My name is Chris Mitchell and I am excited to be a member of the Ajax Pickering Raiders organization and named the Head Coach of the U9 AAA team. I am confident that parents and players will be impressed with the hockey program planned for the upcoming season.

This will be my seventh year involved in coaching.  I have spent three years coaching within the Raiders organization.  I also have experience coaching within the Durham West and West Hill organizations.

My coaching philosophy for minor hockey players is to develop their individual skills needed to excel at hockey.  At the younger ages I believe players should spend majority of their practice time developing skating, stick handling, passing and shooting.  Team skills will eventually be incorporated into practices.  I expect players to work their hardest and pay attention when on the ice, whether at practices or games.  In saying that, I also understand the importance of keeping it fun and delivering positive reinforcement. Core messages for kids, which will be reinforced over the course of the year at every practice, game and team event, will be: ·  
       Team work - learn as a team, play as a team, win as a team                               and lose as a team. ·       
       Compete -  give 100% effort and hustle every time out, every                            practice, every drill and every game. ·        
        Respect  - teammates, coaches, referees and opponents. ·                Have fun - this should always be the reason we go to the rink.    
I am very excited about the upcoming season and looking forward to coaching the Ajax Pickering Raiders U9 AAA team.  If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call or send me a note.  

Chris Mitchell [email protected] Phone: 905 424-4452