By Geoff Smith

Midget AAA Stars name new coaches

Aug 3, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Hard work and discipline. Those are the principles Darren Martens intends to bring, as head coach of the Midget AAA Battlefords Stars.

Martens has been hired to succeed Martin Smith behind the bench of the Stars. The farmer from Mossbank, in southern Saskatchewan, has been coaching at the midget level in communities like Gravelbourg and Moose Jaw. and more recently with Briercrest College at Caronport. Bruce Yockey, the Stars’ chairman and governor, said the team decided on Martens following some good interviews.

“Darren’s got a lot of experience both as a player and a coach… he has a wealth of playing experience and he has his High Performance 1 coaching credentials (from Hockey Canada),” Yockey said. “He’s looking forward; he’s been wanting to coach at the Midget AAA level for the last few years.”

Martens’ playing days included the University of Regina Cougars, the WHL and SJHL, minor-league professional teams in the United States, and in Germany, where his coaching career began. He said his farming background guides his coaching philosophy.

“One of my things that’s really key is hard work and effort… and discipline. That’s another thing that’s really important is being self-contained, because you can’t win when you’re in the penalty box,” he said.

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The team also named Lee Ulmer as assistant coach. Ulmer returns to the Midget AAA Stars after four seasons coaching the Bantam AA Battlefords Barons.

The Stars will hit the ice with Martens at the helm for the first time, during the team’s fall camp on the weekend of Aug. 19.

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco.