Congratulations, Aaron Hansen, on being our latest Elite Sportswear Coach of the Week. Below is the email we received, nominating Hansen.
Hi Jason,
I would like to nominate a fellow named Aaron Hansen. Aaron is a young coach with the Mill Woods White Sox Little League team and an assistant with the sherwood park midget AAA Dukes…as well as a part time instructor at St FX baseball academy. Aaron, as of Wednesday, had his team advance to the Little League Nationals as the host team..which is being held in Edmonton in August.
I have known many coaches throughout my time in minor baseball in Edmonton, but never have I met a coach so determined to see his team succeed on so many levels…as friends, as team-mates and in life. He is more than an “x & o” coach and he looks into the players family, social and personal situation and more often than not he is able to get more out of the child both athletically and in day to day life. He has truly changed my child’s life. Coaches like this need to be honoured in anyway possible….so often its a thankless jobs but Aaron is truly one of the special ones and this nomination is my way of saying thank you…for being there for my family and for everyone else’s. HIs heart is huge, his knowledge of the game limitless and his passion unmeasurable.
This is a brief synopsis of him- a truly special person.
Thank you,
Paul
If you would like to nominate a deserving coach, email gregor@theteam1260.com
He has touched so many boys in such a special way. His commitment is way beyond just playing with the boys and teaching them all he knows about the ball game. He is a good listener and has amazing oral skills too. I hope he gets everything he deserves.
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A local baseball coach and recent Edmonton Catholic Schools instructor has been charged with sexual offences against two 14-year-old boys.
Aaron Hansen, 34, was arrested in August for alleged crimes against a Strathcona County boy, according to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s northern Internet Child Exploitation unit.
“From there, we identified another victim who was a Beaumont teenager,” said unit spokesman Michael Tucker. Hansen was arrested a second time in September.
Hansen is charged with a dozen counts, including luring, sexual contact, sexual counsel and child pornography offences. The alleged offences took place between January and August 2015. He is currently out on bail under a court order not to have contact with children.
Hansen was an instructor at St. Francis Xavier Baseball Academy, part of Edmonton Catholic Schools. Hansen was a part-time instructor for several years before he went full-time for the 2014-15 school year, said Lori Nagy, spokeswoman for Edmonton Catholic Schools.
Hansen is “a local leader in the amateur side of baseball and remains an ambassador of the baseball academy. He also will take on a recruiting role that will help bring more students to the academy and be a resource for families interested in information regarding future enrolment,” states a June 2014 academy newsletter.
Hansen resigned from the baseball academy in April 2015. Tucker said he is no longer coaching baseball. Tucker said the two alleged victims were not coached or taught by Hansen.
Hansen has coached local Little League baseball for years, including both male and female teams from Mill Woods and Sherwood Park.
Hansen sat on the Baseball Alberta board of directors as a central Alberta representative, but was removed earlier this year for lack of attendance after he missed several meetings, according to Baseball Alberta president Don Paulencu.
Tucker said investigators believe there may be other victims who have not yet come forward.
In 2012, Hansen coached the Mill Woods White Sox to the Canadian Little League baseball championship tournament.
Hansen’s case is scheduled to return to court Nov. 25.