MONTREAL -- Alyssa Cecere, a full-time associate coach with the McGill University women's hockey team, is one of two Quebecers, and among 17 across the country to receive a BFL female coach-of-the-year award. The news was announced recently by Hockey Canada, in partnership with BFL CANADA.

Cecere, a native of Brossard, Que., was designated as the high-performance nominee from Hockey Quebec, while Stéphanie Grenier, who guides a novice program in the Gatineau Valley Hockey Association, was the province's top community coach. Each recipient also merits a bursary of $1,000.

Through the program, one high-performance and one community coach from each province and the northern territories have been recognized, with a national winner in each category. The 2020 national recipients are Teresa Hutchinson, an assistant coach with the York University Lions, and Samantha Holmes-Domagala, a native of Mississauga, who coaches at various youth levels with Girls Hockey Calgary. A complete list of winners for each category by province and territory can be found HERE.

Cecere, who served as an assistant with the Quebec under-18 girls team at the 2019 Canadian championship in Manitoba last November, assisted McGill head coach Peter Smith in guiding the Martlets to an RSEQ conference championship upset over the Montreal Carabins in the 2020 best-of-three Quebec university league finals. McGill qualified for the U SPORTS Final Eight in Charlottetown but the tourney was canceled after the opening day on March 12, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A 2011 McGill graduate with a physical education degree, Cecere has been behind the Martlets bench since August, 2014 and has won a plethora of championship rings at various levels. She began her coaching career as an assistant at Dawson for three years and worked for seven summers as an instructor at the Martlet Hockey School. She was also a physical education instructor at various academic institutions, including Saint John's elementary school in St. Jean, Que., Harmony elementary school in Chateauguay, Que., and was employed by the Riverside School Board in St. Hubert. During her student years, she interned as a stagiaire instructor at Centennial Regional, Roslyn Elementary in Westmount, Que., Marymount Academy in Montreal and Harold Napper Elementary in Brossard.

In her playing days, Cecere helped guide McGill to national championships in 2008, 2009 and 2011. In 2009, she helped Canada win gold at the FISU world university games in Harbin, China. She also skated to a Clarkson Cup national title in 2012 with the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. In her five seasons as a left-winger with the Martlets, Cecere served three years as an alternate captain and scored 43 goals with 110 points and 118 penalty minutes in 178 games overall. Prior to McGill, the fluently bilingual Cecere attended Centennial Regional high school and captained the Dawson College Blues to multiple titles. 
 
The selection committee included Olympic gold medalists Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Gina Kingsbury, director of women's national teams with Hockey Canada, and Caroline Ouellette. They were joined by Steve Lacoste, national practice leader and vice-president – sports and leisure with BFL CANADA, and Teal Gove, manager of hockey development with Hockey Canada.

"Thank you to all the coaches for allowing our young girls and women to develop and reach their full potential in a positive and supportive environment," said Barry F. Lorenzetti, president of BFL CANADA, which has committed to focussing on growth and development opportunities for women in the game, on the ice and behind the bench. "Thank you for investing your time and energy in their passion and their future – you are making a real difference in their lives by being such dedicated coaches. {We are) proud to be a part of this journey in making the future of women's hockey brighter."

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca