About Us
Next Level Training was started in 2009 by Bryce Cockburn. Born out of a desire to stay on the ice and share his love for hockey Bryce began running hockey camps while working another full time job. In 2017 Bryce decided to devote all of his energy to NLT. Bryce is now Hockey Canadas only island based advanced certified Skills Coach in Level 3 skating, Level 3 skills and Level 3 developing defensemen. Bryce is also certified for body checking clinics as well. He is a BC Hockey certified High Performance 1 coach and works closely throughout the winter with Campbell River Minor Hockey players and coaches. A former Campbell River TYEE, Bryce played Junior A hockey in Nanaimo, BC where he received a 4 year NCAA scholarship to Northern Michigan University. After 4 years of University Bryce spent the next 4 seasons playing professionally in the AHL and then going on to win an ECHL Championship in 2005 and a UHL Championship in 2007. Bryce also spent a year playing hockey overseas in Germany.
Meet our instructors
Our instructors at Next Level Training are all very passionate about teaching and passing on what we have learned throughout our experiences. Our goal is to see improvement every day in each and every player, by having a positive atmosphere where everyone is working hard, helping each other improve and having a great time doing it!
Wyatt Trumbley
Wyatt is a valuable member of our team and a current player with Fayetteville Marksmen, league SPHL.
Dom Kolbeins
We are lucky that Dom was able to stay local due to Covid and help out with all camps this summer. Dom currently plays in the Oklahoma league ACHA
Sean Owens
Sean played his junior hockey in Powell River where he received a full scholarship to Northern Michigan University. After 4 years playing for Northern Michigan, he signed with the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL and this is where he would play the next 212 games.
In 2005 Sean signed with in Germany where he would spend his next 2 seasons playing in Hannover and Heilbronner. He returned to North America in 2007 after signing with the Las Vegas Wranglers. He spent his final 2 seasons in Las Vegas and retired from professional hockey in 2009 after playing over 400 games and now lives in Victoria.
Peter Trumbley
Former Campbell River TYEE, Peter played his Junior hockey in Yorkton, SK and Powell River, BC. He then went on playing Pro hockey in the CHL and ECHL and wrapped up his final season in Victoria, BC. After playing hockey Peter moved back to CR and started coaching and has supported many successful local Rep teams.
Passionate about improvement
I have been very fortunate to have had some extremely good coaches throughout my hockey career including 3 former NHL coaches and have learned a lot from all of them. It means a lot to me and feels great to be able to give back and help local players improve to get there game to that next level. Campbell River is where myself along with a lot of our staff started skating and learned to play the game.
Our purpose is to help each and every player in our camps improve, not just during the week we have them but have it soak in and take what they have learned with them and use it on the ice throughout the year.
Through all of our personal experience from playing, coaching and teaching we feel like we have a good grasp on what really works to help develop young players and how to get the most out of every skater in out camps. We realize that every player is at a different skill level so we try to create a positive atmosphere on the ice where everyone is helping each other do what it takes to improve as a hockey player and have fun doing it! Its a real satisfaction when we help a player develop to where we notice skating and skill development during the camps. This means we are doing our jobs and that is why we enjoy doing it. Campbell River has had a lot of hockey talent come out of it over the years and we would like to help maintain that trend.
Additional coaching staff and special guests
Mike Stutzel
Mike is from Victoria and also played NCAA hockey at Northern Michigan where he signed with the Phoenix Coyotes and went on to play 5 years professionally with stops in the NHL, AHL and ECHL
Ken Bueckert
25 seasons coaching experience in CR Minor Hockey, Former Head evaluator for the BCAHA U16/U16 Best ever program, 3 seasons as a Main Camp Evaluator for Powell River Kings Jr.A
Join our team!
Although we have a dedicated team of instructors, Bryce is always looking for additional help on the ice. From Jr. helpers to amazing instructors. If you are interested in joining our team please send a resume and more info to nextlevelbc@gmail.com