Stephen Baxter
Head Coach
Stephen Baxter is currently the Head Coach for the Kennesaw State University Hockey program. He has been involved in hockey for most of his life (27 years), training and developing on and off ice programs for youth Hockey in Atlanta. Baxter is a KSU Alumni playing for the KSU team from 2003-2005 and continues to pursue his BA in Sports Management.
Baxter is a USA Hockey Level 4 Certified Coach and working towards his USA Hockey Masters Coaching level. His coaching methods focus on combining the physical fitness and athletic motivational tools developing quality individuals with a desire to be the best they can on and off the ice.
As Manager of Personal training for Velocity Sports and Fitness he has developed a variety of unique off ice hockey related conditioning programs now being executed within the KSU Hockey program.
Dr. Darren Surma
Assistant Coach
Dr. Surma is currently Assistant Coach for the Kennesaw State University Hockey program. He has been involved in hockey for more than 30 years, playing his Junior Hockey in Winnipeg Canada and winning 3 ACHA D-2 National Championships with Life University. He has played for Canadian national teams in Europe and stresses the European style of fast paced hockey.
Dr. Surma graduated from Life University in 2002 with his Degree in Chiropractic Medicine and continues to operate a successful practice in the Atlanta area. His coaching and business methods focus on combining education and sports medicine with a priority on Life Skills and successful academic completion.
William "Bill" Morrison
Director of Hockey Operations
Morrison is currently the Director of Hockey Operations for the Kennesaw State University program. He has been involved in hockey for most of his life, playing with the Clinton Comets of the IHA, Humber College OCAA, Toronto Marlies Tier One OHA Junior A and St. Thomas Elgins Tier 2 OHA Junior A.
Bill is USA Hockey Level 3 Certified Coach and continues to work towards his USA Hockey Masters Coaching level. His coaching and business methods focus on combining education and sports as a motivational tool for developing quality individuals with a quality athletic program.
Bill holds a Public Relations Marketing BA/Diploma from Humber College in Toronto, Canada and received the Ontario Colleges Provincial Life Time Honors Award in April 2000 for his achievements in Sports, Education and Global Business. He is also Vice President for CANAM Developers, LLC, a Georgia-based sports management group developing various ice hockey related facilities.
Ryan Falvai
General Manager/Founder
Ryan is the individual that has brought this hockey program together. He graduated as a Psychology Major at Kennesaw State and spent 5 seasons with the Ice Owls. He spent several years playing for an assortment of teams throughout the Georgia Amateur Hockey Association. After high school, Ryan went onto play junior hockey for a single season but found a better home for hockey at Kennesaw. He works with many different departments within the school as well as other schools to ensure the team runs smoothly each and every year. He is proud to develop one of the best teams in the South, growing from a handful of fans to the thousands.
Rod Brown
Director of Pubic Relations
Rod is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, spending most of his youth with family in Newmarket, Ontario. He began competitive hockey at a very young change and played on several competitive travel teams. Rod was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings, where he spend his first 3 years in Junior A hockey in the North American Junior Hockey League in Detroit, Michigan. He continued to travel throughout Northern and Eastern Europe playing competitively with the GoodWill Games Tournament, earning the title of tournament MVP. Upon returning home, he plaeyd with the Detroit Falcons and the Flint Generals of the Colonial Hockey League.
Rod currently is medical sales and has his own spice company, Rod's Rub. He was a City of Atlanta Police Officer and was an honors graduate of Kennesaw State University. While attending KSU, Rod co-founded the Atlanta Police and Fire Hockey League and continued to coach boys 12-14 year-old hockey teams. He is happily married and lives in Marietta, Georgia. He is excited to put hockey on the map at Kennesaw and is proud to be a part of a National Title.
Richard Wiant
Director of Marketing
Richard has been involved with ice hockey promotions for more than ten years and is no stranger to marketing. He is currently in charge of running and managing the marketing and sales activities for the team. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Rich has traveled the world with the US Marines Special Forces. He is now completeing his BA in History at Kennesaw State and his happily married to his wife and has one son, who he is hoping will be a part of this program. Like all of the management and team, he takes pride in working with a National Championship program.
Tim Morrison
Director of Canadian Player Development
Tim is presently the Manager of Sales for Unilock Canada and the Director of Canadian Player Development. His past hockey achievements include player participation with, Humber College OCAA, Barrie Colts JR. B, Buffalo Tondas OHA JR A and OMHA coaching for Noble King Minor Hockey Association.
Time has more than 30 years of experience as a OMHA convener, coaching and recruiting players in the Canadian Ontario youth hockey programs. His coaching and knowledge of the game focus on combining education and sports as a motivational tool for developing quality individuals and quality athletic programs. He is also involved in Time 2 Market Communications Solutions, LLC, a Georgia based Sports Management group developing various Ice Hockey related facilities.
Noonan Maher
Director of Eastern Canadian Player Development
Noonan is an inductee into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame and is the current Director of Eastern Canadian Player Development. His past achievements include player participation with the Campellton Tigers Intermediate A, two time Canadian CAHA SR A Champions (Hardy Cup), St Francis Xavier University XMAN, and Humber College OCAA provincial championship team.
Noonan has more than 30 years of experience as a player and coach and will be recruiting players in the Canadian Maritime JR A Hockey league (CAHA). He is currently is an Advisor to the Canadian Funeral Services Association of Canada and continues to travel nationally in search of Canadian Hockey talent suitable for Kennesaw State Hockey program.
Preston Pope
Director of Program Development
Preston continues to serve the program in the area of special projects in media and program development He is no stranger to KSU, the development of championship teams, and athletics. Preston has served KSU in the Admissions Office from 1998-2005 as an Admissions Officer, NCAA liaison to the Athletic department, and from 2003-2005, in partnership with Chattahoochee Technical College, as Associate Producer for the "Courtside with Tony Ingle" t.v. show that highlighted the KSU men's basketball team, including the 2004 NCAA Division II National Champion Men's Basketball team.
Preston is a life, long athlete whose accomplishments include being a nationally ranked drug free powerlifter, a gold medal in Powerlifting in the 1994 International Law Enforcement Games, gold medal in the 1997 AAU National Bench Press Championships, and as a torch bearer in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA. He is a strong believer in education combined with athletics makes for strong leaders and success after college. Preston is excited to be a part of this outstanding ice hockey program.
Dr. Mark W. Diehl
Team Physician
Dr. Mark Diehl is the President of Pinnacle Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Specialists, a twenty-one physician group with offices in Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding and Douglas Counties. Dr. Diehl was a recreational hockey player for many years and has recently joined us as team physician. He received his B.S. from Western Michigan University, his M. D. form Wayne State University, and his Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Training at Emory University. He specializes in sports medicine, knee and shoulder injuries and arthroscopic surgery. He has served as the Medical Director for the Georgia State Games, a Co-Director for Athletes Care at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, and as Team Physician for several local area High Schools.
Dr. Patrick Devine
University Relations
Dylan Morrison
Club President
The players and participants registered at Kennesaw State have voted Dylan Morrison as team President. Dylan is from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada and joined KSU in the spring of 07'. He played in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League for the Bancroft Hawks and was the first ever franchise captain for the Seguin Bruins. He won the Coaches Award that season for his efforts in leading by example on and off the ice with the new program.
He is working towards getting his major in Business Management and minor in the newly offered Coaching field. The future for this program is very promising with the people and players that are in place. Dylan is committed to this program for the next four years and would not only like to see the program continue to be the benchmark for KSU club sports, but also achieve another National Championship, this time at the Division II level.
Jimmy Barry
Club Vice President
To Be Declared
Secretary
This position is to be voted on by the players and participants that are registered at Kennesaw State
KSU Life
Entertainment Development/Student Relations
KSU Life is a web-based organization that began in 2006 to help promote and draw the Kennesaw State community to campus events. KSULife.com has been the fastest growing web community for Kennesaw reaching 173,000 hits within 2 weeks of its debut. Founders Frank Matcha and Doug Rohde are proud of the success of Kennesaw State hockey program and have dedicated their time to bring the best pre-, in- and post-game entertainment, everything from giveaways and pre-game concerts to the in-game audio that pumps up the crowd.
KSU Life is hoping to bring out large turnouts to the home ice hockey games every season and hopefully will be able to get some fans to travel to the away games as well. They are responsible for making sure fans stay entertained and will be throwing another annual Bash Night and will be giving bigger and better stuff to students every year.
Captured Living
Motion Photography and Design
Captured Living is a media group that has brought a great experience to the Kennesaw organization. They have been responsible for photographs and media, which has been recognized in newspapers and magazines. The goal every year is to captivate audiences by bringing a professional element that fans would get at, for example, the Atlanta Thrashers games. These elements include schedule cards, posters, season tickets, flyers and the upcoming media guide. Also, the site fans experience is now built and operated by them. Captured Living is proud to be a part of KSU Ice Hockey and look forward to take pictures of the next National Championship Kennesaw claims victory. For more information about Captured Living and their media services, visit CapturedLiving.com
