BC Hockey announced today that BWC Hockey Academy Elite 15s head coach Leland Mack has been named the head coach for the Male Under 16 Team BC that will compete at the 2015 Western Branch Challenge Cup.

Mack has been the head coach of the BWC Elite 15’s team since the 2013-2014 season, compiling a Canadian Sport School Hockey League record of 35-13-6, including a 2014-15 regular season championship and a runner-up finish at the 2015 CSSHL Championships.

“I am honoured to represent the CSSHL and coach at such a high profile event,” said Mack. “I’ve developed most as a coach since joining the BWC Hockey academy and I am looking forward to the challenge of coaching Team BC.”

From the BC Hockey website:

The Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, presented by the WHL, happens every non Canada Winter Games year on the last weekend of October and the first week of November.  Before heading to the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, Team BC participates in a pre-stage camp that is geared towards team systems and team building.

The Challenge Cup is a round robin format tournament consisting of the four (4) western branches: BC Hockey, Hockey Alberta, Saskatchewan Hockey Association and Hockey Manitoba. The final game is determined based on the round robin standings.

The BC Hockey Male High Performance Program was introduced in 1980 with the mandate to systematically identify and train the province's elite-level players for high performance hockey events. The overall objective of the program is to increase the chances of athletes from BC to compete provincially, regionally, nationally and internationally with the ultimate goal being selected to Hockey Canada’s National Junior or National Senior Team.