Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League

INTRODUCING BRETT KOZAK

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League players may not have a firm regular season start date as of yet, but the league’s front office has expanded by one with the addition of intern Brett Kozak.

Brett has volunteered the last three years at the SJHL/MJHL Showcase and will be working closely in Marketing & Communications alongside sponsorship deliverables.

This is the second time in as many years the SJHL has partnered with the University of Regina under the Sport and Recreation Management program.

Brandy West-McMaster is the Experiential Learning Coordinator/Instructor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina and she says, “I feel very fortunate to meet the wonderful people who lead our partner agencies and the enthusiastic students who apply knowledge from their degree program into various projects during their fieldwork.  I am repeatedly impressed how our fieldwork students are able to step into these professional organizations and contribute right away. Our degree program requires a 15-week, 560 hours unpaid fieldwork (practicum) for students to apply their knowledge and gain practical experiences in their major area.

“A couple of fieldwork students from our Sport and Recreation Management (SRM) program have been making a big difference in a provincial organization over the last few semesters and have created a pathway for other to follow.  The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) started the partnership with our Faculty in the Fall 2019 semester when an SRM student, Alex Watson, approached Logan Fraser (SJHL, Director of Marketing and Communications) with a proposal of a potential fieldwork opportunity.”

West-McMaster adds, “The SRM program in the Faculty of KHS is fairly small but mighty. The faculty and students have developed a culture of getting involved in related practical experiences.  Alex embraced opportunities at the U of R including:  participating in the Jr. Practicum with Cougar Athletics (Hockey Statistician/Admin Assistant), volunteering and working with Cougar Athletics and by attending as many hockey drafts and conferences as he could.  He took his love for analytics and developed learning objectives that lead him to the SJHL and a very successful special project.”

Brett’s background includes working with the Cougar Men’s hockey program, where he designed their recruiting package as well as investing time with Cougar Athletics and the Neepawa Natives of the MJHL.

“I’m extremely excited to get things started with the SJHL.  It has been a dream of mine to work in hockey as I have always had a strong passion for the sport.  Working with the SJHL will provide me with the opportunity to learn about the industry first-hand from one of the top junior hockey leagues in Canada,” said Kozak.