DIDSBURY - The Mountainview Colts didn't have far to go to hire a new coach -- all the way to Olds.
The new Colts head coach is Rob Turville, who has been the head coach for the Olds Grizzlys midget AA team for the past three years.
The need for a new Colts coach came after last year's head coach, Michael Galye, stepped down due to work commitments.
Colts president Keith Klinck said the board is very pleased about getting Turville on board.
"Mike had two assistants this past year but both are young fellows starting out, getting married, and didn't feel they could make the commitment to head coach," said Klinck. "We did go outside (the organization). We have some other young fellows from the local area who had wanted to step up and coach.
"They've coached the Olds Grizzlys midget AA for the past three seasons. They'd wanted to make the step up to the junior B level."
Turville, who hails from Olds, coached several of the Mountainview Colts players in midget.
"My son (Alan) played for Rob," said Klinck. "I think he's very thorough, he's very well liked, he's very knowledgeable. He knows his hockey. I think he's patient. I think he'll do a very good job. The three years he coached the midgets in Olds, all the players and coaches I spoke to, he was very well liked. They had a pretty successful year."
The Colts' board named three assistant coaches: Billy Way from Didsbury; Pat Turville (Rob's brother) from Olds; and Jeff Smyth from Trochu/Three Hills.
"We're looking forward to another good year," he said. "The boys did good last year. It was a bit of a rebuilding year with a lot of rookies and young players. We're looking forward to it.
"These coaches have coached a number of the boys on the team. Hopefully, some of those players who played with them with the midget team (in Olds) will move on and play on the junior team (Colts)."
Turville told the Gazette he is excited to make the move from midget to the Junior B Colts.
"I heard they might be looking for a coach and I threw my name in there," said Turville. "We had a meeting. It happened pretty quickly, to be honest. We're really excited to be taking over."
Turville said he met with his assistants after the hockey season ended and discussed their options moving forward.
"I wouldn't say it had run stale but I guess we were looking at a new challenge for next year," he said. "We sat down as a coaching staff and figured out what we wanted to do. That got the ball rolling to talk to the junior B teams and go that direction. I definitely wouldn't be able to do it without the support of the assistant coaches I'll have this season."
Turville is excited to work with all three assistants, Way and Smyth, who coached with Turville last year, and his brother Rob.
"They're all pretty experienced," said Turville. "We've all played at the junior A level. Billy and Jeff played three years with the Olds Grizzlys. Pat played a few games with the Grizzlys and then a couple of seasons with the Colts."
Rob Turville played for the Olds Grizzlys junior A team back in 2002-03. He then suited up for the Vernon Vipers and Brooks Bandits before playing at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Turville married his wife in Wisconsin. The two moved back to Turville's hometown of Olds. Turville played a couple of years of senior hockey in both Sylvan Lake and Big Valley.
Turville said the coaches are excited about the Colts' prospects for the coming season. He said it will also be a big advantage to have had coached many of the Mountainview players.
"That was one of the reasons we were interested in the Colts," he said. "A lot of the players on that roster we've coached over the past three seasons in midget. We have good familiarity with many of the players. You go down the roster, it looks like they have a pretty good core group of players that will be returning this season. That's got us excited. It should be fun."
Turville said the philosophy for the coaching staff is to have a hard-working team with a strong work ethic.
"If you look back at how we played, you have to have pride in the jersey, and pride and effort every time you step on the ice," he said. "That's the mentality that we have – the work ethic comes first and the rest filters down from there. Looking at the players coming back we'll have to be a gritty team. We do have some skill coming back for sure, but it'll have to be a full team effort moving forward."
