Kori Cheverie worked as an assistant coach with Canada’s U18 women’s national team back in 2019. In 2022 she’s an assistant coach with the U18 men’s national team.
photo: Steve Kingsman / HHOF-IIHF Images
There are only a handful of female players who have won gold at the U18, Women’s Worlds, and Olympics, and the list of any team staff to have been part of all three golden events is equally small. Canada’s Kori Cheverie has achieved the golden hat trick as an assistant coach, and she has parlayed that success on all levels of the women’s side to a more historic role as an assistant coach with the men’s U18 team which will begin play at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Germany this weekend.
Although these are times of dramatic change and evolution, new opportunities and a more open philosophy across the sports spectrum, Cheverie came by her chance through hard work and a little good fortune.
“This season I’ve been with the senior national team all year and working closely with some of the men’s staff,” Cheverie explained from Germany, where the team is preparing for its first game Saturday against the United States.
“That just kind of sparked a relationship between the two sides, and an opportunity came up for a coaching position. I was privileged enough to be asked to be part of the team. It was something I didn’t really expect, to be on the men’s side, but at the end of the day I just see it as coaching athletes, and I don’t really change my style whether I’m coaching on the men’s side or women’s side. Any new opportunity for me to work with different coaches and new athletes is an opportunity I’ll always take.”
Cheverie is one of three assistants working under head coach Nolan Baumgartner. Dave Struch will work with the penalty-killing units and Todd Miller with the forwards and power play. “My role with the team will be eye-in-the-sky and focusing on pre-scouting the other teams, making sure we’re coming up with the best game plan to make us successful,” Cheverie explained. “I’ll be on the ice in practise and helping with tweaking and refining some of the individual skills and habits of the players, but I’ll also have that bird’s-eye view of the game and provide input in between periods, prepping for pre-scout and helping the other coaches with whatever they need.”
This role will be a variation on a theme for Cheverie, who didn’t travel to Beijing because of Covid and instead worked from afar. “I didn’t make it over to the Olympics, so that was also kind of an eye-in-the-sky situation. I knew the players really well from being with them all year, so I contributed through player video sessions and putting together meetings for the team and communicating with the coaching staff. It’s an extension of that, but now I’ll be in the rink. It will be a great opportunity to work in a role I’ve never really done before. I just want to help out the team any way that I can.”
During a tournament, Cheverie has the blinders on working on every detail to do with the team and its games, but as she looks back and reflects on the double gold for the senior women, she can understand how success came to a team that hadn’t won Women’s Worlds gold for nearly a decade.
“There was a coaching change right around the start of the pandemic with Troy Ryan taking over,” Cheverie explained. “I think we had a group at that time that needed a little bit of guidance, and it was an opportunity for a little growth in the program, and maybe an opportunity for the program to shift in perspective and how we wanted to compete for that gold medal. I think the coaching staff did a great job in peeling back all the layers of the onion, starting with the basics, and the players were just so professional and coachable, able to implement what we were asking them very quickly. That team was hungry and willing to put in the work that was required to get into the nitty gritty details of the game and execute. We had a group that was coming off a bronze medal at the 2019 Worlds, and I think they were willing to take in the perspective of a new coaching staff and do great things.”
Cheverie was a player at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, and she later played for several years with the Toronto Furies in the VWHL, winning the Clarkson Cup in 2014. She later became an assistant coach with the Ryerson Rams, a university team in downtown Toronto, becoming the first woman in a coaching role in USports (Canada’s university sports league).
“I knew that I wanted to stay involved in hockey after I stopped playing,” she continued, “and coaching and being involved in minor hockey at the provincial and national levels is a great way to stay involved in the sport that I loved. Looking back at how competitive I was as a player, I think the people who know me probably wouldn’t be surprised that I’ve been coaching with the national teams at this level, but it’s a privilege to be in this position that I’m in and it’s been through a lot of hard work and long days and dedication to the sport and the art of coaching. I didn’t think my life would be as a full-time coach, but I really like my job and I don’t think I could go back to a 9 to 5 working life. I’ve had a great experience working with many different teams. I just keep learning and try to grow as a coach, and I think that’s all we really can do.”
There are pros and cons to being “the first woman” in any position, and Cheverie is aware that it’s the result of living in changing and exciting times even tough she’d like gender not to be a topic of conversation.
“I am just a coach. When I think of my co-workers and colleagues, that’s all I am, but it is an exciting time for women and diversity and inclusion spaces. There are a lot of qualified professionals out there who are men, but at the end of the day I’d just like the most qualified individual to get the job, and not just because of the diversity that they bring. I don’t love to talk about it only because I just want to be considered a coach like everybody else, but I think these spaces are getting a lot more inclusive, and I think women continue to grow and develop as professionals. I think we’ll just continue to see a rise in female presence in male teams. I’m looking forward to that. But I’m also looking forward to seeing more professional opportunities for women on the women’s side of hockey.”
Over and above gender, Cheverie has coach teenage girls, women, and now young men. Does she have a preference?
“Every age level is special,” she started. “Working with the U18 on the women’s side is great because they’re heading into their collegiate careers. It’s a really special time for them, making that jump to the next level. And when you’re coaching the U18 men, they’re just on the verge of their pro career, so it’s cool to be at that level and helping them achieve their goals and see how they’re going to turn into a professional.
“And what I love about the senior national team is that they are extremely serious athletes. They know how to take care of themselves, how to be a true professional, so that’s something I like because I learn from the coaches around me but also the athletes because they have a lot of experience. When I look back on this year, I think of a player like [Marie-Philip] Poulin who has been to three more Olympics than me and probably many more World Championships than me, so there’s a lot of value in working with senior level players.”
Although these are times of dramatic change and evolution, new opportunities and a more open philosophy across the sports spectrum, Cheverie came by her chance through hard work and a little good fortune.
“This season I’ve been with the senior national team all year and working closely with some of the men’s staff,” Cheverie explained from Germany, where the team is preparing for its first game Saturday against the United States.
“That just kind of sparked a relationship between the two sides, and an opportunity came up for a coaching position. I was privileged enough to be asked to be part of the team. It was something I didn’t really expect, to be on the men’s side, but at the end of the day I just see it as coaching athletes, and I don’t really change my style whether I’m coaching on the men’s side or women’s side. Any new opportunity for me to work with different coaches and new athletes is an opportunity I’ll always take.”
Cheverie is one of three assistants working under head coach Nolan Baumgartner. Dave Struch will work with the penalty-killing units and Todd Miller with the forwards and power play. “My role with the team will be eye-in-the-sky and focusing on pre-scouting the other teams, making sure we’re coming up with the best game plan to make us successful,” Cheverie explained. “I’ll be on the ice in practise and helping with tweaking and refining some of the individual skills and habits of the players, but I’ll also have that bird’s-eye view of the game and provide input in between periods, prepping for pre-scout and helping the other coaches with whatever they need.”
This role will be a variation on a theme for Cheverie, who didn’t travel to Beijing because of Covid and instead worked from afar. “I didn’t make it over to the Olympics, so that was also kind of an eye-in-the-sky situation. I knew the players really well from being with them all year, so I contributed through player video sessions and putting together meetings for the team and communicating with the coaching staff. It’s an extension of that, but now I’ll be in the rink. It will be a great opportunity to work in a role I’ve never really done before. I just want to help out the team any way that I can.”
During a tournament, Cheverie has the blinders on working on every detail to do with the team and its games, but as she looks back and reflects on the double gold for the senior women, she can understand how success came to a team that hadn’t won Women’s Worlds gold for nearly a decade.
“There was a coaching change right around the start of the pandemic with Troy Ryan taking over,” Cheverie explained. “I think we had a group at that time that needed a little bit of guidance, and it was an opportunity for a little growth in the program, and maybe an opportunity for the program to shift in perspective and how we wanted to compete for that gold medal. I think the coaching staff did a great job in peeling back all the layers of the onion, starting with the basics, and the players were just so professional and coachable, able to implement what we were asking them very quickly. That team was hungry and willing to put in the work that was required to get into the nitty gritty details of the game and execute. We had a group that was coming off a bronze medal at the 2019 Worlds, and I think they were willing to take in the perspective of a new coaching staff and do great things.”
Cheverie was a player at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, and she later played for several years with the Toronto Furies in the VWHL, winning the Clarkson Cup in 2014. She later became an assistant coach with the Ryerson Rams, a university team in downtown Toronto, becoming the first woman in a coaching role in USports (Canada’s university sports league).
“I knew that I wanted to stay involved in hockey after I stopped playing,” she continued, “and coaching and being involved in minor hockey at the provincial and national levels is a great way to stay involved in the sport that I loved. Looking back at how competitive I was as a player, I think the people who know me probably wouldn’t be surprised that I’ve been coaching with the national teams at this level, but it’s a privilege to be in this position that I’m in and it’s been through a lot of hard work and long days and dedication to the sport and the art of coaching. I didn’t think my life would be as a full-time coach, but I really like my job and I don’t think I could go back to a 9 to 5 working life. I’ve had a great experience working with many different teams. I just keep learning and try to grow as a coach, and I think that’s all we really can do.”
There are pros and cons to being “the first woman” in any position, and Cheverie is aware that it’s the result of living in changing and exciting times even tough she’d like gender not to be a topic of conversation.
“I am just a coach. When I think of my co-workers and colleagues, that’s all I am, but it is an exciting time for women and diversity and inclusion spaces. There are a lot of qualified professionals out there who are men, but at the end of the day I’d just like the most qualified individual to get the job, and not just because of the diversity that they bring. I don’t love to talk about it only because I just want to be considered a coach like everybody else, but I think these spaces are getting a lot more inclusive, and I think women continue to grow and develop as professionals. I think we’ll just continue to see a rise in female presence in male teams. I’m looking forward to that. But I’m also looking forward to seeing more professional opportunities for women on the women’s side of hockey.”
Over and above gender, Cheverie has coach teenage girls, women, and now young men. Does she have a preference?
“Every age level is special,” she started. “Working with the U18 on the women’s side is great because they’re heading into their collegiate careers. It’s a really special time for them, making that jump to the next level. And when you’re coaching the U18 men, they’re just on the verge of their pro career, so it’s cool to be at that level and helping them achieve their goals and see how they’re going to turn into a professional.
“And what I love about the senior national team is that they are extremely serious athletes. They know how to take care of themselves, how to be a true professional, so that’s something I like because I learn from the coaches around me but also the athletes because they have a lot of experience. When I look back on this year, I think of a player like [Marie-Philip] Poulin who has been to three more Olympics than me and probably many more World Championships than me, so there’s a lot of value in working with senior level players.”