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Bruyere, Campbell, Laing honored with prestigious USA Hockey awards

 

A trio of individuals involved with California youth hockey was recently honored by USA Hockey at its Annual Congress, which was held in June in Colorado Springs.

Jaime Campbell and Steve Laing (pictured above) were named the Excellence in Safety Award winners, while Larry Bruyere took home the Walter Yaciuk Award.

The Excellence in Safety Award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to make hockey a safer game for all participants, while the Walter Yaciuk Award is presented annually by USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the program during many years of service as a volunteer.

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jaime_headshot_largeCampbell (pictured right) is the player safety and concussion representative for USA Hockey’s Pacific District. Campbell is also a seven-year director for the California Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), serving as director of member services, administrator of the background and screening compliance program, and has been the SafeSport coordinator for both northern and southern California.

She has created and implemented numerous pilot programs during her time in youth hockey. One of her most notable accomplishments to date was the development and implementation of the California concussion protocol that has now expanded throughout the Pacific District.

As a founding member of the CAHA concussion awareness and prevention committee, Campbell was instrumental in the research, development and implementation of the program and its continued growth and expansion. She spent many years studying the effectiveness of grassroots concussion education programs and has access to world-renowned experts to collaborate with on ensuring that the protocol is relevant and effective.

Currently a director with USA Hockey’s Pacific District, Laing is also involved with USA Hockey’s Legal Council, SafeSport, High School Section and Youth National tournaments.

steve_laingLaing (pictured left) previously served as president of CAHA from 2009-16, leading one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing affiliates. With more than 27,000 members, he was instrumental in the establishment of the first state-wide concussion awareness program, in which he helped formed with board members and medical doctors. In addition to this groundbreaking effort, Laing also played a key role in the implementation of the elimination of body checking in the 12U youth classification and the head contact rule.

bruyere2Bruyere (pictured right) has devoted more than 40 years to USA Hockey as a coach, manager and founder. Since moving to California in 1974, he has coached at every level from 8U to college, while also overseeing adult programs and rink management.

He began his career by opening retail hockey stores inside seven local rinks in the San Fernando Valley. While managing the retail store, Bruyere founded hockey programs at the respective rinks, launching their in-house and travel youth hockey programs.

In 1983, he made his coaching debut with the California Golden Bears in Burbank, a position he held for five years. He then transitioned to serving as the head coach of the University of Southern California club program and became the general manager of the NAHL’s Lytes Rustlers in 1987, and he managed the team for 11 years. In 1990, he founded and coached the West Valley Wolves minor hockey association for seven seasons.

Two years later, Bruyere founded the Valencia Express, and coached the 12U and 16U teams from 2000-07. He also coached the Channel Islands Riptide 12U and 16U teams from 2009-14. Bruyere was honored as the Western Region Coach of the Year for the Pacific District in 2015.

Bruyere has also held multiple leadership roles within USA Hockey’s district coaching programs. He served as the Pacific District coach-in-chief from 2006-16 and prior to that, was an instructor with USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program, an association hockey director coordinator and an associate coach-in-chief from 1998-2006.

Photos/USA Hockey

— Matt Mackinder

(Aug. 6, 2018)

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