The first female assistant coach in OHL history will be Laura Fortino, who was officially given a full-time position with the Hamilton Bulldogs today. Fortino will not only serve as an assistant coach but also as the team’s director of player development.
Bulldogs general manager Steve Staios released the following:
We are incredibly excited to welcome Laura to our Hamilton Bulldogs family. Laura exudes the passion, character and leadership that we covet in Hamilton. We have witnessed firsthand through our training and development camps over the years, her ability to coach and mentor players. Laura’s playing experience and success speaks for itself, she has been an instrumental part on many Championship teams and undoubtably will carry on that success as a Coach.
Fortino, 31, is a decorated athlete, with Olympic and World Championship gold medals, a CWHL title, and two nominations for the Patty Kazmaier Award. The Hamilton native has been part of the PWHPA for the last several seasons, and had been helping with the Bulldogs’ camps in the past.
The Bulldogs, led by head coach Jay McKee, reached the Memorial Cup final this season, after winning the OHL Championship. The powerhouse club, which included Anaheim Ducks prospect Mason McTavish, went 51-12-5 during the regular season.
While that success may be difficult to replicate next season, the program has celebrated two championships in four years and has done a great job preparing young players for the professional level.
Surely the comments will be respectful and not at all argumentative.
C’mon man!
I feel warm and fuzzy about this.
Worse poster Wilf or Josip? Bad takes that show lack of growth of humankind or someone who just posts grammatical errors?
Great job Bulldogs expanding the opportunity for minorities going forward. Hope she blows it out of the water and proves the doubters for the wrong reasons wrong. Time to move forward.