Category: Builder

As a volleyball player, coach and builder, Rene Quintal has acquired a long list of accomplishments over the years. Starting with the grass roots of volleyball, Rene was the founder of the Prince Albert Atomic Volley Program in 2007. The program developed youngsters from kindergarten through to grade 6. Many of the players who graduated from this program went on to participate in provincial and national team programs.

From grass roots to high school, Rene has served as the St. Mary High School volleyball coach since 2002 with continued success. Teams coached by Rene won Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association gold medals in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2023.

The Prince Albert Volleyball Club consists of players from across the province, many of them coming to take advantage of Rene’s expertise in the game. His success with Prince Albert Volleyball Club includes nine gold medals across three different age categories ranging from Under 15 to Under 18, from 2003 to 2023. Rene also coached Prince Albert Volleyball Club teams at nationals on 13 different occasions, with teams finishing in the top 10 in Canada in seven of those years.

Team Saskatchewan has benefited from Rene’s skills as a coach, as he was the provincial team coach from 2003-2005, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Under 18 men’s national tournament in Saskatoon. He also went to the 2005 Jeux Canada Games as the Team Saskatchewan coach, finishing sixth. At the Saskatchewan Winter Games, Rene was the head coach of Zone 8 in 2006, leading a gold medal finish.

His accolades as a coach also include success at the university level. Rene was an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies from 1999-2001. In 2001, the Junior Huskies (20U team) won a national championship.

As a volleyball player, Rene was outstanding. He’s already inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 1995 Prince Albert Toppers team that won silver at nationals.

Currently Rene is a Volleyball Canada coach developer and learning facilitator. Remarkably, 36 players Rene has coached have gone on to play at the college/university level. Winning success aside, his most powerful contribution in the sport may be how he has positively impacted the lives of young players, helping them to develop their potential not only as athletes, but as people.

The sport of soccer in the Prince Albert area was built under the guidance and hard work of many individuals. One of the names that you will see on that list is Tom Brothwell. Tom’s foray into soccer began in the 1990s. As a member of the board of directors for the Prince Albert High Noon Optimist Youth Soccer Association, he served in many capacities including the chair of both the indoor and outdoor youth soccer programs.

Youth and adult indoor soccer changed under Tom Brothwell’s leadership initially with the youth program where, with the partnership of the school systems, he developed a program where he would access school gymnasiums and set up the locations in order to begin the development of the game. As the game grew in popularity, his work then also included the development of the indoor soccer program at the Prince Albert High Noon Optimist Centre, and eventually at the Alfred Jenkins Field House.

He helped develop young soccer players as a coach beginning in 1991 where he would lead the Under 11 girls to the city championship. In 1994 and 1995 the Under 15 girls’ teams won one city championship and two provincial championships under his guidance. His team also took home the provincial fair play award and earned the opportunity to play in the Western National Championship in Winnipeg. In 1998, he turned to coaching the Under 13 boys’ soccer program where his team won the Division 2 city championship and the provincial fair play award in the Premier Men’s Provincial Championship.

Tom was highly successful in helping to coach high school soccer, winning a championship in 1999. In 2001, his team took home the championship in the Premier Women’s Outdoor Soccer provincials and the provincial fair play award. His team attended the Premier Women’s National competition in Toronto that year and won the national fair play award. Later in his coaching career, he led the Division 2 Men’s team to an outdoor championship in 2007 and runner up in Division 1 Men’s outdoor provincials in 2008.

His coaching successes and knowledge fostered the development of many young players to the Sask First all-star soccer program, enabling several athletes to earn post-secondary soccer scholarships in Canada and the US, as well as being a board member with the Saskatchewan Soccer Association.

Tom’s knowledge and skills as a coach didn’t end with soccer, as he also coached club level volleyball and competitive baseball. His volunteerism and passion for the community also involved serving on a number of boards including seven years with the Prince Albert Raiders (including President), Kidsport and a volunteer with the Big Brothers and Sisters.

Brent Zbaraschuk was mentored by his dad Wally at the kitchen table and dressing rooms as a coach, as well as boardrooms of local Prince Albert sport organizations; telling his son that it was their responsibility for ensuring the kids had a safe place to play sports. Following his dad’s footsteps, Brent contributed more than 35 years helping to build the sports of hockey and soccer in Prince Albert and across Canada.

On the local front, Brent served as the East End Community Club president for two years during which time the East End rink completed major renovations. Brent also served as the Prince Albert Referee Association’s treasurer-scheduler and then Referee in Chief for Prince Albert Minor Hockey’s Referee division, with his greatest accomplishment being the mentorship and development of Prince Albert’s youth officials, with officials progressing to the SJHL and WHL. His duties didn’t end there as he was a level three referee for many years and a minor hockey coach in the Bantam, Midget and Midget AA age classes from 1994-2001, with many of the players he coached moving on to the junior ranks, CIS, NCAA Division 1 and AHL.

Brent spent 18 years at the provincial level as a board member of the Saskatchewan Hockey Association. From 2004-2024 Brent progressed through various senior leadership roles from Zone 8 Director to Vice President of Administration and Finance, Chairman of Appeals, Chairman of Minor and Director of Operations for many Saskatchewan Winter Games and Sask First programs. Once leaving the board, Brent was asked to sit on the Hockey Saskatchewan Governance Review Committee due to his thorough knowledge of constitutional and governance policies, culminating in a new governance model for Hockey Saskatchewan.

Brent also made an impact outside of Saskatchewan. Brent was Hockey Saskatchewan’s representative on Hockey Canada’s Minor Council for five years. The council’s responsibility was to ensure the sport at the minor level was growing in a positive manner, while ensuring grassroots had a say in the governance of the game. Brent served as the chair of the Telus Western Regional Canadian Midget AAA Championships in Moose Jaw in 2011 and Prince Albert in 2014. Brent was Hockey Saskatchewan’s Esso Cup representative in 2023 with the Regina Rebels at both the Manitoba/Saskatchewan Regionals and ESSO Cup Nationals hosted in Prince Albert. Brent was Hockey Saskatchewan’s representative at the 2009 Telus Cup in Selkirk (Norte Dames Hounds) and the Telus Cup in 2014 hosted by Moose Jaw, which was won by the Prince Albert Mintos. Brent was the chair of the Western Canadian Bantam Championships hosted in Kindersley (2013) and Warman (2017).

On the soccer scene, Brent served as the East End Community Soccer Club representative and then served a term as president of the Prince Albert High Noon Optimist Club. It was during this time that the association’s indoor soccer program was exploding at the seams, and a soccer facility was seen as a requirement versus using local school gyms. Thus, the beginning of acquiring the first soccer centre was soon realized.

Brent also took the time out to serve his community as the chair of the Prince Albert Public Library and as Reeve and Counsellor for the RM of Paddockwood #520.

Whether it’s mentoring young officials or refereeing hockey at elite levels, Melodie Boulet has had an outstanding 20-year career as a hockey official. For two decades, she has helped pave the way for female hockey officials to follow her example.

Boulet started her officiating career with Prince Albert Minor Hockey and would soon move up the ranks to referee at elite levels. In 2010 and 2011, she was recognized for her excellence in officiating the U18 Female AAA hockey league by being named the league’s top official. In fact, in 2012, her excellence in her field was further honoured when the league named the top official award the “Melodie Boulet Top Official Award.” This solidified that her name would forever be associated with excellence in officiating in the league.

In addition to league play, Boulet has been an official for a number of significant sporting events including: the Saskatchewan Winter Games, Mandi Schwartz Female U18 AAA tournament, 2007 Juno Cup in Prince Albert, 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon, 2010 Esso Cup National U18 AAA female hockey championship in Regina, and the 2011 National Aboriginal hockey championship in Saskatoon.

As a lifelong learner, Boulet continues to enhance her skills as a hockey official. She was one of only two officials from Saskatchewan who was selected for the Hockey Canada Masters of Officiating Program. In 2007, she was involved in the Hockey Canada Female Officiating Program of Excellence and officiated Canada vs Japan. Boulet is also a member of the Canada West Region Program of Excellence.

Boulet has taken the skills she has learned on the ice and transferred her knowledge to younger officials as a mentor and supervisor. Boulet has been a high performance assignor for Hockey Saskatchewan. This includes Canada West female hockey, U18 AAA female hockey and the Female Junior Hockey League. She has also been involved with the Sask First Program and Saskatchewan Winter Games as a mentor and supervisor.

She served as a mentor and supervisor for Cianna Lieffers throughout her development all the way to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Boulet continues to be active and officiate all elite levels of hockey and mentor up and coming officials to help them grow and develop.

The names Brad and Tyson Fetch are synonymous with the development of lacrosse in Prince Albert.

The brothers have held many different hats with Prince Albert lacrosse from referee, to coach, to scheduler, equipment manager and more. Brad Fetch played lacrosse as a youngster, so he was thrilled to become involved as a coach beginning in 2000 when Prince Albert lacrosse was formed.

Brad’s coaching started out at the local level, schooling players on the ins and outs of the games and getting them to play at the provincials so they could see how strong the play was at that level. Each year, the gap between Prince Albert and the other teams decreased and many of the PA teams began to medal at provincials. Brad also coached the Zone 8 team at the Saskatchewan Summer Games in 2008. The team would go on to win bronze at that event. Brad coached Team Saskatchewan at Nationals in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Brad was the president of Prince Albert Box Lacrosse from 2005-2007 and referee in chief since 2008. He also served as the referee in chief for the province for three years from 2014-2017. His success as a referee was noted by his peers, being nominated as the official of the year six times and winning the award in 2013 and 2015.

Tyson Fetch followed in his brother’s footsteps and got involved in all aspects of lacrosse, joining the board in 2007 as the aboriginal liaison. He took over as president the following year and remained as president until 2017. In addition to his board duties, Tyson also coached and would always bring one or two teams to provincials. In fact, during his 18 years of involvement in coaching he led 47 different lacrosse teams including the first ever female team in the league. 

His coaching successes included assistant coach for the PeeWee team representing Saskatchewan at nationals and head coach for the U19 Women in the North American Indigenous games in 2017 where they were part of making history as it was the first time lacrosse was included for women at the games.

One of Tyson’s biggest coaching passions was the Prince Albert Predators who play in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League. He started out as the assistant coach in 2011 and then move onto head coach. In 2018, Tyson’s second year as head coach, the Predators won their first championship since the club’s inception into the league. In 2022, Tyson was nominated as coach of the year for the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association. After nine seasons, Tyson stepped down as coach of the Predators, but in order to keep building the sport, he stayed on as a consultant.

Brad and Tyson both have a profound respect for the game of lacrosse through the lens of Indigenous Peoples. They always took great care in their relationship with the Mistawasis community and for many years brought teams to play in Prince Albert. They also prided themselves in keeping registration fees low in an effort to remove any financial barriers families may have. In addition, they helped launch the first all-female team in Prince Albert and worked to have all players feel valued, accepted and included.   

As a teacher and school administrator, Jennifer Ferguson has done more than shape young minds. Her more than 20-year dedication to coaching softball, basketball and soccer has helped to build a community of well-rounded students as they move from the classroom to adulthood.

Ferguson began coaching in Prince Albert in 2002. She took on the task of not only coaching senior girls’ basketball and soccer at Carlton Comprehensive High School, but also took to the diamonds to become a coach with the Prince Albert Aces. She immediately had an impact on the teams she coached taking home a number of medals regionally, provincially and throughout western Canada.

In soccer, Ferguson coached senior girls at Carlton from 2002-2016. During this time, her team was crowned the regional champions five times and brought the provincial gold medal home to Prince Albert in 2009 and 2013. They were also two-time provincial silver medalists in 2015 and 2016, and brought home the bronze in 2012.

Carlton Comprehensive High School and Prince Albert were also well represented by the senior girls basketball teams Ferguson coached. During her tenure from 2002-2023, Carlton was crowned the regional champions a total of nine times and silver medalists three times. Under Ferguson, the teams also did very well at provincials winning gold in 2010, silver in 2007, and bronze in 2009, 2016 and 2018. The senior girls’ basketball team was always very competitive and tough to play against with Ferguson at the helm.

Her commitment to young women in Prince Albert and area expanded beyond the walls of the high school. Ferguson has been a coach with minor softball’s development teams for more than 20 years. The Prince Albert Aces and their players have been the benefactors of Ferguson’s knowledge of the game and ability to mentor and coach young girls.

The winning came early and often for Ferguson when she started to coach softball. In 2003, her Squirt team was provincial champions. The next two years, saw provincial championships in Pee Wee for Ferguson and a trip to Western Canadians, winning a bronze medal at the Western Canadian Championships in 2005 when Prince Albert was the host team. In 2009 and 2010, the Midget Aces would bring home the provincial championship to Prince Albert. The 2010 team also won gold at the Western Canadian Championships. The winning continued with that same team in 2011 when they graduated to the Junior age group. In that year, they won provincials and brought home silver at the Western Canadian Championships. Ferguson was recognized for her excellence in 2010, being named the Kinsmen Sportsman of the year.

In 2013, Ferguson helped lead the Bantam Aces, who were perceived as an underdog, to a gold medal at Western Canadians in Winnipeg. In 2014, Ferguson’s Bantam Aces team would win provincials and advance to nationals and the next year they would take home a provincial silver medal in the Midget category and again advance to nationals.

Ferguson’s impact on the athletes she has coached is evident long after they move from the minor sports ranks as many have continued on to have success in university and college sports.