By Ron Rop
Local Sports Journal

One of the state’s premier high school hockey programs is looking for a new head coach.

Mona Shores High School is in need of a coach after Charlie Link resigned to take a coaching job at Grand Valley State University.

Charlie Link

“He’s been with our program for a decade and has been a wonderful ambassador for the sport and our school,” Shores athletic director Ryan Portenga said. “He will still be involved and we welcome that.”

Portenga said the job has been posted and there have been plenty of applicants. The interviewing process is expected to begin within the next week with the hopes of having the position filled mid to late August.

“Our goal at Mona Shores is to develop athletes,” Portenga said. “Anytime this stuff happens with changes in leadership, our goal is to develop athletes.

“We have many people who care about the program and plenty of applicants,” he said.

Link had been the head coach for several years and was a longtime assistant coach to Shawn Zimmerman prior to that. He also serves as a scout for the United States Hockey League’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.

In his 10 years of involvement with the program, the Sailors made it to the final four in the state tournament six times.

“We are thrilled to have someone like Coach Link take over the D3 coaching position,” Eric Garvelink, GVSU’s Club Sports Coordinator, said to Grand Valley Student Life Sports.”It isn’t often that a coach of his caliber and experience level is out there interviewing for your program, so when he was, we knew we couldn’t let him get away.”