Meet Our Coaches

USA Hockey Certified Coach

Coach Vern has a college national championship under his belt, along with holding a very cool and interesting long-standing record for many years, but you’ll have to ask him about that record! 

Born and raised in the small town of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta in Western Canada, Vern grew up playing Canada's game from a very young age through his early adult years. After 4 years of Junior A hockey in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he captained the Fort Saskatchewan Traders to the league final in his final season, his playing days ended after a year of college hockey in Edmonton where he was a member of the Canadian College National Championship team Nait Ookpiks (1989-1990).

Vern is eager to give back to the sport that he grew up playing and to share his hockey knowledge with our players. 

Coach Vern and Coach Jesse are sharing Mites Head Coach duties. See Jesse's bio below.

USA Hockey Certified Coach

USA Hockey Certified Coach

Coach Andrew, a Sonoma County native, began his athletic journey in youth inline hockey and excelled at the national level in inline speed skating. In 2012, he transitioned to ice hockey and quickly developed a passion for the sport. Since then, Andrew has played in numerous rinks across California, participating in various leagues, teams, and levels, all while thoroughly enjoying the game and continuously expanding his knowledge.

Beyond his love for hockey, Andrew is deeply committed to volunteerism. He served as a mentor for Mentor Me of Petaluma and has a passion for working with children. In 2021, when his own children were ready to play hockey, he embarked on his coaching career with the Santa Rosa Flyers. Since then, Andrew has coached Little Sharks, Intro, House, Squirts and Peewees Spring Sessions, and the Mites and Squirts travel teams.

Andrew's ultimate goal is to instill his profound love for hockey in young players just starting out on the ice. He takes immense pride in his two children, Theo and Violet, who are advancing within the ranks of the Santa Rosa Flyers. Notably, his son Theo is also actively involved as a Student Coach.

USA Hockey Certified Coach

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 4

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 4

Coach Mike has been involved with the game of hockey for over 30 years as a player, coach, referee and administrator. He started off like many others in Northern California during the 1990’s by getting introduced to the sport through roller hockey. While growing up he skated with the North Bay Bandits, who made four national appearances at the NARCH Finals.

During his youth ice hockey years Coach Mike skated for legendary SRJHC Coach Warren Smith and was part of an 18U CAHA championship team in 1999. Following his minor hockey career, Mike went on to skate for the Division 1 ACHA program at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, winning a league championship in 2004.

Following college, Coach Mike wanted to help the future generations of players and get involved as a coach and mentor. In over 15 years of coaching, he has coached all ages and abilities, from 10u recreational teams to ACHA Collegiate teams. He has made four appearances as a Head Coach at the CAHA Finals with teams at the 14u and 18u levels, including two championships and one runner up. He was also a part of two league championships and a Regional Tournament appearance with the SRJC Polar Bears, one season as an Assistant Coach and one as the Head Coach.

Coach Mike has also been involved with USA Hockey at the State, Regional and National levels. He has served as an evaluator at NorCal Select Camps on numerous occasions. He has also worked as a team leader for USA Hockey select camps including the Pacific District Select Camp in San Jose, CA, the Western Regional Select Camp in Colorado Springs, CO and the National Select 17’s camp in Buffalo, NY. Along with coaching the 12u team this season, Coach Mike also serves as the Director of Coaches for the SRJHC. Anyone with questions or looking for unbiased advice on what hockey path would be best for their child is encouraged to reach out.

USA Hockey Certified Coach

Coach Kev started skating at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena when he was four years old. He grew up down the street from the rink and his mom would take him there often for many years. 

His mom was unable to afford ice hockey so though he continued ice skating, he began playing roller hockey and helped start roller hockey programs in Sonoma County at Star Skate and Cal Skate. In 1993, his mom Mickey, met Warren Smith when Kev and Warren’s boys, Andrew and Craig played soccer together. Warren helped his mom get a financial scholarship through the club which lead the way to his start in the ice hockey program with The Flyers in 1994. 

He skated in the House program in 1994 and his first travel season was in 1995 and he continued to play travel hockey through High School. After High School he played for the Santa Rosa Junior College Polar Bears Club for two years. 

In 2000 he became an assistant coach for The Flyer’s Peewee team and coached for two seasons. In 2001 he helped coach the Peewees to a NorCal Championship and second place in States. He’s played in The Snoopy Adult League, off and on, for 25 years. 

In 2017 he became the House Coordinator and has served and continues to serve in that position. He has very strong passion for The House program, as that is where he got his start.

He loves hockey and enjoys teaching and developing players. He was part of forming The Flyers Travel Prep program in 2022 and has helped many hockey players become travel players. 

Kev is a Sonoma State alumni and resides in Rohnert Park with his wife Stella and their two boys, Kayden and Kylan. Kayden plays baseball for Rancho Cotati High School and Kylan plays competitive soccer and basketball for Rohnert Park. 

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 5

Coach Jesse brings over 30 years of hockey experience to the Flyers. He played Tier 1 hockey in upstate New York and played his Junior career in the MJHL. He holds over a decade of coaching experience at the Youth, Tier, and High School levels. He is currently the Western Scout for the Chicago Cougars of the Premier Division of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). 

Jesse is passionate about growing the game in California and serves all of Northern California as a skills and development coach. He excels at providing High School and Tier players with skills, development, drive and opportunity to play at the next level and increasing their chances to play collegiately.

USA Hockey Certified Coach

USA Hockey Certified Coach

USA Hockey Certified Coach

Coach Derek has played hockey his whole life, playing competitively until the fall of 2019. He began his playing experience in Tomah, WI where he played his youth and high school hockey before moving on to the junior, ACHA D1, and minor professional levels (FPHL and SPHL).

Coaching for Derek began on a volunteer basis at 17-18 yrs old (2010-11) and continued onward in the form of camps, clinics, and private lessons to this day. Some of these experiences include working with Premier Goaltender Development in Minneapolis/St. Paul, USA Hockey U14 Central District Camp (2016), Pacific Coast Goaltending and various other camps. Mostly due to his playing experiences, Coach Derek has had the opportunity to work with many high level coaches that have had involvement in organizations such as USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, the San Jose Sharks, the Dallas Stars, and the St. Louis Blues as well as several other NCAA and minor professional organizations. 

Derek has a BS in Kinesiology & Health and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS-NSCA), which he has used to coach in fitness and sports performance settings. He enjoys blending his education and his hockey knowledge in his coaching. 

USA Hockey Certified Coach -- Level 4

Michael is a lifelong Flyer, first stepping onto Redwood Empire ice when goalie pads weighed 40 pounds. Having played all of his youth hockey in Santa Rosa, Coach Hawk also represented the club skating with the NorCal Blazers rep team, a precursor to tier hockey in California, before the briefest of stints with the Penticton Panthers of the BCJHL.  

Since his youth days, Hawk (as the kids like to call him) has spent 24 years dedicated to helping kids fall in love with the game the same way his coaches did for him. A level 4 coach, he started in SCAHA, working with goalies and behind the bench with the Valencia Express, Lady Ducks, Jr. Kings, California Heat, SoCal Vipers, and College of The Canyons. After returning to the North Bay, he has spent time helping out with the Flyers house and travel teams and the former varsity collaboration with Cardinal Newman HS.  

Hawk is a passionate advocate for hockey in California, curating a museum dedicated to its history. He loves sharing that history with the future generations and his goal as a coach is simply to help kids develop the skills and love for hockey that will keep them skating and having fun well into the Snoopy Senior Tourney. 

Go Flyers!

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 3

Coach Owen’s hockey resume is a geographical wonder and covers many parts of the USA. Owen grew up playing hockey in America’s hotbed for hockey, the State of Minnesota. After youth hockey, Owen played for Northfield High School where he served as team captain in his final season and was an All-Conference student athlete in the 1999-2000 hockey season. Owen played NCAA Division 3 for Gustavus Adolphus College after graduation from high school and continued onto playing at Washington State University at the ACHA collegiate level. Owen’s crafty and sneaky style of play that he developed from his years of college hockey is on display in Snoopy’s Adult Hockey League where he is a standout.

In addition to playing all over the USA, Owen has coached for Universities in Texas and Washington State. Owen was an assistant coach for Washington State University in the late 2000’s before serving three years as assistant coach for the University of Texas, both at the ACHA level. His college coaching experience is an excellent source of knowledge that he brings to the Santa Rosa Flyers youth club. Owen has been coaching with the Flyers since 2019, shortly after moving to Sonoma County.

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 4

Coach Tom’s coaching career started many years ago with the Flyers when helping to develop a generation of players that have now become adults, many of whom you can see playing for the Santa Rosa Growlers. After coaching a generation of Flyers from Squirts through High School during the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Tom took a coaching hiatus to finish his college hockey playing career. After graduation and moving back to Santa Rosa, Tom turned his focus to coaching at the Collegiate level where he amassed a record of 60-13-3 leading SRJC to 4 straight PCHA championships and making lots of noise at the National level. At one point SRJC was ranked 3rd this side of the Mississippi and eventually went on to compete at the ACHA Regional tournament. Since stepping aside as SRJC’s head coach, Tom returned to coaching the Flyers youth teams. He has coached at the Intro, Mite and Squirt levels over the past 7 years.

Tom’s playing days started as a Mite for the Flyers, peaked at the ACHA Division 2 collegiate level, then took a nosedive to the NHL (Night Hockey League – aka beer league) where he plays weekly with many of his college teammates. 

In addition to coaching and playing, Tom has established college clubs and served as General Manager for SRJC’s hockey team. Upon graduation from high school and winning the Midget A CAHA Championship in 2001 for the Santa Rosa Flyers, Tom realized he and his peers had no options to continue playing hockey locally and with support from Flyers alumni Jonathan Wachter and Carlos Perez they formed the SRJC’s Ice Hockey Club and team. After three years of causing a ruckus with his fellow Flyer alumni at the college level with SRJC, Tom transferred to CSU Sacramento. CSU Sacramento’s ice hockey team was on hiatus and needed resurrecting, Tom provided his experience in forming SRJC’s hockey club/team with CSU Sacramento students and the Hornets’ hockey team was once again alive and Tom was skating with them. The SRJC hockey team went on a four year hiatus when Tom and his peers moved onto four year colleges.

Tom moved home to Santa Rosa after receiving his college degree and was approached by the former Flyers players who he coached in the late 1990’s, requesting Tom to reestablish the SRJC hockey team so they’d have a place to play locally. Tom guided the SRJC team to reformation in the 2010-2011 hockey season and was railroaded into coaching as well. Tom served as General Manager of the SRJC hockey team from 2010 to 2019. The SRJC program is close to Tom’s heart, and he still provides support to the program and assists in raising funds. 

USA Hockey Certified Coach - Level 4

Coach Zane brings over 40 years of hockey experience to the Santa Rosa Flyers. A native of Anchorage Alaska, he grew up learning the game of hockey outside at school and with the Boys and Girls Club Youth Hockey Program. He played junior hockey for the South Coast Hockey Program in Orange County, California. During his 20-year career in the United States Coast Guard, Zane traveled around the country where he gained 10 years of youth hockey coaching experience across multiple divisions. He played a major role in the development for hundreds of players in Erie, Pennsylvania with the Erie Youth Hockey Association and the Santa Rosa Junior Hockey Club. Zane is married with a 12-year-old son, Cale and enjoys helping to spread the joy of hockey to others.