An off season of change has taken a big step going into next year for the Columbia Valley Rockies with the hiring of Marc Ward to be the team new General Manager and Head Coach.

The team had been looking for a new coach over the past few weeks after the decision was made by the board of directors that a change was needed. Originally from Edmonton Marc moved to Calgary last June and continued his coaching training.

“I was working with the Calgary Royals and finishing off my Hockey Canada level two certification. I was put in touch with Al (Miller) and I see this as a great step to become a career coach.”

Though it is very early into his career with the team Ward has a clear idea on what he feels are important steps for any team to be a success.

“I want to take the team in a winning direction. I want to create a hard working environment and put a good product on the ice. Being a community-based team I want a lot of community involvement. I think outside of learning the game and on ice skills player have to learn off ice skills as well. Developing them as young adults and showing them what it takes to go to that higher level,” he said.

According to a press release about the hiring, the Rockies organization sees Ward as a coach with a strong background in mentoring players.

Ward was a long time instructor with different organizations that includes camps for the University of Alberta Golden Bears. He was also the head coach of the Calgary Royals Minor Midget AAA gold team that won a silver medal at the 2011 Sutter Cup Championship.

Rockies’ president  Al Miller is thrilled to have Ward signed on for next year.

“I am very excited. We are raising the bar and have gone from a part-time coach to a full-time coach, we are going to concentrate on hockey all year round and we are going to bring some excitement into this game…This is going to be a positive step forward.”