MONTREAL -- Alyssa Cecere has been officially appointed full-time head coach of the McGill University women's hockey team. A fluently bilingual 33-year-old native of Brossard, Que., she served in an interim role since last September.

"Alyssa has been well-mentored for this position by Peter Smith over the past seven years in her role as a full-time associate coach and also supported more recently through our Women in Sport program, which seeks to create such opportunities," said Geoffrey Phillips, executive director of McGill Athletics and Recreation.  "She has flourished in a winning culture here, with 10 trips to the U SPORTS championship tournament, including five appearances as a coach and three national titles as a player."

A full-time associate coach with the Martlets since 2014,  Cecere (pronounced CHETCHER-ray), received a BFL Canada female coach-of-the-year award in May 2020, as the high-performance nominee from Hockey Quebec. She was an assistant with the Quebec under-18 female team at the 2019 Canadian championship in Manitoba.

"It has been an honour to wear the McGill colours as both a student-athlete and as a coach," said Cecere, who belongs to a rare group to reach the national gold medal game in five consecutive seasons during her playing career.  A member of five RSEQ conference championship-winning teams at McGill, she collected three gold medals at the nationals (2008, 2009, 2011) and a pair of silvers. 

"I am proud to represent the University and continue developing a winning culture for the Martlets hockey program. After this last year of preparation, I anticipate hitting the ice in full-stride and am looking forward to what is ahead. I am very excited about this opportunity."

A product of Centennial Regional high school and Dawson College, where she captained the Blues, Cecere skated for five seasons with McGill before earning a physical education degree in 2011. A left-winger who led the Martlets for three years as an alternate captain, she tallied 43 goals and 110 points with 118 penalty minutes in 178 games overall. In 2009, Cecere played for a Canadian university all-star squad that won gold at the FISU Winter Games in Harbin, China. After concluding her collegiate career, she toiled with the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, helping them win a Clarkson Cup national title in 2012.

A long-time instructor at the Martlet Hockey School, Cecere served as an assistant coach at Dawson for three years prior to rejoining the McGill program in 2014.
 
She is the fourth female currently serving as a varsity head coach at McGill, joining a group that includes Rachèle Béliveau (volleyball), Rikki Bowles (basketball) and Lindsay Duncan (artistic swimming).  


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (off)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca