After a successful playing career, Kim Coates enters her sixth season as the full-time assistant coach of the UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team.
Hailing from Harrison Hot Springs, B.C., Coates grew up playing hockey in the women’s AAA league, before joining the Pacific Steelers and the Vancouver Griffins of the NWHL.
She went to the United States to pursue her education and played two seasons (2003-2005) with Clarkson University of the NCAA (Division I) before returning home to suit up for the BC Breakers of the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) for a year.
Coates then joined UBC, playing three seasons (2006-2009), becoming an assistant captain and then captain of the team.
In 72 regular season games for UBC, she scored 39 points, one of which helped the T-Birds to their first-ever win (in a shootout) over the Alberta Pandas. Another helped UBC beat Lethbridge, to clinch the points needed for the team's first-ever playoff berth.
Coates completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in History.
She then joined the coaching staff of the Thunderbirds, starting out with video analysis and progressing to her current position of full-time assistant over the last three years.
Outside of the UBC program, Coates has spent lots of time developing young female players in this province. She has been quite involved with BC Hockey’s High Performance Program, coaching at the U16 and U18 levels. Coates also helped coach the 2011 Team BC squad that competed in U18 National Championships in Saguenay, Quebec.
She has completed the Development 1 coaching course and is taking her High Performance 1 through Hockey Canada this summer.
