PEAKCENTRE - Key Persons
Brad Marsh brings over 15 years of NHL playing experience, along with 15 years of coaching experience, to his position of head coach of the Ottawa Senators Women's Hockey Club. Brad played junior hockey with the OHL's London Knights, where he was captain of the team. In 1978 he won the Max Kaminsky Trophy, awarded to the league's Best Defenseman. He was chosen in the first round, 11th overall, in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Flames. Brad went on to become captain of the Atlanta Flames (at that time the youngest captain in NHL history), then moved with the entire franchise to Calgary. Brad was then traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he spent eight seasons, twice going to the Stanley Cup finals. In 1987, Brad was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he spent three seasons, then to the Detroit Red Wings, and ended his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators in 1993. During his career, Brad was twice voted to the NHL All-Star team.
After his playing days were over, Brad was offered the position of Director of Team and Business Development by the Senators, in which he was responsible for scouting and developing young players within the Senators organization, as well as being involved in community development and fundraising. During this time, Brad became involved in coaching minor hockey, and in fact was the head coach of 15 different minor hockey teams over the years, both boys and girls, all ages from novice to midget, and ability levels ranging from initiation to competitive AA. He has also continually been involved in coaching clinics, on-ice seminars, and fundraising. Additionally, as President of the Ottawa Senators Alumni, Brad is involved in many different charitable organizations and events throughout the city.
Dr. Reed is a national award winning career sports scientist whose work with Canadian and American sports teams has been well recognized for three decades. He has won recognition as an exceptional teacher in the programs of the University of Ottawa and the Canadian National Coaching Certification Program. As the developer of a dozen national team training programs and twice as many sport specific fitness tests, he has created many of the tools in use by today's athletes and coaches. His original work continues with new contributions to the education, assessment, and vocational programs of the Centre.
Natalie Durand-Bush, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Her research aims to understand the self-regulatory processes and skills underlying the development of optimal performance and well-being in different contexts including sport, medicine, the performing arts, and academia. Professor Durand-Bush also investigates mental training interventions designed to help individuals not only achieve performance excellence but also manage stress and reduce burnout. Her 17 years of consulting work with high performance and developmental level athletes and coaches are an asset to her scholarly work and teaching. Dr. Durand-Bush is the co-author of the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3*©), an instrument developed to evaluate several mental skills necessary for consistent high-quality performance. She was the Chair for the Canadian Sport Psychology Association and the Vice-President of the International Society of Sport Psychology from 2005-2009. She has presented over 125 research and applied papers at national and international conferences. She has also published 24 peer-reviewed articles, 4 book chapters, as well as her own life skills workbook.
Aside from teaching and conducting research at the University of Ottawa, Dr. Durand-Bush has been working for the past 17 years as a mental performance consultant with hundreds of athletes aged between 8 and 60 years and competing at different levels in various sports (ex. hockey, gymnastics, alpine and cross country skiing, taekwondo, badminton, water polo, basketball, volleyball, tennis, figure skating, ringette, cycling, rowing, etc.), including athletes from five Canadian national teams, a men's major junior hockey team, two University varsity teams, and professional / amateur athletes from the Peak Centre for Human Performance in Ottawa, Ontario and Physio Outaouais in Gatineau, Québec.
Ed McNeely received his Masters degree in Exercise physiology from the University of Ottawa in 1994 and has been involved in the strength and conditioning industry for 15 years. Ed is a faculty member of the United States Sports Academy and has developed the sports conditioning curriculum for the coaching certification programs of several National Sports Organizations.
Ed has been a consultant to 17 Canadian National and professional sports teams. Ed is the author of three books, One Hundred Strength Exercises, Training for Rowing, and Skillful Rowing, and is currently working on a book about integrating strength training into the High School and Middle School PE curriculum. He has published over 100 articles on training and athlete conditioning covering topics such as strength training, plyometrics, making weight, assessing fitness, speed and power development, planning and periodization, and aerobic fitness. He is a frequent resource for other writers, acting as an expert for articles in Muscle & Fitness, Outside Magazine, the Georgia Tech Sports Medicine Newsletter, the Rowing News, the Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen and the Discovery Channel. Ed has an extensive background in performance and occupational research having been involved in studies that analyzed the physical demands of and developed fitness test protocols and standards for emergency medical technicians, prison guards, police officers, park wardens, firefighters, and military personnel, and has helped several high profile companies develop fitness screening programs for their emergency response teams.
Ed is a frequent speaker at National and International Sport and Fitness Conferences, having done over 75 presentations in the past 10 years at conferences such as the NSCA National Convention, the AAHPERD National Convention, the Society of Weight Training Injury Specialists Conference, ECA Sport and Fitness Conference, Coaching Association of Canada Conferences, Rowing Canada Conferences, Ontario Minor Hockey Association Clinics, Joy of Sculling Conferences, and Olympic Solidarity Conferences.
Ken obtained his exercise science degree at the University of Ottawa and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist with the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology. He was the director of the Exercise Physiology Lab at the Ottawa Sport Science Center for 7 years and is currently co-founder and President of the Peak Centre; an Accredited Elite Athlete Testing and Training Centre. Ken specializes in sport science, training monitoring, training plan development and consulting for many National, Olympic and professional team athletes and coaches. While being part of sport science committees for National Sport Organizations, Ken also teaches, consults and gives seminars to various groups such as physical education teachers, national coaching programs, college level courses, personal trainers, fitness instructors etc.
Kevin obtained his Exercise Science degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Ottawa, graduating in 1998. Shortly after obtaining his degree, Kevin teamed up with his current business partner, Ken Brunet to open the very first PEAK Centre for Human Performance, located in Kanata, ON. The initial focus of the PEAK Centre was in offering highly specific fitness testing and training solutions for the general population as well as high performance athletics. Today that focus remains, with services now being offered within Canada and specific locations across the US through PEAK Centre Franchises.
Over the years, Kevin has had the opportunity to work with 1000's of individuals and athletes from numerous sports each seeking to reach their personal best; triathlon, cycling, running, hockey, sailing, gymnastics, and golf. With each sport requiring a specific understanding of it's physical demands, Kevin has had to research and develop specific testing and training protocols in order to assist athletes in these sports reach their individual peak performances. The results of this research and development can be seen throughout the network of PEAK Centre franchises.
Kevin has taken the lead in several roles with numerous National and Professional Sport Organizations including; sports science advisor, educator, fitness evaluator, and protocol developer. These opportunities have shaped the way in which Kevin and the PEAK Centre
Job Titles:
- Exercise Physiologist / Strength & Conditioning Coach
Luke obtained his undergraduate Bachelor's of Science degree in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Over the course of his degree, Luke was required to gather extensive information pertaining to strength and conditioning, exercise physiology, anatomy, as well as nutrition. He was also required to complete a 1-year internship placement as a Strength Coach and Athletic Therapist Assistant, where he gained an abundance of valuable knowledge that he has brought with him to the Peak Centre for Human Performance. Being a former Tier II Junior "A" hockey player, Luke knows what it takes to compete at a high level and is greatly determined to help other athletes develop to be the best that they can be.
Job Titles:
- Director of Hockey Operations and Head Instructor for the Elite Performance Hockey Program
- Director of Hockey Programming
- Program Coordinator for the Peak Hockey Program
As the Program Coordinator for The Peak Hockey Program, Pat brings a wealth of teaching knowledge. Past experiences include working with many professional and elite teams, athletes and coaches. As program coordinator for the Peak Hockey Program, Pat has developed specific on-ice training methods that target specific energy systems, muscle groups, angles and balance points to enhance skating and hockey skill performance and conditioning. He continues to develop a strong structural base for the Peak Hockey Program, focusing on skill development, mental, physical, nutritional and ethical aspects of the game.
Pat has served as Director of Hockey Operations and Head Instructor for the Elite Performance Hockey Program since 1999. His programs specialize in a Skill Based Approach to learning and development. He is a nationally certified coach and part of the High Performance Stream with Canadian Hockey and a power skating instructor pursuing National Certification.
Pat has also served as a professional hockey skills and skating coach for over 10 years and has coached for over a decade from Initiation to Junior "A" throughout Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Valley. He is a former Coach and Director of Player Development in the Central Junior "A" Hockey League and has Tier II Junior "A" playing experience along with "Speak Out" Program Certification with Hockey Canada. Pat is also currently the head coach and GM of the Pembroke Lumber Kings Junior A hockey club.
Trina is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, with an Honours Degree in Psychology and Linguistics and a Masters of Health Science Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Trina began her career in Ottawa as a Speech-Language Pathologist consulting in all 4 publicly funded school boards. She was then hired as a consultant to the 2 Public English School Boards in the 5 Counties East of Ottawa. During her time with this employer, she continued to provide therapy, consultation, programming and training to students, staff and parents in the area of special education. She was asked to sit on the Advisory Committee for St.Lawrence College, Cornwall Campus, for the Communication Disorders Assistant Program, a position she continues to hold today. Trina is now a consultant for the Upper Canada District School Board whereby she continues to actively support the work of students, staff, and parents through assessment, programming, consultation, and training. Her strength is in helping teachers and other educational staff meet the needs of students through accommodations, modifications, and differentiated instruction strategies as needed. She is currently part of a team that is leading the nation in applying cutting-edge technology within the classroom as a tool for differentiated instruction and inclusion for all students. She is a strong believer in active and collaborative learning techniques because research indicates that this type of teaching lends itself well to differentiation and individualization of instruction. For Trina, differentiated instruction is well explained by the words of Tomlinson (1995) Meeting the needs of each student's learning style and intellectual level by shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn.
Trina is excited to be part of such an elite team with The Peak Centre Academy in her role as consultant.