JANESVILLE, WI — The Janesville Jets, proud members of the North American Hockey League, have added former Jets alternate captain Lennie Childs as Director of the Junior Jets Program and Assistant Coach.
The Wisconsin Junior Jets, known also just as the Junior Jets, are a AAA player development program. Started by Bill McCoshen and Dan Schacte in 2004 as the Madison Stars, the Junior Jets are Wisconsin’s first fully-integrated player development program from mites through juniors.
In addition to his role with the Junior Jets, Childs will join Corey Leivermann behind the NAHL Jets’ bench, becoming the organization’s second assistant coach.
Childs was a tender of the Jets in 2010 and played forward for the club during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. He then advanced to Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin, where he played four years. After college, Childs became the head coach of the Milwaukee Junior Admirals youth program before taking the reins at the Skipjacks Hockey Club in the USPHL’s Premier Division. From there, he took the same position with the Charlotte Rush, also of the Premier Division.
Lennie Childs exits the Jets locker room in a November 2011 win over the St. Louis Bandits.
“Lennie was a fan favorite when he played in Janesville,” said Jets President Bill McCoshen. “His background as a player and coach will help us expand and enhance the Junior Jets program and will add more resources for our Jets players. Lennie will be a great complement to head coach Gary Shuchuk and assistant coach Corey Leivermann.”
Childs finished his Jets career with 29 points in 116 total games, regular season and playoffs combined. At the time of his advancement, he was one of only 10 players to have played 100 total games in a Jets uniform. In the organization’s ten-year history, he’s one of only 35 players to have done so.
“I am very excited to join the organization that gave me the opportunity to develop my game in junior hockey,” said Childs. “It’s great to see the amount of success that the program has accumulated throughout the last ten years. It’s a dream to be able to come back and help develop players in one of the best towns in junior hockey.”
Childs’ Skipjacks, based in York, Pennsylvania, finished the 2017-18 season with a 27-10-7 record, good for second place in the competitive, nine-team Mid Atlantic Division. Childs also helped the Charlotte Rush to a strong start to their current season before joining the Jets.
“We are very excited to have Lennie as part of our organization,” said head coach and general manager Gary Shuchuk. “He will be a key person in building our Junior Jets program, and will grow that program for future Jets players. It’s helpful, too, to have another coach who will be able to give his guidance and knowledge of being a former Jets player who went through that process playing here and showing what it takes to get to college hockey. He has an infectious energy that will be great to be around every day.”
Childs will join Leivermann and Shuchuk behind the Janesville bench this weekend versus the Minnesota Wilderness. Tickets are on sale now online and are available at any Lions Quick Mart location.
100+ NCAA commitments since ’09.