University of British Columbia Women's Ice Hockey

Thomas led UBC to a third place finish in the Canada West regular season with a record of 20-7-1, setting new program records for most wins in a season (20) and most points in a season (42). The Thunderbirds would defeat the Calgary Dinos 2-0 in the best-of-three Canada West quarter-finals, before losing to Saskatchewan 2-1 in the best-of-three Canada West semi finals. Another first for the program was forward Tatiana Rafter being named the Canada West Player of the Year. Rafter along with the defenseman Sarah Casorso were both named CIS First Team All-Canadians.  Thomas was named the CIS and Canada West Coach of the Year in 2012-13, his first season at UBC, He led the Thunderbirds on an improbable run from a one win team in 2011-12 to Canada West Champions in 2012-13.  UBC finished the regular season 17-7-4 and third overall in the Canada West conference. They went on to defeat Manitoba, Regina, and Calgary in best-of-three series to win the first ever Canada West Championship in the program's history. The 'Birds represented the conference at the CIS Championships in Toronto, defeating Queen's University 2-1 in their final game to finish fifth overall.  A native of Calgary, Alta., Thomas came to UBC after working at Syracuse University, where he was with the women's hockey team since it began play in the 2008-09 season, helping build the program from the ground up. Thomas served as associate coach at Syracuse, working with all aspects of team operations and was  the team's recruiting coordinator. He helped build and develop the Syracuse NCAA Division 1 hockey team from the inaugural start-up year in 2008. Thomas signed and committed 40 players to Syracuse during his time, including two NCAA player of the year nominees. Some of his duties included on-ice instruction during practice and games, strength and conditioning training, game and individual video analysis, scouting opponents and promoting the Orange hockey program. Before Syracuse, Thomas served as head coach of the women's team at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in 2007-08. His squad finished in a first-place tie in the regular season standings of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, with a record of 26-8-2. Thomas also spent time as a coach and instructor at the National Sport Academy in Calgary before heading east to Syracuse. He has 'High Performance 1' and 'Coaching Theory Level 1, 2 and 3' qualifications and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association to develop players through off-ice training. Through the Academy, Thomas has imparted his insight to male and female players that have competed at the NHL level, Junior A tier I and II, NCAA and National Team levels. In his playing days, Thomas suited up for the Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. In 1998-99, Thomas also skated for Mannheim Jung Adler in Germany. Thomas resides in Vancouver with his wife, Nicole and their son, Caleb.

Coates grew up playing hockey in the womens AAA league, before joining the Pacific Steelers and the Vancouver Griffins of the NWHL. She went to the United States to pursue her education and played two seasons (2003-2005) with Clarkson University of the NCAA (Division I) before returning home to suit up for the BC Breakers of the Western Womens Hockey League (WWHL) for a year. Coates then joined UBC, playing three seasons (2006-2009), becoming an assistant captain and then captain of the team. In 72 regular season games for UBC, she scored 39 points, one of which helped the T-Birds to their first-ever win (in a shootout) over the Alberta Pandas. Another helped UBC beat Lethbridge, to clinch the points needed for the team's first-ever playoff berth. Coates completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in History. She then joined the coaching staff of the Thunderbirds, starting out with video analysis and progressing to her current position of full-time assistant over the last three years. Outside of the UBC program, Coates has spent lots of time developing young female players in this province. She has been quite involved with BC Hockeys High Performance Program, coaching at the U16 and U18 levels. Coates also helped coach the 2011 Team BC squad that competed in U18 National Championships in Saguenay, Quebec. She has completed the Development 1 coaching course and is taking her High Performance 1 through Hockey Canada this summer.