If your athlete has aspirations to play at the next level, you will not find a better environment to learn and develop then with Dream Big HockeyStars. Freddy has designed programs that will complement their regular season schedule, yet accelerate their skill development. It is great to play games, but the true development comes through repetition under the watchful eye of a professional. His hands-on-approach is second to none and he will help your hockey player achieve their goals. Do you have what it takes to DREAM BIG?

FREDDY MEYER

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Freddy has played almost 300 NHL games for the Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers. He is currently the Head Coach for The Rivers School (ISL) in Weston, MA.  He was the Head Coach/GM of the East Coast Wizards Jr. A Team (EHL) for six years and took them from a new franchise to a league contender. During the 2012-2014 seasons, he was the Assistant Coach for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League. The Monarchs are highly regarded for developing the future stars of the Los Angeles Kings.

Prior to his NHL career, Freddy played for Boston University. During his college career, he was honored as Hockey East First Team All-Rookie Team, Hockey East First Team All-Star and served as Team Captain as a senior. He capped off a great college career as a First Team All-American and was named the 2003 BU Male Athlete of the Year.

Freddy has represented Team USA in numerous International events: 1998 Under-18 World Championship, 2001 World Junior Championship, 2006 World IIHF Championship and the 2011 Deutschland Cup.

Growing up in NH and playing youth hockey in New England, Freddy is looking forward to the opportunity to share his superior hockey knowledge and talents with the next kid that wants to DREAM BIG!

COURTNEY SHEARY

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

For the past two seasons, Courtney was the assistant Women’s ice hockey coach at Boston College.  She worked with the team’s forwards and handled the team’s video scouting system.

Before The Heights Sheary spent one season on staff at Dartmouth as the Big Green’s second assistant coach, where she worked under Canada Women’s National Team coach Laura Schuler. 

Prior to Dartmouth Sheary spent five years at her high school alma mater, Cushing Academy, where she was the school’s assistant athletics director and coached girls’ varsity hockey. Sheary co-coached the Penguins to the NEPSAC semifinal appearances in 2013 and 2014 before being named head coach ahead of the 2014-15 season.

Sheary has also participated in USA Hockey’s Player Development Programs as a player, coach and evaluator.

Sheary was a member of the UNH women’s hockey program for five years, capping her senior season as an assistant team captain. Sheary helped lead the Wildcats to four Hockey East regular season titles and three Hockey East Tournament titles (2007, 2008, 2009), as well as three NCAA Tournament berths. She left the program having played in 130 games and was the team leader in blocked shots as a senior. She was also the recipient of the 2011 Colleen Coyne Award, which is given annually to the team’s top defenseman.

Sheary was drafted by the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. A member of a strong hockey family, Courtney’s brother Conor is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburg Penguins.

JASON LAWRENCE

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Jason has been a skating and hockey skills development coach for over the past eight years. He is the former founder, owner, and head coach of Elite Skills Hockey, one of the premier hockey development programs in Massachusetts. Prior to Elite Skills, he was the lead instructor for Paul Vincent hockey.

Jason is a 2009 graduate of Boston University, where he was a standout for the Men’s Division 1 NCAA varsity hockey program. During his time at Boston University, Lawrence captured multiple championships including three beanpot titles, Hockey East playoff championships, Hockey East regular seasons championships, and culminated his career by winning the NCAA Division One National Championship in 2009. During his senior campaign, he tallied a league-high (25) goals and led Hockey East in that category.

Jason has represented his country internationally as a two-year member of the National Team Development Program(NTDP), playing in tournaments around the world. He was a gold medal winner at IIHF U-18 World Championship in Plzen, Czech Republic in 2005.

Jason is passionate to mentor the next generation of hockey players and pass on his experience to develop players to the best of their ability.

MAGGIE TAVERNA

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Maggie Taverna has been involved with the game of hockey since the age of 7. As a player, she had one of the most decorated careers at national power house Boston College.

As the newly hired head coach at Dexter Southfield she plans on bringing her playing and coaching experience to elevate the girls program.

Before Dexter Southfield Taverna was the head coach at Arlington Catholic High School (2010-2017), Taverna led the Cougars to the state championship game four times in seven years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) and has won three Central Catholic League championships. Taverna also coached Arlington Catholic to the 2012 state championship and was later named the 2012 coach of the year by the Boston Globe. Her players have gone on to play at some of the top women’s programs in NCAA Division I and III.

Taverna had a standout playing career at Boston College, where she was one of the team’s captains in 2008-09.

While at The Heights, the defenseman helped the Eagles advance to two NCAA tournaments, including a berth in the 2007 Frozen Four – the program’s first-ever appearance in the national semifinals. BC also won three Beanpot championships while Taverna played in Chestnut Hill. In 2016 Taverna was inducted into the Beanpot hall of fame. She tallied 67 career points (15 goals, 52 assists), the fourth-highest total by a defenseman in program history at the time of her graduation. She also left the program playing 141 games, the most by any player when she graduated.

Taverna was a member of two U.S. Under-22 teams (2006, 2007) and was a member of the player pool for the 2009 U.S. Women’s National Team.

In 2013, Taverna was drafted by the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s local entity, the Boston Blades.

In 2016-2017, Taverna was a practice player for the NWHL affiliate Boston Pride. She played in two pre-season games against Boston College and the Russian National team.

RYAN BOURQUE

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Ryan comes to us having recently completed a lengthy and successful pro hockey career which spanned 9 seasons in total. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers and spent the first 5 years of his career with their organization. The rest of his career was spent playing for the Hershey Bears, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and the Charlotte Checkers.

Prior to pro hockey, Ryan proudly represented the United States in international play and took home four medals. He won a bronze medal with Team USA in the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, scoring 2 goals and 3 assists. The following year he was a member of Team USA’s gold medal-winning 2009 World U18 Championship team, scoring 1 goal and 6 assists in 7 games and led the team with 32 shots on goal. In 2010 he was a member of the gold- medal World Junior Championship team, and earned 3 assists during the tournament. In 2011 he served as assistant captain for the USA’s bronze medal-winning World Junior Championship team and had 3 assists in that tournament as well.

Before turning pro, Ryan played two season at Cushing Academy followed by two seasons with the United States Development Program (USDP). He also spent two seasons playing junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the Quebec Remparts.

Since retiring from pro hockey, Ryan has been busy pursuing a business degree from Endicott College. He is excited to join the staff of Dream Big and is passionate about sharing his knowledge with today’s youth and giving back to the game of hockey.

KORY FALITE

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Kory Falite, is a 2010 University of Massachusetts-Lowell graduate.  During his time at Lowell (2006-2010), Kory was a member of the Men’s Division 1 NCAA hockey program.  He complied 60 goals and 46 assists in his 4 year tenure with the River Hawks.

After graduating Falite signed with the St.Louis Blues and was assigned to Alaska Aces of the ECHL. He played 69 games during the regular season compiling 45 points in his rookie season. He also played in 9 playoff games helping the Aces win both the ECHL regular season and the Kelly Cup playoffs.

Falite played the part of the 2011–12 season with Norway’s Manglerud Star Ishockey, but returned to North America to pursue his professional career after signing a contract on December 11, 2011 with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL.

He was then sent to the Utah Grizzles to finish the remainder of the 2012 season. Falite played over 90 games with Utah until he was traded at the deadline the following season in a 7-player deal. He was sent to the San Francisco Bulls to finish the 2013 season.

In the fall of 2013, Falite joined “World Select” and was assigned to coach in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Selects. While in Hong Kong, Kory was the Director of Hockey Operations, coached several U8-U17 teams and organized/ran weekly skill sessions.

MATT CAPPUCCI

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

Entering his second season, Matt Cappucci serves as an Assistant Coach for the Tufts University Men’s Hockey team. Matt’s role with the team is the defensive coach working with the defenseman for the Jumbos.

Cappucci played Collegiately for the Stevenson University Mustangs. At Stevenson, Cappucci played a total of 75 games in 4 seasons serving as a reliable defenseman for the Mustangs. Prior to Stevenson, Cappucci played for the East Coast Wizards in the Eastern Hockey League for one season. Cappucci played his high school hockey at Tilton Prep where he served as the Captain his senior season.

From Holden, Massachusetts, Matt works at Warrior Ice Arena as a professional skill coach where he works with players of all ages and skills to develop the next generation of hockey players.

MCKENNA BRAND

HEAD INSTRUCTOR

McKenna Brand graduated from Northeastern University in 2018 with a degree in Psychology. During her time at Northeastern, she helped lead her team, as an assistant captain, to their programs first Hockey East championship and was named to the WHEA All-Tournament Team. McKenna led Northeastern in scoring in her senior season with 15 goals and 34 points in 39 games. As a junior, she had 23 goals in 37 games, including 5 game-winners, and received First Team Hockey East All-Star honors. She finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in games played, with 150, including 111 career points – tied for the 20th-most all-time at NU. 

McKenna also played professionally for the Boston Pride in the PHF from 2018-2023. She was an assistant captain for the team from 2020-2023, and helped lead her team to back to back Isobel Cup Championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2019-20, Brand was 19-17-36 in 24 games and finished third in the balloting for league MVP. She was second in the league in goals, tied for second in points, and led the league in game-winning goals (6). In her rookie season in 2018-19, she was fifth in the league in scoring.

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