Coaches

Basketball Nova Scotia > Coaches

Leading the path to the national stage!

2023 Provincial Team Boys Coaches

Dan Higgins
U17 Boys Head Coach

“My passion for coaching is driven by the experience of watching so many kids come through our programs and leave as better young men than they arrived as – both as athletes on the court and students off the court. 

I plan to set a high standard for our u17 team and provide the best possible training and learning environment to reach our full potential. I look forward to the process of getting our players to understand the value of competing hard every day for each other.”

Coaching Experience

  • Current Head Coach at Bay View High School Boys Basketball (Div. 1) 
  • 16 years coaching experience at Club, High School and Provincial levels.
  • 2020 BNS U15 Boys Head Coach 
  • 2017-2020 BNS Jr/Sr Academy boys coaching lead. 
Alex Petropolis
U16 Boys Head Coach

“Player-first & developing a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Coaching Experience

  • Coaching achievements: Head Coach at the 4AM Basketball Camp
  • Assistant Coach Dalhousie University Men’s Basketball Team.
  • Head Coach U15 Boys Provincial Team 2022 4th Place

Colter Simmonds
U15 Boys Head Coach

“Kids don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Coaching Experience

  • Colter is a long-time coach, mentor, and community leader.
  • Founder of We Will Win Youth Association
  • CEO of OnDaRise Sports and Entertainment
  • Directed camps for NBA and WNBA athletes, and coached at all levels in Nova Scotia, including NBL Canada.
  • Earned two Nova Scotia high school provincial championships
  • Won a national gold medal as an assistant coach with Basketball Nova Scotia’s Provincial Team at Canada Basketball Nationals.

2023 Provincial Team Girls Coaches

Jalynn Skeir
U17 Girls Head Coach

“Basketball Nova Scotia has been a large part of my Basketball Journey both as a coach and a player. With that, I am excited to lead the 2023 u17 Women’s team this summer. 

The goal is to create a positive and elite training environment for our athletes to grow not only as basketball players but young leaders. Offensively, we will set the pace. Defensively, we will cause havoc.”

Coaching Experience

  • Inaugural MWBA Season Champions. 
  • 3x AUS Champion
  • Head Coach of Armbrae Academy Sr. Girls 2020-Current.  
  • Assistant Coach of Acadia Axewomen’s Basketball Team 3-years.
  • Lead Assistant Coach 2018 BNS u17 Women’s Team.
  • Lead Assistant Coach 2017 BNS u17 Canada Games Team.
  • Head Coach 2016 BNS u16 Development Team.
  • Lead Assistant Coach 2015 BNS u15 Team. 
  • AUS Player Cape Breton University 2012-2017
Mike Shoveller
U16 Girls Head Coach

”My coaching philosophy is predicated around three things; working hard, getting better, and having fun. If at the end of an athlete’s BNS experience they can look back and say ‘I worked as hard as I could, I improved both as a player and a person, and I had a ton of fun’, then I believe we will have created a positive and successful experience for them.”

Coaching Experience

  • Mike has over 5 years coaching experience in both Nova Scotia and Ontario at the high school and club level.
  • Mike spent 4 years as captain of the Varsity Men’s Basketball Team at Queen’s University in the OUA, followed by one year and an AUS championship with the Dalhousie Tigers.
  • In 2018, Mike was selected to represent Canada on the Senior Men’s National Team at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, where he and Team Canada won a silver medal.
  • Currently in his second year as Head Coach of the Halifax Grammar School Senior Girls team
Nick Jordan
U15 Girls Head Coach

“ Basketball success is about respect – respecting the effort needed in training, in practice and in games. Success is a product of hard work and attention to detail in everything we do as a individuals and as a team.”

Coaching Experience

  • 2011 Head Coach Team Nova Scotia Canada Basketball U17 Boys Silver Medalists
  • 2011 Sport Nova Scotia Team of the Year
  • 2012 AUS Champions Acadia University 
  • 2013 Head Coach Team Nova Scotia Canada Games 5th Place 
  • 2022 Asst Coach Team Nova Scotia Canada Basketball U15 Boys 4th Place