Alton Redbirds Hockey Club Has New Head Coach And Assistant Coach

ALTON – With the start of the MVCHA Varsity season, the Alton Redbirds Hockey Club is proud to announce the addition of Varsity Head Coach Bryan Clark and Varsity Assistant and Development Coach Steve Hejna. 

During the off-season, the Varsity Redbirds were faced with a significant loss as Head Coach Nick Boswell and Assistant Coach Evan Franklin made the difficult decision to step away from their roles due to their individual careers demanding more of their time and attention.

The Alton Redbirds Hockey Club appreciates their dedication to the team and their leadership on the ice for the years that they spent on the Varsity bench. The Alton Redbird Hockey Club is extremely excited about the direction new Head Coach Clark is taking the club.

Clark comes to the club with a long resume of youth hockey coaching experience, spanning nearly a  decade with organizations including Twin Bridges Lighting and St. Louis Sting. Clark’s work ethic focuses on teamwork and competitiveness that requires our players to push themselves both on and off the ice. 

Varsity Assistant & Development Coach Steve Hejna also joins the Redbirds with a long resume of youth hockey coaching experience. Hejna spent three years as an assistant coach for the Highland Bulldogs (2013-2016)  who also play in the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association (MVCHA). Hejna has spent the last seven years with the Twin Bridges Lighting Club. In addition, Hejna has experience stemming from his time with the St. Louis  Blues Warriors Club.  

The Redbirds have two returning coaches for the Junior Varsity team – Head Coach Charles CJ Sheppard and Assistant Coach Chris Sheppard. These two brothers led the Junior Varsity Redbirds to a 1A Silver  Championship in the 2022-2023 season. The Sheppards have been with the club for over five years and have dedicated so much of their time to developing our Junior Varsity players into productive players both on and off the ice.

As ARHC alumni, CJ and Chris understand the history and tradition of the Alton Redbirds Hockey Club. Our  Junior Varsity coaches are critical in developing numerous different skill-level players into productive varsity players.

Coaches CJ and Chris both have extensive resumes of coaching experience and have continually utilized their experience to provide positive examples of sportsmanship and teamwork to our players.