ROCKY MOUNTAIN COACHING STAFF
2015
Jordan Anstice - played four years with the Concordia Thunder. During her time at Concordia she won
an ACAC Championship in 2008 and was named a 2010 CCAA All Canadian. During her final season
with the Thunder Jordan received a CCAA Academic All Canadian. She finished her career playing at
Mount Royal University in 2013.
Jordan now spends her time coaching at a variety of levels. She spent 4 seasons with the Archbishop
Jordan Scots and has coached for many clubs and camps. Jordan also spent last summer coaching the
Zone 5 Alberta team where they were successful in winning Summer Games.
Brielle Wise - Member of the highly respected St Albert Skyhawks basketball program for my three high school years.
During those years Brielle was apart of a 3A provincial championship and a 4A provincial bronze medallist. In grade 10
she received 3A Rookie of the Year, grade 11 she received 4A Player of the Year, and in grade 12 she received 4A
Player of the Year and League All-Star. In addition to, Brielle was a recipient of many tournament all stars and MVP
awards. This fall she will be continuing her basketball career playing post secondary with the MacEwan Griffins. This is
her first year coaching at Rocky Mountain Hoops and she states “I'm looking forward to the experience and what I will
gain from it!“
Lucia Popovici – She played basketball for Coastal Carolina University for four years and acquired my Bachelor's
degree. In NC I acquired my Master's degree. I've been coaching basketball for the past 14 years in Canada and the
U.S.
Georgia Mader - Basketball has been a huge part of her life for 20 years . She played at Jasper Place High School for 4 years and
then I received a division 1 scholarship at North Dakota State University. She has also played at Grant MacEwan and University of
Alberta where she finished her last year . Georgia graduated from the University of Alberta with an Education degree and is
currently a teacher at Westmount Junior High . Fun facts about her , “I have two dogs (Odie and Jon), I got married last year , and
am going on a 3 week vacation to Europe this summer ! “
Ben Grimsrud – He played High School Basketball in Fernie, BC. Ben attended Rocky Mountain hoops camps for 6 years and was
able to play college basketball at Concordia in large part because of Rocky Mountain hoops and the guidance of Rick Stanley. H did
not play much in my first year but was able to work my way into the starting line up by my second year and started every game of
the second semester, as well as their run to a provincial silver medal and their national seventh overall finish in 2013.
Cassandra Anastacio – She played for Archbishop O'Leary Senior Girls Basketball team for all 3 years of high
school where they won one city championship and came third in provincials. Cass is currently going into my
fourth year of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta in which my major is English and my minor is
Social Studies. Over the years she has coached at both the Junior High and High School level. Coach Anastacio
currently coaching Senior Girls basketball at Archbishop O'Leary High School.
Megan Wood – Megan played basketball on the Senior Women's team at Jasper Place High School for
three seasons. For the past 3 years she has been a member of the MacEwan Women's Basketball team.
Megan is going into her fifth year as a Griffin, playing in the Canada West League. She was ACAC Rookie
of the Year in 2012-13, ACAC Player of the Year and All-Canadian in 2013-14 and this season, their first in
the CIS she was named a 3rd Team Allstar. She loves coaching and has been with the Jr. Griffins for the
past four years. This is her third summer at Rocky Mountain Hoops, and no doubt it will be another great
two weeks!
Ken King - received his Bachelor of Physical and Health Education from
Laurentian University, and is currently completing his Master's Degree in
Human Kinetics. Ken spent 3 years as an Assistant Coach with the
Laurentian University Men's Basketball Team in Sudbury, Ontario. Prior
to this he has experience coaching both boys and girls at the club and
high school levels. He has been actively involved in the Talent
Identification and Development Program in Ontario for the past five
years, and continues to support the development of young players. He
is going into his second season as Head Coach of the Red Deer College
Queens.
Thomas Laxdal - Rocky Mountain Team camper three times and the individual camp three
times. Plays Basketball at Paul Kane High School where he is heading into his senior year.
6"5 shooting guard who can play multiple positions on the floor including point guard.
Luke Praught - Canmore AB – Luke played 3 years of High School basketball at Canmore Collegiate High School averaging 33 points per
game in my senior year. He spent 4 years playing club basketball in Calgary along with 2 years with Team Alberta. During this time he played
in tournaments all over North America including San Francisco, Portland, Spokane, Las Vegas, and Sherbrooke for the 2013 Canada Summer
Games. Throughout this period he was a 2 time league champion, 2 time league all-star, and top 3-Point shooter at the Summer
Games. Currently entering his second year playing basketball as a member of the University of Calgary Dinos where he is completing a
Natural Science degree.
Zane Warren - Started Basketball in grade 9 where he won the city
championships with VJM. Moving into the summer he played Team Alberta
Basketball which was a great experience preparing me for high school ball. In
High school he played for Paul Kane winning the city championship in grade
10. He ended up finishing his high school career there where he was a
captain in grade 11 and 12. Zane attended Augustana this past year where he
played College basketball for the Vikings. This upcoming year he will be going
to the U of A studying the Bachelor of Commerce. “As a kid I enjoyed going
to the Rocky Mountain Basketball camps because I not only got to play the
sport I love but the good times I had. I was a two time camper and this is my
second year coaching there. I am a dedicated athlete and sports fanatic who
enjoys fitness.”
Mitch Buffie - "One of the top 3 point shooters coming out of Edmonton/Alberta in 2010. Went on the
play for the Concordia Thunder. Played for the thunder for 4 years while battling through multiple knee
injuries and surgeries. Finished my playing career this past season and am transitioning to the world of
coaching. Next year I will be coaching at the high school level, unsure as of where yet."
Jordan Loughlin - Coach Loughlin has been coaching basketball for over 13
years, the last 4 he has been at the helm of the Sr. Boys at Glenmary High
School in Peace River, where he also runs the Peace River Steve Nash Youth
Basketball League. He recently has joined the Warriors club to coach the
U15 girls team, where they have been very successful in their first season.
He has coached the 2012 Zone 8 boys Summer games team, and this past
summer he coached the 2014 Zone 8 girls team. Coach Loughlin has
worked at many camps in the Peace Country area and is excited to be back
at Rocky Mountain Hoops for another summer!
Kyle Palmer - has been coaching for 8 years. He started his team coaching career with Lethbridge Collegiate Institute as an
assistant coach where he was there for two years, winning a zone title and a provincial bronze at the 4A Boys level. He then
moved to Catholic Central, where he head coached the JV Boys team to a zone championship for a year and took over as the Head
Coach of the Varsity coach the next season, where they finished fourth in the south zone and missing provincials in a two point
loss to the Magrath Zeniths. Coach Palmer has also been an assistant for the u14s Team Alberta squad and has spent time working
with the University of Lethbridge and Trinity Western University as well. In the fall Kyle will be teaching at Chinook High school in
Lethbridge AB, where he will be teaching PE and CALM.
Kayla Donaldson played basketball at Archbishop O'leary High school and won 3 City Championships and one 4A provincial
title. After she pursued a Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Alberta. During this time, she also returned to
help assistant coach her former high school team for 4 years. Once graduated she took on the role of Head Coach of the
Senior Womens program at O'Leary, and has been there for the past 4 years. Kayla is one of the youngest 4A Head Coaches
in the province.
Andrew Salcedo has been playing basketball since
the age of 5. He has played community basketball
in the EYBA with St. Albert SLAM in initiation
through midget levels. He then played for Richard
S. Fowler and St. Albert Catholic High
School. Andrew has played for Team Alberta and
for other spring and summer teams. Andrew has a
passion for performing and can be found on stage
at many festivals and public events playing guitar,
singing and looping. He works out every day and is
committed to fitness for life. Andrew plans to
achieve a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, followed
by a Masters in Physiotherapy.
Marinya Marcichiw played basketball at St.Albert high for 3 years. In grade 10 they won the 3A gold
provincial medal and she received 3A rookie of the year and in grade 11 received 4A player of the
year as well as earned a bronze medal at provincials in the 4A division. Marinya competed on Team
Alberta for 4 years, earning a bronze medal at Western Canada Summer Games in u15 and earning a
bronze medal at nationals in my last year of u17. In 2013 she travelled to South Korea with team
Alberta to compete and travel the country and later competed at Canada Summer Games. This
spring she assisted in coaching the Junior Pandas u13 team and really learned a lot about coaching
and that aspect of the game. Next year she will be continuing her basketball career playing at the
University of Alberta.
Sebastian Cava was born in Lima, Peru where he started playing basketball at the age of 10. Back at home he was a 3 time
national champion 3 years in a row with his school where they went to represent their country afterwards in the South American
Tournament for schools. Sebastian was named MVP of the South American tournament for schools on his last year. He was also
named MVP of the South American tournament for clubs in 2006. In 2007 at the age of 15 he played for the U-16 and U-17
Peruvian national team. In 2008 he moved to Edmonton, Alberta to study and play basketball. He went to Jasper Place High
School where he played for the senior team all 3 years and was and all-star in grad 11 and 12. In grade 12 he was named
Edmonton public MVP and Edmonton journal all star. Coming out of high school Sebastian played his rookie season with the
University of Alberta Golden Bears where they won Canada West and finished 2nd in nationals. Now Sebastian plays for the Nait
Ooks where he has two more years of eligibility.
Blain Labranche attended Jasper Place High School and had a successful
career in which he led the team in scoring his senior year. Blain was
selected for the Alberta provincial team which finished 2nd in Canada and
was also invited to the Nike All-Canada Camp. After high school blain was
recruited to Brandon University where he was named first team all rookie.
returning to Edmonton, Blain attended Grant MacEwan played one year and
was recruited to play for the University of British Columbia. The team made it
to the national finals 2 out of the 3 years he attended. Blain then played
professional basketball in Mexico, and China. Upon returning to Edmonton,
Blain played for the Edmonton Energy and now operates Enhance Basketball
Academy.
Coach - Brian Anstice
Brian has been coaching for the past 30+ years. His passion is bringing out the best in young athletes,
both on and off the court. He has helped hundreds of young players with their confidence and assisted
them in believing, striving and reaching their goals. Brian coached in his first High school season back in
1982 at ME Lazerte High School in Edmonton. Currently he’s coaching Team Alberta U14 Girls, but
recently spent a number of years coaching community sports, but his enthusiasm has always been
focused in and around basketball. Coach Brian spent ten years at Archbishop Jordan High School in
Sherwood Park, where he coached both football and basketball, over that period he helped his teams
win two city championships in basketball and two Provincial championships in Football.
Brian and his wife Darlene have always been active in the basketball community, they ran a high level
girls development program for years, where they graduated 20 plus athletes to post secondary
basketball. Brian has served as a Director for Basketball Alberta, as the President of the EYBA and to
this day remains as the Commissioner for Youth Basketball in the Edmonton area. Next High School
season Brian takes over the Girls basketball program at Salisbury High School in Sherwood Park.
Michelle Steeves – originally from Canmore, AB, Michelle has been involved with the Rocky Mountain Hoops organization for
almost 10 years; first as a camper, now as a coach. She has travelled the England, Ireland and Wales on a youth basketball team
and played at the college level for 5 years, both at Red Deer College and St. Mary’s until receiving her Bachelor of Arts & Education
degrees. Michelle spent last season building a basketball program at St. Patrick’s Middle school in Red Deer, where she coached
the Sr. Boys and will continue coaching there next season.
Sydney Hurlburt – Graduated out of Paul Kane
High School where she played three years for the
senior team. Sydney is now at NAIT where she
plans on taking Personal Fitness Training. Sydney
has 13 years of Basketball behind her. This will be
her second year at Rocky Mountain and she is
looking forward to a great camp.
Ryan Dunkley - As a player, Coach Dunkley was fortunate enough to represent the
University of Alberta as team captain, win 2 CIS silver medals and a Canada West
Championship, and be selected as a CIS Canada West All star (Alberta Golden
Bears 1995-1999) and ACAC All Star (MacEwan 93-95). Since his playing days,
Coach Dunkley has been involved in coaching extensively throughout
Canada. Coach Dunkley started out at the high school level (M.E.LaZerte) and
moved into coaching Alberta provincial teams early in his career. Moving forward,
Coach Dunkley has been an ACAC head coach at Grant MacEwan University (ACAC
Coach of the Year 2009), and won a 3rd CIS silver medal coaching at the
University of Alberta. As an assistant, Coach Dunkley was fortunate enough to
learn from the legendary Don Horwood and Canada Basketball's Greg Francis.
Additionally, Coach Dunkley was involved with Canada Basketball and the Center
for Performance as a head coach. Recently, Coach Dunkley completed his
Masters of Education at the University of Victoria. Coach Dunkley is a big
supporter of youth sports and proper development of young athletes. He also
works as a volunteer community coach for his 3 young children in soccer,
basketball and Lacrosse.
Megan Tywoniuk played basketball at Archbishop O’Leary for three years. She won rookie of the year and
MVP two years in a row during her high school career. Megan also played for team Edmonton at the Alberta
summer games in 2010 and played for team Alberta for three years during which the team won a bronze
medal at Nationals in 2014. On top of winning several all-star and MVP always at tournaments she also
received a bronze medal at provincials for javelin. Following her high school years she continued on to the U of
A to play for the Pandas and will be returning for her second year in September. She has many memories of
participating in the Rocky Mountain Hoops camps and is looking forward to a great week of basketball!