The Coachella Valley Firebirds are excited to integrate with the community through initiating new programs, participating in local events, and speaking at functions. Here are a few examples of programs we will be involved in:
You’re on Fire
Reading Program. Each year we will collaborate with the surrounding schools to encourage and reward children in grades K-6 to reach various benchmarks in their scholastic programming. This will be accomplished by collaborating with the educators in those schools for various reading benchmarks and providing a reward system. This will range from bookmarks, to pencils, to erasers, to folders and notebooks.
Stick Time
Sports/Exercise/Gym. The Firebirds are committed to bringing hockey to the youth of Coachella Valley. We will work to provide ball hockey and recreational programming to the schools. As well as insight from the team on ways to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Community Events
The Firebirds are committed to integrate with the communities of Coachella Valley with the various fairs, fests, and parades that are held annually: Village Fest, and Pride fair to name a few.
Foundation
The Firebirds are committed to work toward having a foundation that will continue and align with the same efforts described above to expand the possibilities of philanthropic support of the region.
Hockey Operations
Steve Fraser is an experienced Sports Leader with over a decade of experience in building exceptional Sales and Operations Teams. Steve joined the Coachella Valley Firebirds in September of 2021 where his responsibilities focus on business and sales operations for the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Firebirds, working with Troy Bodie on AHL hockey operations and John Bolton on Coachella Valley Arena projects.
Fraser began his career in professional sports with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. Over four seasons he worked his way up to Vice President with the Stingrays and gained extensive experience in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Public Relations, Business Development, Game Operations, and Corporate Partnerships.
In 2015, Fraser moved to California to assist in transitioning the Kings top affiliation to Ontario when the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division was created focusing on Finance and Business Operations. In 2018 he was promoted to Vice President, Business Operations to oversee all departments for the team. Over 5 seasons the team grew their Season Ticket Memberships and received numerous awards and accolades from the AHL. He served on a special Finance Committee with the AHL to bring more accurate reporting across teams and in 2020 the Reign hosted the AHL All-Star classic, which brought 4.165 Million in economic impact to Ontario, CA and the surrounding communities.
The native of South Bend, IN has his B.S., J.D., and LL.M. Fraser graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Tourism Management. He earned his J.D. from the Charleston School of Law in Charleston, SC and his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Troy joins the Coachella Valley Firebirds in June of 2021. He previously was drafted 9th round to the Edmonton Oilers and played 9 years of professional hockey including 159 NHL games with Anaheim, Carolina and Toronto. Started his post-playing career as a professional scout with the Maple Leafs including 3 years as the Director of Pro Scouting.
Fun Fact – Memorial Cup Champion as a player for the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League.
Shannon joins the Coachella Valley Firebirds as Vice President of Branding and Community Relations in October 2021. She previously held the role of head coach of Team Canada at the Olympic Games. Coach Miller was recruited by the University of Minnesota Duluth to build a world-class NCAA Division I Women’s Ice Hockey program. Shannon and her teams came out of the gate winning, setting NCAA records by winning five NCAA Championships and with a record of 383-144-50. During her 15 years coaching in the NCAA, Shannon produced 28 Olympians from several different countries, having a formidable impact on the growth and development of the women’s game globally. Miller has also mentored coaches from Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland and Russia, greatly impacting the game at the local, national and international level.
In March of 2018, Shannon won a landmark federal case in the state of Minnesota for sex discrimination and retaliation of Title IX complaints. This is a historical win for women all over the world and especially in athletics.
Fun Facts: Shannon is a World-renowned hockey coach honored at the White House by the President of the United States five times, a former Olympic Head Coach, three-time World Champion and five-time NCAA Champion and a United Nations Speaker on Title IX and Gender Equity.
