RALEIGH, NC -- This Fall, the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) will be welcoming in a set of new members. The North Carolina Force play out of the Garner Ice House, and they are one of the new teams that will be joining the EHL for the 2018-19 season. Earlier this week, Paul Strand, the Owner and General Manager of the team, announced that Brent Selman had been named the franchise's first Head Coach.

“I have been friends with Brent for 12 years and have seen firsthand the program he built at Duke University of the ACCHL," said Strand. "Through years of working with him in the youth community and spending time as an assistant for him at Duke, I can attest to his attention to detail and ability to work with elite adult hockey players. He has an integrity and character about him that is rare these days.”

Selman, a Raleigh resident, brings a wealth of experience to the job, with this being his first foray into the junior ranks. Having spent the past 16 seasons as the Head Coach of the Duke University club team in the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL), Selman has built that program into one with a strong reputation for its quality of play. Selman was a 6-time Coach of the Year in the ACCHL, and won the league championship three times. He has proven to be able to work with older players at a competitive level.

“I am excited to be a part of this EHL franchise," said Selman. "Starting from scratch is never easy, but with a strong ownership group and a core group of players that have already expressed interest in joining our team, I think we are going to be a very well respected program."

In addition to building strong teams on the ice, Selman has been instrumental in developing an Alumni club that is unrivalled in the world of club hockey. Selman will maintain a strong tie to the Duke program alumni association in the future. Under Selman’s leadership the NC Force look forward to building that same Alumni strength within their program.

Born in Ontario, Canada, the 46-year-old Selman played his college hockey at Wilfrid Laurier University in U-Sports (Formally the CIS), Canada’s top collegiate league. After college, Selman spent a couple years playing professionally. In 1993-94 Selman played for the Lakeland Ice Warriors in the Southern Hockey League amassing 15 goals and 22 assists (47 points) in 42 games. In 1994-95 Selman ventured overseas to the British Hockey League to play for the Bracknell Bees, where he once again showed a scoring touch with 24 goals, 25 assists (49 points) in 44 games.

After Selman's playing career came to an end, he spent time coaching out in the Northwest. He developed programs in the Spokane and Seattle areas. During this timeframe he travelled periodically to Raleigh to work with the Carolina Hurricanes in developing its diversity program. He liked the area and decided to move to North Carolina to pursue his career and hockey life. The EHL looks forward to working with Strand, Selman, and the rest of the NC Force organization, in their inaugural season.

Learn more about the NC Force Golden Bears on the team's official website, and as we work our way through the offseason, be sure to keep up to date with all the 2018 NCAA Commitments. For interest in the Golden Bears, E-Mail Paul Strand at pstrand@ncforce.com.