Madeline Bobinski
Alan Keeso Named CEO as TPH Looks to Next 20 Years
(Nashville, TN – December 15, 2021) – TPH is excited to announce Alan Keeso as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2022. Having served as Strategic Advisor to TPH over the past 5 years, Keeso brings in-depth knowledge of TPH and its Center of Excellence (CoE) academy model, its team members, and culture.
“We’re so excited to have Al lead our team going into our next 20 years at TPH,” said TPH founder Nathan Bowen, who will move out of the CEO role and into the Chairman role, remaining heavily active in TPH. “Having celebrated TPH turning 20 years old this year, we are absolutely pumped about what’s to come as we strive to lead the world in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes. Al is the leader to help us scale that impact.”
In addition to consulting for TPH in recent years, Keeso has helped dozens of small and medium-sized businesses grow for over a decade as a management consultant, independently, as well as through Grant Thornton and BDC. When asked early in 2021 by Bowen and his Investing Partner Taso Sofikitis to work more closely with TPH, Keeso decided to make the move with his family to Nashville.
“TPH to its core is a purpose-driven organization, with an outstanding team of committed professionals,” said Keeso. “It’s an honor to have this kind of confidence from Nathan and Taso to take TPH to new heights, and the responsibility that comes with the CEO role to the TPH team and our student-athletes is something I take very seriously. We’re a team that’s poised for growth through our Center of Excellence Study/Train/Play academy model, association management, camps and clinics, The Prospect Exchange, prospects teams, and events, now featuring Champions League Hockey in partnership with World Hockey Group. All of these efforts and their growth will enable us to positively impact the lives of a greater number of student-athletes, not only at our current locations, but also at many new locations to come. The future is bright at TPH.”
Keeso’s own journey as a student-athlete, and ensuing career, lend perspective to what Bowen believes will continue to differentiate TPH to prospective partners as well as families weighing the incredibly important decision on where to have their children develop as students, athletes, and people.
“Al has not only been an aspiring elite student-athlete, who reached levels in hockey that many TPH student-athletes are working towards daily, but he also exemplifies to our families what the bigger picture can be when lessons learned from sports are applied beyond the game,” said Bowen. “That’s what TPH is all about, and that’s what we feel differentiates us; we prepare our student-athletes not only for the next level in their sport, but also mentor them on habits that will help them experience wild success on the ultimate journey – life. With Al’s leadership, that differentiator will only get stronger. He has lived the ups and downs the game can throw at you and is an incredible role model for young aspiring student-athletes, because he never quit and he has used those tough times as motivation and lessons learned to prepare for the next challenge in life and hit it head on in pursuit of the next success.”
In addition to a successful business career, Keeso has earned two master’s degrees – an MBA and an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management – from the University of Oxford. At Oxford, he also published a working paper, took to the TEDx stage, and was goaltender for the university’s historic ice hockey team, becoming the only men’s player in the club’s history to have earned an Extraordinary Full Blue, the highest honor in sports at Oxford. Keeso also served as an infantry officer in the armed forces reserves and ran in a federal election.
A native of Listowel, Ontario, Keeso played hockey in his hometown before joining the Huron-Perth Lakers AAA organization and continuing on to Jr hockey with the Listowel Cyclones, Strathroy Rockets, and Sarnia Blast of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOHL). He then went to Boston to study at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where he was a goaltender for the varsity NCAA Division III hockey team and graduated with a BSc in Technology Management with honors.
“Having grown up in the game of hockey, I understand the opportunities for growth that youth sports provide for young people, on and off the ice, field, and court,” said Keeso. “Team members at TPH are deeply committed to the holistic development of student-athletes, knowing that the skills and habits learned extend well beyond the game to many other arenas of life. As a result of Nathan’s leadership and an all-star team of people, we have a great foundation in place as we head into ‘The Next 20’ at TPH.”
If you are interested in learning more about our #StudyTrainPlay model at the TPH Center of Excellence, Alan and other key members of our team will be participating in a Nationwide Virtual Open House on January 10th at 8:00 PM EST. Register for free here!
Multiple TPH/Center of Excellence Student-Athletes Get Drafted In The WHL U.S. Priority Draft
The Western Hockey League is conducting their 2021 WHL U.S. Priority Draft and 2021 WHL Prospects Draft on December 8th & 9th respectively. You can follow all the action at WHL.ca/draft.
Three Total Package Hockey/Center Of Excellence student-athletes had their names called in the online draft. Nicholas Christianson was drafted 3rd overall by the Winnipeg ICE, Kolby Gapter was drafted 25th by the Medicine Hat Tigers & Tyler Atchison was selected 28th by the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Christianson, from Upland, CA is a member of the Center of Excellence Program in Chicago and plays for the Windy City Storm 15’s. This 5’11” Center is a prolific offensive player that competes with fierceness.
Atchison, a teammate of Christianson’s with the Windy City Storm 15’s and fellow student-athlete at TPH/CoE in Chicago, is a right-handed forward that also has a knack for finding the back of the net.
“We are very happy for Nick and Tyler. This is a testament to the commitment they make every day to challenge themselves at TPH Chicago. These young men are in the early stages of very bright careers.” says, Rob Rassey, Director & Head of Hockey, TPH Chicago.
Kolby Gapter, a two-year student-athlete at the Center of Excellence in Superior Colorado was drafted 25th overall to the Medicine Hat Tigers. This blueliner defenseman has great size, standing at 6’0, and continues to improve day after day. “Kolby has been with TPH for two years. He serves as a student ambassador for us this year because of his outstanding commitment to excellence. Kolby’s character, attitude, and effort in all aspects of his development are what make him such a special person. We are proud to have Kolby as a part of our TPH family!” says Matt Doman, Director & Head of Hockey, TPH Superior.
“The TPH/Center of Excellence family is extremely proud of our boys and will continue to support their growth both on and off the ice.” says, Nathan Bowen, CEO.
You can find a campus near you and/or attend our upcoming National Virtual Open House on January 10 at 8 PM to see if our unique approach to blended learning and sports-specific training is right for your aspiring student-athlete.
TPH Brings CoE Model to Chicagoland
TPH is pleased to announce the launch of its fourteenth Center of Excellence at the Orbit Ice Arena in Palatine, IL. TPH will team up with the Windy City Storm to bring its Study, Train, Play academy-style model to all hockey players across Chicagoland, regardless of what club program they play for.
“This is an exciting day for TPH,” CEO Nathan Bowen said. “Not only is Chicago a hockey hot bed that we are thrilled to be expanding to, but today, we announce a partnership with an organization in the Windy City Storm that is committed to putting the athletic and academic needs of its players first. The Storm organization and its leaders are passionate about developing young hockey players, are progressive in their thinking and are eager to offer Chicago area hockey players an experience that will impact them on the ice, in the gym, in the classroom and most importantly, in life. We are fortunate to team up with the Storm to play a role in positively impacting the Chicago hockey landscape.”
Mark Jalcovik, minority owner and President of Business Operations for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, the parent club of the Windy City Storm, is enthralled to be adding what he calls “an educational training program” to the Chicagoland area.
“Everyone on our team is extremely excited to be partnering with TPH,” Jalcovik said. “I think the strongest reason for our excitement is the opportunity to create a full-time, skills and details-focused hockey program for kids who are serious about their sport and are looking for a full-time development experience. On our end, it has always been the educational part of what TPH provides that makes this relationship really enticing because we’re not experts in the education field. TPH really has that missing piece, and they give us the confidence that when the kids come into the program, not only are they getting a great experience through hockey, but we also trust that a quality academic experience will be delivered. We all know this is critical to helping aspiring elite hockey players take the next step in their career.”
TPH National Advancement Numbers as of January 2020
Anthony Noreen, President of Hockey-Operations and Head Coach of the Tri-City Storm says, “We are very excited to be partnering with TPH in bringing a Center of Excellence to Chicago. Over the past year, our group has set out to change the landscape of the Chicago hockey community by putting an emphasis on player development through high end training both on and off the ice. The TPH-CoE model allows us to provide the necessary resources to cater to an elite level student-athlete. This trusted model resembles the one we have used with Tri City in the USHL over the last few years and we expect it to maximize the development of the student-athletes in the program in the same fashion.”
The “educational part” that Mark Jalcovik previously referenced centers around TPH’s unique academic learning platform provided by Edmentum. The TPH-Edmentum platform will offer 6-12 grade Chicago hockey players a private school education and is designed to meet the demands of the aspiring elite male and female hockey player who desires structure, discipline and accountability, but requires the flexibility to pursue his or her hockey and career goals without the fear of missing school. The “blended learning environment” shaped by TPH includes academics on demand, with 24/7, fully accessible NCAA courseware and full-time instructors who are dedicated to the student-athletes across all Centers of Excellence. CoE attendees have access to their instructors as well as a virtual tutoring service, in the event academic assistance is needed after-hours or right on the spot during the CoE school day. A full-time Director of Academics will be on-site daily and will ensure that all student-athletes are held accountable, are studying in a positive learning environment and are receiving an experience that is tailored to when, where and how the individual learns best.
2020 TPH Center of Excellence National Academic Outcomes
“The CoE model is the way of the future for hockey players who want to pursue the game at the highest levels and also receive a quality education that will allow them to attend any university, regardless of whether or not hockey is the catalyst,” Jalcovik added. “It’s very important that our organization stays current and offers not just our own members, but all dedicated hockey players across the Chicagoland area an opportunity to be part of a program that allows them to pursue all their goals at once.”
The dedicated hockey players who attend the TPH-Chicago Center of Excellence will have the opportunity to Study, Train and Play on a mini-college campus in Palatine that will not only include an ice arena and locker room space, but a brand new, state-of-the-art training facility that is scheduled to open by the summer. In addition, TPH-Chicago will secure academic space that will allow its Center of Excellence to offer the individualized, customized learning experience that is synonymous with the CoE model.
“We say this all the time in TPH: culture beats cosmetics. That said, when you have both, the opportunities to positively impact the lives of student-athletes are endless,” Bowen added. “That’s something we really respect about Mark Jalcovik, Anthony Noreen, Ryan Ward and all the members of the Windy City Storm leadership team. They want the student-athletes who attend the Chicago CoE to have everything they need and a lot of what they want. Their goal is to provide a first-class, holistic experience to area student-athletes, and we are so grateful that they chose TPH to help deliver that.”
• Click here to apply to the TPH-Chicago Center of Excellence, which is the first step in securing your spot for the 2021-2022 school year.
• Click here to download our Center of Excellence brochure.
• Click here to request more information on TPH-Chicago and the Study, Train, Play experience.