"Empowering Athletes: Welcome Coaches to Ottawa Capitals JUEL!"

Meet our Ottawa Capitals JUEL Coaches! Ottawa Capitals JUEL is excited to have these Coaches on board to work together to develop our players both on and off the court. Coaching is a demanding but rewarding job, and we appreciate all the time and effort our Coaches will put in to help our athletes reach their full potential. Ottawa Capitals JUEL Coaches will have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of our players and help them grow as both athletes and individuals. Their dedication and passion for the game will inspire their team to work hard and strive for success. We are confident that with their guidance and leadership, Ottawa Capitals players will continue to improve and achieve their goals. Thank you again for joining us this season – let's make it a great one!

OTTAWA CAPITALS JUEL COACHES 2024-25

​DEAN PETRIDIS – Head Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL ACADEMY

Petridis has been an Assistant Coach with the Carleton Basketball programs for close to 20 years.  He has most recently been with the women’s program for the last 5 years winning 2 National titles to add to his 12 National titles with the men’s program. His history with the Ravens dates back even further when he first started playing for the Carleton Ravens in 1997. He graduated from Carleton University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Commerce. After ending his playing career with Carleton, Petridis has also since become a staple in the coaching community at grassroots levels in Ottawa, coaching several high school teams and club teams winning several OFFSAA and provincial medals. In 2006 Petridis became Head coach of Team Ontario U17 team, winning the National Championship. Most recently he has coached with Ottawa Elite and Ottawa Capitals JUEL and has accepted to lead the newly created Ottawa Capitals JUEL ACADEMY team and the Director of Basketball Operations and Development position for the Ottawa Capitals JUEL program.

​ BRIAN RUSSELL – Assistant Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL ACADEMY

IBrian Russell joins the Ottawa Capitals this season with over 10 years of experience coaching in Ottawa. He has coached both boys and girls teams, competing at the National and Provincial levels. Brian also played for the Carleton Ravens in the '90's and has contributed to basketball in the city since graduating from Carleton University. 

​ HADEZA ISMAILA – Assistant Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL ACADEMY

Ismaila started her post-secondary basketball career at Algonquin College where she was awarded the OCCA All-Rookie Team and First Team All-Star awards in her rookie debut. After graduating, she joined Ontario Tech University to pursue a degree in Political Science and continue her basketball career at the next level. After 4 years of sports and an honours degree, Hadeza moved back to Ottawa, joined the Carleton Ravens squad and enrolled in a Masters program in Law and Legal Studies. In her final year of OUA and USports, she was a part of the Carleton Ravens 2023-24 National Championship winning team.

​MACKENZIE ASH-SMITH – Head Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL PREP

Mackenzie played for the Carleton Ravens from 2021-2022 and has since joined the staff as an Assistant Coach. Previously she played at Appalachian State in the NCAA Division 1 Sun Belt conference. Mackenzie was the Assistant Coach of the Ottawa Capitals JUEL PREP team in the 2023-2024 season and the Head Coach of Ottawa Elite U13 girls for the 2023-24 season. 

​ SIDNEY KAMERBEEK – Assistant Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL PREP

Sidney returns to the Ottawa Capitals JUEL program this year having been an Assistant Coach last season with our Ottawa Capitals JUEL Prep team and having coached 3 years with Ottawa Elite JUEL. She is a former JUEL player and has previously coached varsity basketball at Glebe Collegiate and club basketball with Ottawa Shooting Stars.  

​JENJEN ABELLA – Head Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL

Jenjen Abella returns to the JUEL program having been the Head Coach of the JUEL team for the 2023-2024 season and coaching the team to a 4^th place finish in the JUEL League. Jenjen Abella was the Associate Head Coach of the JUEL team in 2022-2023 and Assistant Coach of the JUEL team in 2018-2021. She was also Assistant Coach of Glebe High School’s Senior Women’s Team for the 2018-2019 season.

Jenjen was a part of the Carleton Ravens Women’s team for 2 years, winning a National Championship with Carleton University in 2018 and was a 2-time OUA champion USPORT Bronze Medalist in 2017. She also played at Mohawk College for 3 years and was a 3-time OCAA Silver Medalist, a 2-time CCAA Academic All-Canadian, a 2-time OCAA all-academic Dr. Sam Mitminger award winner, a 3 time Most Valuable Player for Mohawk College, a 2-time OCAA first team All-Star and a 3-time OCAA Championship All-Star.

​ CHRIS TESSIER – Assistant Coach Ottawa Capitals JUEL