Introducing Derek Munroe!
Derek Munroe
U18 A Head Coach
I will be coaching the U18 team for the upcoming 2025-2026 season. I am from Kingsville where I live
with my wife and two kids, and I also have 3 older kids. I have been a teacher with the Lambton Kent
District School Board since 2003. I grew up playing minor hockey in Tilbury and was on a team that came
in second in playdowns twice, but was never able to achieve a championship. After playing in Tilbury I
played from 1986-1989 for the Leamington Flyers and was the Great Lakes Junior C scoring leader in
1988-89. The next year I went away to school at the University of Guelph and made the varsity where I
played for a year and a half, before coming back to play with the Belle River Canadians, a team that lost
in the semi-finals to the eventual Junior C champs from Hanover.
I got into coaching in 1993 to give back to the game, and have coached for 17 years in the Tilbury
Thunder, Lakeshore Lightning, Kent Cobras, Chatham-Kent Cyclones, and Erie North Shore Storm
organizations. I have my High Performance 1 certification, have scouted the Alliance U15s and U16s for
Neutral Zone for the last 9 years, and have coached the Alliance OHL Gold Cup team with the 2002
group in 2017-2018. I believe in preparing players for the next level, and promote playing hard on both
sides of the puck so players can adapt to new roles as they move to new hockey opportunities. I take
pride in my coaching abilities, and believe that coaches should also be improving each year as should
the players.
Some notable players I have coached include;
Brandon Montour- Seattle Kraken, Stanley Cup Champion with the Florida Panthers, (Tilbury Thunder 2
years)
Brett Brochu- Fort Wayne Komets, OHL Rookie wins leader for the London Knights (Chatham Kent
Cyclones 2 years)
Dylan Schives- Windsor Lancers (Tilbury Thunder 2 years, Kent Cobras 1 year)
Johnny Ulicny- Windsor Lancers (Chatham Cyclones 2 years)
Kaleb Tiessen- St. Cloud State NCAA Division 1 (Chatham Cyclones 2 years)
Cam Symons- Oswego SUNY Oswego (Chatham Cyclones 3 years)
I have a high standard of coaching that I hold myself accountable to, and always have open
communication channels with both parents and players. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work
with many from this group that I already have from 2022-2024, This included Bluewater titles and a trip to
the OMHA semi-finals in both seasons. I understand there will be changes with the new direction of the
OHF, and look forward to not only further developing relationships, but also creating new ones along the
journey of creating a team that plays and competes hard each game.