Staff

Ben Frank

President

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“I have an intense passion for growing young people through the great sport of ice hockey. The sport and the people I have met through it, have done so much for my life, that I want to share that special experience with as many kids as possible so that they too can be positively impacted just as I have been and continue to be. I feel blessed to have the opportunity every day, to lead an organization with this as the primary goal.”

Ben Frank is the President of Wildcats Hockey Club based out of Riverside California. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Ben grew up with a passion for the game playing youth hockey, Junior, and finally Collegiate hockey at the University of Toronto where he graduated with a Bachelors’ of Physical Health and Education. By chance, Ben ended up playing professional roller hockey in California after completing his degree and had the opportunity to start coaching youth hockey during his stay. Ben’s passion for the game grew as he was able to impact others through the sport he loved and he soon became president of the small club he was coaching with. Years of challenge and ups and downs led Ben down the path of moving the club towards becoming a USAH Model Association. The massive change and success with the program has catapulted the program forward in growth and reputation. Ben now travels around the country speaking to various hockey groups and using the Wildcats story of challenge and success to help others with implementing change within their own organizations. Ben’s most recent speaking stops include: NARCE USAH Hockey Directors Course-Columbus, Ohio, USAH Annual Congress-Colorado Springs, MAHA Summer Meetings-Mt. Pleasant Michigan, PVAHA Summer MeetingsMaryland, USAH Coaches Level 4-San Jose, CA.

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Paul Esdale

Chief of Hockey Operations

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“We strive to be great role models for today’s youth and relish the opportunity to guide beginners to experienced players in their journey through the game of hockey while using sport as a vehicle to teach life lessons. It’s our responsibility to give the players a positive experience, increase their passion for the game, facilitate their dreams and lead them to be positive contributors in sport, family, community, school and beyond.“

Paul was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the son of Peter, career coach of 25 years. A standout hockey and tennis player, Paul was cut from his Midget hockey team and deemed ” too small to play at a high level “. Through years of hard work and determination, Paul reached a Top 10 ranking in Canada for the Under 18 age group in tennis while playing four years in the Alberta Junior Hockey League earning him a commitment from Brown University Division I hockey team. An All- Ivy and All- ECAC defenseman at Brown, Paul graduated with a Business Economics degree in 2003. Following his collegiate career he played six years of professional in the AHL, CHL, ECHL, IHL and spent time in Sweden, Denmark and Germany. Following his playing career Paul was the Head Coach and General Manager of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for three seasons. In his time in the BCHL he sent 25 players to Division 1, Division 3 and Canadian University to pursue their hockey and education careers.

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Tomas Kapusta

High Performance Tier program Director

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“I can’t even imagine doing anything else in my life then be involved in teaching and coaching young hockey players. Growing up playing hockey since I started to walk and knowing this sport inside out playing hockey professionally for twenty years provides me with the foundation to give back what I have received. I understand how much I was gifted and I am thrilled to have a chance to share my passion for hockey with players of all ages.”

Tomas was selected by Edmonton Oilers round 5 #104 overall 1985 NHL Entry Draft and he was part of the Czech National Team at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Tomas’s career was filled with numerous achievements including; 2000-2002 Captain of the Long Beach Ice Dogs (WCHL); 1999 Second Place team in Czech Republic Extra league; 1993 Bronze Medal at World Championships, 1993 Leading Scorer in the Elite Finnish League, 1991-1992 The Award for Perseverance and Sportsmanship with the AHL Cape Breton Oilers; 1987 Silver Medal at the World Junior Championships; 1985 Silver Medal at the World Junior Championship. Tomas graduated with a BA in social science at CSULA and received a certified teaching credential at CSULB. Before he accepted his position with the Wildcats Club/Jr. Reign, Tomas served as a Jr. Kings Head Coach and Hockey Director for Toyota Sports Center. For the past 10 years Tomas worked with the Jr. Kings organization and developed teams in the in-house program all the way to the Bantam.

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Joyce Frank

Vice President Athlete Success

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Joyce was born and raised in Southern California. She had a challenging upbringing but persevered through an innate hunger to learn and grow. She truly believes that sports has the power to transform lives.

Sport gave her a safe haven. A place where should could go and be her true self. She felt a sense of community, belonging, and support when she felt she did not have it anywhere else. More importantly, she learned about who she could become and it gave her a glimpse of her future if she worked hard enough at it and is she surrounded herself with the right positive and uplifting people. She learned so many life lessons during the most troubling time in her life and it gave her an amazing structure and foundation to build upon as she got older and eventually became an adult.

Joyce's life mission is dedicated to using youth sportsin the way it was always intended, as a platform that builds our youth into the confident, compassionate, and empowered big dream chasers that have the audacity to change the world.

Sports helped empower Joyce and helped her attend her dream school, The University of Southern California on an academic scholarship and later getting her MBA and becoming a decorated Account Executive for 7 years and an Entrepreneur for over a decade. Today, she uses her creativity and ability to connect parents and players to the her life mission of ensuring sports is used as a platform to empower youth athletes and show them what is possible. As the COO, her primary focus is to identify bottlenecks, remove barriers, and help departments operate harmoniously so that we can ensure the best programing for our athletes is always at the center.

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Darren Berezowski

Director of Player Development

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Darren Berezowski is a youth hockey coach and Senior Business Executive with over 25 years of experience. Darren grew up in Calgary Alberta Canada and played elite level youth, junior and College hockey. He started coaching hockey in 2008 with Anaheim Jr Ducks and joined the Ontario Jr Reign (previously Wildcats) in 2011. He has also coached at Friends Christian School in both the Ducks SCORE Street Hockey and the Ducks i3 Roller Hockey League, in which he has lead teams to a combined total of (11) Championships. He believes his business background combined with his hockey experiences translates well in developing the youth hockey player to reach their full potential.

David Vychodil

Head Skills & Strength Conditioning Coach

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My name is David Vychodil, and I am Head coach and Assistant coach in high performance teams in our club. I focus on the skills and strength conditioning of our players. Since day one I love coaching I don’t take it as a job. It is more of a mission and destiny. I am very fortunate that I am doing what I love and I can do it every day. Still as an active player in 2013 I transitioned into coaching youth hockey in Europe. Many of my players moved to Tier I Elite programs in the United States. The last 8 years, I have coached and managed all categories and levels of youth, as well as high school and junior hockey. As a player I have over 700 games and 17 years of professional hockey experience, playing across Europe, United States and Russia. I grew up in Ostrava, Czech Republic playing AAA youth, elite junior and senior hockey for my hometown team HC VITKOVICE. Graduated from the Sportovni Gymnazium Dany A Emila Zatopkovych Ostrava, a preparatory school for elite athletes, in 1998 my Major subject was Theory of Sports training and Biology. I continued to study at Charles University in Prague, but I interrupted my study to fulfill my military duties for Czech army. During that year I played for the Czech U20 National Team and also for elite army team HC DUKLA JIHLAVA won the league title that year. In 1999/2000 I moved to the United States to play junior hockey with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. In spring 2001 I received an offer from Iowa State University (A.C.H.A.) Division I, but I choose to join the Pittsburgh Penguins organization playing minor league hockey for several years.

Josh Newton

Head Coach & Skills Instuctor

Born in Leduc, Alberta, Canada. Raised in Southern California from the time I was 9 years old. My love for hockey started in Canada but was nurtured in California. Some like to think I followed my favorite hockey player to LA. I played roller hockey until I was 16 and then made the transition to ice hockey. I only played three years of youth ice hockey before aging out. I played Junior B back East in IJHL for the Salem Ice Dogs, after that I played for the Grand Forks Border Bruins in the KIJHL. After my playing career I started coaching at the age of 22. I remember saying I’d never coach hockey. Now almost 20 years later I can’t see myself doing anything else. In 2006 I played a few games for the SAN DIEGO GULLS in the ECHL. My love for the game is what fuels me to continue to give back to the game that has given so much to my life. I’m a USA Hockey level 5 coach. I do my best to not just help young players become better at hockey but help mold them into becoming young men and women.