2024 Angus Campbell Merit Award - Jim Lecappelain, Nipissing District Hockey League

The NOHA is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of the Angus Campbell Merit Award is Jim Lecappelain of the Nipissing District Hockey League!

For parts of four decades, Jim has been an active minor hockey supporter, volunteer, advocate, and leader with the West Ferris, now North Bay Minor Hockey Association, as well as the Nipissing District Hockey League.

He began volunteering with his Association as a Coach with the West Ferris Minor Hockey Association in 1993, when his oldest son put on a pair of skates as a Tyke Player. Over the next 12 years, he committed countless hours to teaching the game, and life skills to local youth while coaching his son’s teams.

With his sons completing their time in minor hockey, he took his passion to the Board Room where he took on various roles with West Ferris, including Vice President and Representative to the Nipissing District Hockey League. While still representing West Ferris at the table, he took his commitment to become the Vice Commissioner of the NDHL. While in this role, he spent countless hours in singlehandedly procuring, organizing and distributing the hundreds of medals awarded annually to U7 players through to U18.

In 2018, with the dawn of the Hockey Canada U9 program as subsequently implemented by the Ontario Hockey Federation and so the NOHA, Jim led a small committee in the development of a unique U9 program incorporating a skills development zone in conjunction with a modified game play zone. This U9 program was subsequently adopted and implemented across three (3) of the current NDHL Divisions, and remains in effect today. Jim's extensive knowledge and experience, spanning some thirty-one (31) years, has proved to be an invaluable asset to hockey in North Bay, the NDHL and so the NOHA., but Moreso to youth across and beyond the Nipissing District.