Olds College, where he had been head coach of the Broncos since 2017, to fill in for long-time Griffins bench boss McAlpine, who was on a year-long secondment as MacEwan's Associate Director of Athletics.
�� NEWS
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) August 4, 2022
Two-time @ACAC_Sport WHKY coach of the year Chris Leeming of @OldsBroncos has been named interim head coach of @MacEwanU women's hockey @MacEwanHockey for the 2022-23 @CanadaWest @USPORTS_Hockey season.
Welcome, @cleems77!#GriffNation
STORY➡️https://t.co/BygL1MlzLt pic.twitter.com/wZq50Olx50
With McAlpine remaining in that role, the Griffins underwent a competitive hiring process for a new full-time continuing women's hockey head coach, which determined Leeming was the ideal candidate for the job.
"I am grateful for the trust in me to continue building the program into a competitive Canada West contender from both Joel and Lindsay, as well as for the opportunity to have this position as there are only so many of them in the country," said Leeming. "The past season was a lot of fun, and I felt that our group was able to build off of the foundation that Lindsay had started the previous year in the program's first U SPORTS season."
After finishing with a to a 6-20-2 record in 2022-23, Griffins will be looking to take the next step in the fall as they aim to qualify for the Canada West playoffs for the first time.
"Overall, I believe that our team evolved quite a bit this past year as we started to believe in ourselves more and more every week as we worked through our process and gained confidence in one another by valuing playing like a family, respecting one another and finding opportunities for growth in all that we did," said Leeming. "Our incoming recruit class will contribute to that progress, supplementing a strong returning core group that has gained some important experience of what it means to compete at the Canada West level."
Leeming was twice named Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference women's hockey coach of the year during his five-season stint at Olds College. He also has previous post-secondary experience as an assistant coach at the University of Windsor (2014-17).
NEWS: Hockey Alberta is pleased to announce the Team Alberta U18 Female staff for 2023.
— Team Alberta Hockey (@TeamABHockey) May 25, 2023
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Since moving to Wild Rose Country, he's been heavily involved with Hockey Alberta, including serving as a mentor coach at the Alberta Challenge for the past two years. The governing body of hockey in the province recently gave him the nod as head coach of the U18 team, which will comprise the best 2006 and 2007-born players in Alberta for nationals Nov. 3-11.
