Our Team

Mike is entering his 6th year as Director of Hockey Operations at Victus Academy. Mike is also the founder and owner of HockeyDetail. Mike played professionally and coached in Europe for over 15 years winning National championships as a player and coach in both in Great Britain and Italy.
Mike Ellis is currently the Director of Skills Development for the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), Syracuse Crunch (AHL), and also works directly with Hockey Canada Women’s Team National Development Program. He has also worked recently with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) as a Development Consultant. He works daily with top players and coaches in the world both male and female and our qualified on-ice staff to build our ever evolving development techniques.
Mike believes that learning is all in the detail.

BA, TSCC – Level Gold
Scott is entering his first year at Victus Academy. Scott grew up playing many sports including hockey, baseball, lacrosse, and soccer. Scott gravitated to and excelled at hockey as this led to being drafted to North Bay in the Ontario Hockey League. After a 6 years hockey career, Scott decided to retire and attended Wilfrid Laurier University graduating in 2001. Upon graduation Scott opened his first Strength & Conditioning Facility and became the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) for 6 seasons.
Scott has a passion for education and is an international presenter and presented in countries all over the world such as the USA, England, Korea. Scott has had the honour of working with Elite Athletes throughout the world as he was the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Ingolstadt Panthers (DEL) and the Augsburg Panthers (DEL).
He is also the Director of Sports Performance for Twist Performance and, through Twist, has worked in setting up programming for hockey academies for over 16 years. This knowledge and experience with training student-athletes 4 days a week, 10 months of the year is invaluable.

Paul is entering his 6th year at Victus Academy and is the current Goaltending Coach for the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, the 2019 USports National Champion Guelph Gryphons women’s hockey program, and goaltender consultant for the Hockey Canada National Women’s Team. Paul owns and operates a goaltender development company, Goalie Detail, in which he works with goaltenders of all ages. As a goaltender, Paul played both NCAA division 1 and USports hockey.
Paul stresses reading the play and understanding the game along with goalie specific pushes and skating. As goaltenders advance to higher levels if they cannot read the play and get to where they need to be efficiently, goaltenders will be “chasing the play” and therefore setting themselves up for failure. Paul expects his goaltenders to compete. He is a firm believer that the goaltenders should be the hardest working players on the ice. According to Paul, this shows silent leadership and forces all players on the ice to compete harder, in turn creating a competitive development

Todd is entering his 5th year as Director of Student-Athlete Development at Victus. He played his minor hockey in Kitchener and went on to play in the OHL and CIS.  He has been coaching and providing direction to elite athletes over the past 30 years.  He is passionate about coaching and the last 12 years he has enjoyed leading at the junior level. The highlight of his coaching career was leading the Waterloo Siskins this past year to bring the Sutherland Cup back to our Community after a 25 year absence.
Todd is currently the Director of the Edge Hockey Spring program which offers opportunity for local area hockey players to extend their winter season and receive top training to improve skills and participate in tournaments as a team.
A consistent focus over the years in coaching and leading the spring program has been on developing good character in his players while strengthening their hockey skills.  It is very rewarding to guide these young athletes as they strive to achieve the goal of moving their game to the next level.
Todd and his wife Debb enjoy living in Baden and spending time with their three boys Tyler, Mike and Shaun.

Mark Ellis is entering his 6th year at Victus Academy. He has instructed, coached and administered all levels of minor and junior hockey for the past 20 years. After Mark’s professional playing career, he started with the OMHA coordinating development camps alongside Hockey Canada before moving to Junior Hockey where he was the Executive Director for the OHA as well the GOJHL first Commissioner helping the league establish themselves as development leader at the Junior B level across North America.
Mark has worked at NHL, Hockey Agency Development Camps and trains professional, elite Junior and Minor players. His focus is building better movement and function for each individual player to help them best succeed inside their game while establishing better practice and game habits to increase opportunity in all areas of play.

Jackson Slauenwhite is entering his first year at Victus Academy. He is a mental performance coach who helps elite athletes and teams consistently perform at their best and unlock their full potential. Jackson works with hockey players in the NHL, AHL, CHL and younger ranks as well as teams like the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL and Canada’s National Development and U18 women’s teams. With over 16 years of experience studying and implementing applied sport psychology practices, Jackson finds the most rewarding moments in helping clients turn their dreams into reality and performing better than even they thought possible.

Dr. Ashwin Patel returns for his 8th year consulting at Victus Academy. He is currently a professor in the School of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to those responsibilities he serves as the mental skills consultant for the OHL’s Guelph Storm and the AHL’s Utica Comets. Using an education/application/support model, he helps players and coaches develop psychological skills to assist in their performance and enjoyment of the sport. He also has had the opportunity to provide executive leadership training as an associate of Action Learning Associates. He assisted in executing tailored, hands-on programs to executives at PwC and TD, where self-reflection and creativity are at the centre of leadership development. He formerly was an Associate Professor of Exercise and Sport Science at Western State Colorado University. During that time he provided mental skills services to the student-athletes and coaching staffs of the Division II athletic department. Ashwin earned his doctorate in Education (with a focus in Sport and Exercise Psychology) from the University of Tennessee, and his undergraduate degrees in Psychology and History from the University of Guelph.

Coming Soon

B.Sc (Hons.) – University of Waterloo
M.Sc – University of Waterloo
Ph.D. – University of Waterloo
In addition to co-founder and President of Victus Academy, Dr. Matthew Schmidt is a Kitchener native, a Vanier scholar, and PhD Graduate in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo. He has coached rep minor hockey in the region, spring hockey, and varsity high school hockey and has worked with the Jr. B Kitchener Dutchmen as an Advance Scout. Both balance and excellence in academics and athletics, specifically hockey, has been extremely important to him throughout his life and he founded this program to provide the best opportunity for dedicated student-athletes to achieve their goals.

Rose returns for her 8th year at Victus Academy. In addition to her role at Victus, she also manages the office administration at Schmidt Law Group. Having moved to Toronto in order to allow her son to play hockey at a sports school, she recognizes the need for a hockey academy in this Region and she is excited to be part of this initiative.

Dan is a co-founder of Victus Academy and assists in recruitment and admissions. By trade, he is a prominent business lawyer in the Waterloo region, having served leading businesses and school boards for over 30 years.

Hospitality Management Diploma – Georgian College
Office Administration Executive Diploma (with distinction) – Conestoga College
Jessica Lepore returns for her 3rd year at Victus Academy after working with the WRDSB for two years as a supply secretary and library clerk. Ms. Lepore is a proud dog mom to her two year old standard poodle Phoebe and has been a dedicated Habs fan her whole life. Ms. Lepore has also been playing hockey for 12 plus years and is excited to bring her skills and expertise to Victus!

B.Sc. – Wilfrid Laurier University
B. Ed. (Mathematics) – Lakehead University
Rob returns for his 2nd year at Victus Academy. He completed his undergrad at Wilfrid Laurier University and played varsity soccer there for 3 years. He has additional OCT specialists in Special Education and Technology in the Classroom, as well as his additional principal qualifications. He worked in the Wellington Catholic DSB for 24 years as a classroom teacher, special education resource teacher and an administrator.
Rob is a passionate and dedicated education administrator with a 17-year history of advocacy and support at the local school board and provincial level. He is devoted to delivering high-quality education for youth grounded in the philosophy that teachers play a caregiving role in the learning and development of students. He believes that a positive, caring relationship between teachers and students is the key to a strong foundation for student achievement. Working collaboratively with parents and consistently connecting with families are also essential building blocks towards the success of our student athletes.
Outside of school, Rob enjoys time with his wife, Nadia, and their three children. Gathering his family together for dinners and celebrations are most special to him. He can also be found coaching soccer and football in his spare time.
He looks forward to getting to know all of the new families and continuing to build long-lasting relationships with everyone.

B.Sc.(Hons.) – University of Western Ontario
B.Ed. – McGill University
Ken returns for his 4th year at Victus Academy. He has been a Science and Math teacher for over 30 years within the Waterloo Catholic District School Board at St. Mary’s High School in Kitchener where he was Science Department Head and previously at Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge.
Mr. Bisch strives to develop and promote student interest and confidence in Science and Math. He likes to employ a variety of learning strategies, including collaborative group activities, self and peer assessment, and one-on-one teacher and student instruction and conferencing whenever possible. He particularly enjoys hands-on lab activities involving items such as dissections, chemical reactions and their analysis, and electric circuit analysis.
Mr. Bisch grew up in the Kitchener – Waterloo area, attending St. Jerome’s High School. He resides in Waterloo with his wife and two daughters. Mr. Bisch is a Habs Fan, and plays hockey in the local KW Oldtimers League. He also likes to cycle, camp, hike, and do some medium distance running.

B. A. – Wilfrid Laurier University
B. Ed. – Nipissing University
Zach is starting his first year at Victus Academy. Before joining the Victus team, Zach had spent 2 years working for the Wellington Catholic District School Board. Zach had played hockey as a child, but grew up playing football for the Guelph Bears Organization and high school level rugby. Outside of school, Zach enjoys golf and quality time with friends and family. A few goals that Zach has for his students is to push the boundaries of what they are able to do and be the best that they can be. As a student-athlete, it is important to him that they maintain a balance between academics and athletics so they can be successful in school and later in life.

BA- University of Waterloo
MA- University of New South Wales
B. Ed- University of Toronto
This is Nicola’s first year at Victus Academy. Ms. Macdonald has recently returned to the KW/Cambridge area after 7 years living in the Caribbean where she both taught and independently ran her own small consultancy business. Passionate about travel, Nicola has lived, worked, and studied in England, China, Australia, and the Cayman Islands. These experiences have contributed greatly to an appreciation of diversity, inclusion, and cultural celebration- ideals she strives to champion in the classroom. Nicola is dedicated to social justice and activism in the classroom and believes that education is the most effective tool for change.
Outside of school, Nicola spends time with her husband and two young children enjoying all the new activities and adventures the area has to offer.

B.A. – Wilfrid Laurier University
B.Ed. – Nipissing University
Ben returns for his 3rd year at Victus Academy. Prior to joining Victus, Mr. Poort had spent his teaching career with the Upper Grand District School Board. He has played hockey his entire life, playing for a number of hockey associations including KMHA, WMHA, and then HMHA and going on to play Junior Hockey with both the Cambridge Winterhawks and the Ayr Centennials. Outside of hockey and school, his biggest hobbies are traveling and golfing. At Victus, Mr. Poort hopes to help guide students as they navigate their academics and athletics.

B.A. – Lakehead University
B.Ed. – Lakehead University
Advanced Diploma, Irish Studies – Ulster University, Northern Ireland
Business Management Diploma – Humber College
Bradley returns for his 3rd year at Victus Academy. He has been an English and Social Science teacher for the last decade, having started his career as a secondary school teacher at Hastings Academy, Hastings, East Sussex, England. His passion lies in teaching students to think critically and explore complex ideas that can be found in the literature students read. He is particularly interested in teaching transferable skills to students wishing to move on to post-secondary education. He understands both the rigours and expectations of post-secondary education and wants to ensure he helps his students prepare. Having completed college and three university degrees, Mr. Robinson has a passion for both education and travel. Mr. Robinson was born and raised in south Etobicoke before moving to Cambridge. He spent several years travelling between Cambridge, Thunder Bay and Northern Ireland for school, before moving to England to teach. During his free time, he loves to play his piano along with his viola and Irish tin whistle.

B.Sc. – Canisius College
B.Ed. – Canisius College
Dylan returns for his 2nd year at Victus Academy. His goal is to have students develop skills in order to think and problem-solve independently, to prepare them for any decisions they may have to make, whether it be in the classroom, on-ice or in life. In the end he wants his students to be pushed so they can see what they are able to achieve and be proud of everything they accomplish while feeling confident in everything they do. He really enjoys being at Victus as it allows him to bring his vast sports background into the classroom and share his knowledge and experience with the students.