HEAD COACH
Coach Bailey joined the Hawks staff in its inaugural 2019-2020 season as Assistant Coach before taking on the reins as Head Coach during the 2021-2022 season. As Assistant Coach with the Hawks Bailey was part of two winning seasons, helping take the Hawks to a League and a Frontier Division Regular Season Championship, Frontier Division Playoff Championship, and the Fraser Cup Semi-finals. In his first full year as Head Coach, during the 2022-23 season, Bailey piloted the team to a successful winning season and a play-off run.
Before joining the Hawks, Coach Bailey spent three seasons with the Arizona State Sun Devils ACHA D1 hockey program, where he was the Associate Head Coach and Assistant GM. In his first season with the Sun Devils, he helped lead the team to a national tournament appearance and finish the season ranked 10th in the country. In his second season, the team ended the year ranked 25th in the country.
Prior to working with ASU, he coached the DYHA Jr Sun Devils youth hockey program. Bailey has coached players who have played for Team USA in the World University
Games, NCAA D1, and some who have gone on to play professional hockey in the U.S. and Europe. Bailey has also worked with the Jamestown Rebels in the North American Hockey League, as well as the Utah Outliers in the Western States Hockey League, and has assisted in USA Hockey development camps.
Coach Bailey is a Michigan native out of Walled Lake, where he grew up playing youth hockey at Lakeland Ice Arena. Playing the game his whole life, he ended his playing career with the Metro Jets in the NA3HL to focus on school. Wanting a change, he decided to transfer to Arizona State University where he studied communications and ultimately got back to the game he loves when he found hockey in the desert.
Coach Bailey is excited to keep building the Hawks program, developing future teams and continuing to grow the franchise as a high-quality experience and place for the development of aspiring junior hockey players.
ASSISTANT COACH
Coach Santagata joined the Hawks organization last season. Originally from Long Island, New York, Santagata grew up playing hockey, eventually playing junior hockey in the USPHL before moving on to play collegiately for Rider University from 2014-2018, where he was team captain for his last two years. After receiving his Bachelors of Science he attended graduate school in Virginia and also began his coaching career as Head Coach of the 14UAA Potomac Patriots.
Following his time in Virginia, Santagata moved on to Iowa as head coach the Ames High School Hockey Program, from 2019-2021 and Assistant Coach for the Team Midwest selects. From 2021-2022 J.J. was Head Coach of the DSM Jr. Buccaneers 14U team as well as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Des Moines Buccaneers. During the off season Coach Santagata is active with his strength and conditioning/hockey training business, Lead By Example Training, coaching summer teams and running camps and clinics as well as training 45+ hockey players in the Des Moines area.
Coach Santagata brings his passion for player development on and off the ice to the Sheridan community and working with Coach Bailey to help build a strong Sheridan Hawks junior program.
