Richard Santos – Head Coach / General Manager
Kent Hamilton – Assistant Coach / Assistant General Manager
Played Minor Hockey in Bothwell, then played two years of Jr for Blenheim and Dresden, and also played games as an AP with the Chatham Jr Maroons.
Started coaching with the Chatham Cyclones AAA at the minor midget and major bantam levels for 4 seasons while completing my High Performance 1 coaching Certificate. After coaching AAA, spent two years as the Assistant coach with the Blenheim Blades, and have been with the Maroons since 2019 as an Assistant coach.
Was a Billet family for the Maroons for 6 seasons.
I am excited to be returning as the Assistant Coach for the Jr Maroons for another season, assuring players are having fun but staying focused and prepared for success as we work towards another Championship.
Bino Pereira – Goaltending Coach
Bino is married to Cindy. They have two children, Valerie and Andrew. Bino retired after 37 years in retail/wholesale. He is an avid golfer, but loves all sports.
He was involved in Chatham Minor Hockey for 8 years as a trainer and goalie coach and with the Chatham Kent Cyclones for 5 years as a trainer and goalie coach. Bino spent 2 years with the Wallaceburg Lakers as their goalie coach and 1 year ear with Blenheim Blades as a goalie coach.
He has been with the Chatham Maroons for 23 years as goalie coach. His motto is “have fun, but work hard and good things will happen.”
Shawn Connors – Assistant Coach
Shawn was born and raised in Chatham, where he played all his minor hockey. He was drafted to the OHL 69th overall by the Kingston Frontenacs.
After being drafted he played for the Maroons as a 16 year old where they won the league championship. After the Maroons, he went on to play for the Frontenacs, university at UOIT, Fayetteville Fireantz in the Southern Professional League and Niagara Falls Canucks (GOJHL).
Shawn is excited to pass on his knowledge and experience to the younger generation and work with a great organization.
Dede Cato – Assistant Coach
Dede was born and raised in Chatham where he played all his minor hockey for both the Chatham AA Maroons and Chatham-Kent AAA Cyclones. Dede has played on many different junior hockey teams over the years at the Junior C (Dresden Jr. Kings & Blenheim Blades), Junior B (Chatham Marrons & Lasalle Vipers), and OHL (Windsor Spitfires) levels.Once Dede’s junior hockey career was over, he decided to embark in coaching where he coached at the AA and AAA levels here in Chatham for over five years. He also attended the University of Windsor completing a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Education. Dede now teaches within the Lambton-Kent District School Board as an occasional teacher for both elementary and secondary schools while running a tutoring business with his girlfriend Hannah.
Dede is excited to share his wealth of hockey knowledge combined with the skills he has learned from their teaching experiences to help all his players excel both on and off the ice.
