WORCESTER RAILERS JHC COACHING STAFF
EHL HEAD COACH/GM – SEAN BERTONI
Sean Bertoni’s career at Franklin (MA) HS began with a love for both football and hockey, as he grew up playing both sports in his youth. Once Sean was granted the starting goaltender position, he worked to become the backbone to the rebirth of success in the Franklin HS hockey program.
In Sean’s junior year, he sustained a very serious knee injury that required major surgery. After missing the first 15 games of his junior year, he returned in time to lead the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over league power, Canton, and into the state tournament. Sean was given the award for the most dedication to his sport and was also named playoff MVP and overall Team MVP for his senior year.
Sean committed to play his college hockey at UMass Boston, where he was named Team Captain in his junior year. Bertoni then transferred to, and graduated from, Suffolk University. Sean has a Master’s Degree in Education and Applied Behavior Analysis and has spent over 10 years in education.
Sean entered the coaching profession in 2011. In 2014, Bertoni became assistant coach of Oliver Ames HS in Massachusetts, and head coach in 2016. The OA program had three consecutive winning seasons under Coach Bertoni and were contenders in each of those three seasons in the state tournament. He was named Hockomock League Coach of the Year in 2017.
This is Sean’s third season with the Railers, his second as EHL head coach. In his first year as head coach, Bertoni guided the Railers to their first-ever EHL playoff berth, and an opening round series win.
Bertoni-coached teams are known for their workman-like manner, the energy that they put forth, and the detail with which they play. Sean’s commitment to his players and how he and they share the same goals allows his team to play at a high level and receive many options to be recruited at the NCAA level.
Coach Bertoni resides in Franklin, MA with his two daughters Giuliana and Valentina.
Email Coach Bertoni at: sbertoni@railersjhc.com
EHLP HEAD COACH – JOHN FINE-LEASE
John Fine-Lease played college hockey at Assumption University, where he graduated top of his class in the MBA program. As a member of the men’s hockey team, he served as Captain for two years. In his final season, John led the program to its first ever 16-win season and capped it off with a league championship. While balancing academics, NCAA hockey, and other responsibilities, John remained an active member in the Worcester community. He was a participant of numerous clubs and organization on campus, while being involved in multiple community events. John is a product of the EHL, as he played in the league for two seasons prior to his commitment to play NCAA hockey.
His experience has allowed him to draw connections to current players, while sharing his knowledge of what it takes to play at the next level. Following graduation, John had always wanted to remain in the hockey realm. During his time at Assumption University, John partnered and now is co-owner of Stx & Pux. This organization focuses on the skill development for players of all ages, where John has helped his clients advance to the next level. When the opportunity arose to join the Railers organization, not much thought was needed, and he accepted the role immediately. John prides himself on being able to share his experiences and knowledge with the next generation of NCAA hockey players, while giving back to the game that has given him so much.
ASSISTANT COACH – TYSON ARAUJO
Tyson Araujo was born on Martha’s Vineyard, MA where he played 4 years of high school hockey for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. After graduating, Tyson attended Albany Academy for a Post Graduate year and then played two years of junior hockey in the Eastern Hockey League for the Boston Bandits.
Tyson then attended Nazareth College for one year, then transferred to Wilkes University for their inaugural season where he was named Captain after his sophomore season.
Tyson graduated in 2022, Summa Cum Laude from Wilkes University with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.
WORCESTER RAILERS JHC ATHLETIC SPECIALISTS
SKATING COACH – ERIK KALLIO
Coach Erik has been a professional skating coach for 18+ years. He has trained with top experts within the field and he has developed a unique approach to delivering his message to players in a way they can understand and implement immediately. Erik has worked with NHL, NCAA college, Junior hockey and youth players.
Since moving back to Massachusetts, Erik has focused on being a skill development coach. He works with NHL players, NHL prospects, youth players, as well as with a number of organizations in Massachusetts as their weekly skating instructor. For 2 seasons, Erik worked as the skating coach for the Johnson & Wales Men’s Hockey team.
ATHLETIC TRAINER – KELLI MEYER — MS, LAT, ATC
Kelli is our Certified Athletic Trainer, and she is responsible for the overall health of our players. Kelli has been a sports medicine professional for over 10 years. The Massachusetts native graduated with her Bachelor’s in Athletic Training from Lasell University in 2011. After graduation, she moved to Portales, New Mexico to be a Graduate Assistant at Eastern New Mexico University to work with their football and volleyball teams. While attending ENMU, she was presented with a unique opportunity, to abandon her program and become the Head Athletic Trainer for the Amarillo Venom, a semi-pro arena football team in Amarillo, Texas. After their championship season, Kelli returned to New Mexico and took the position as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Health Teacher at Clovis High School in Clovis, New Mexico.
After three years in Clovis, Kelli moved back to her home state of Massachusetts. Kelli worked for a local hospital that placed her at Framingham High School as their athletic trainer. She returned to graduate school at Lasell University to obtain her degree in Rehabilitation Science while working as an industrial athletic trainer and doing part time high school coverage at Burlington High School. After graduating with her Master’s in 2019, Kelli’s time in the industrial setting ended and she joined the Railers JHC staff. Her track was a bit unconventional, but Kelli’s unique experiences help her to connect with athletes in many ways.
Kelli lives in Medway, Ma with her husband Andrew and their daughter Emma.
WORCESTER RAILERS JHC MEDIA STAFF
CONTENT COORDINATOR / PLAY-BY-PLAY – JAKE BASILE
Jake grew up a hockey fan on Long Island. He served as president of his high school radio station, covering sports and pop culture. While attending college at Stony Brook University, he covered their ACHA team, serving as the radio play-by-play announcer and social media manager. Within the journalism program, he served as a sportswriter and sports reporter for TV and radio productions on campus. He moved to Massachusetts in Summer of 2022. He also serves as rink-side reporter for the Eastern Hockey League and Hockey Night in Boston.
VIDEOGRAPHER – TREVOR BLACKBURN
Trevor grew up in western Massachusetts and attended Springfield College. His time spent supporting younger-brother Jayden’s hockey career allowed him to hone his videography skills. Trevor joined the Railers JHC staff in 2021 and immediately established his importance in the organization, promoting the players and program both on and off the ice. Trevor resides in downtown Worcester and also works for the Eastern Hockey League and Hockey Night in Boston.
WORCESTER RAILERS JHC EXECUTIVE STAFF
IN MEMORIAM – MIKE ADDESA
Known to many in the hockey community as “Coach”, Mike Addesa has served in every capacity in the world of developmental hockey, but takes his greatest pride in his very successful record of working with young student athletes in the pursuit of their dream of furthering their academic and athletic careers as collegiate student hockey players. Over his nearly 5 decade career, Coach Addesa’s ability to evaluate the character, academic capacity, and athletic skill of aspiring collegiate hockey players has built an unparalleled level of trust in his recommendations amongst his vast network of college hockey coaches and recruiters.
Addesa began his college coaching career at Holy Cross, where he elevated the competitive level and prominence of the Crusaders ice hockey program before accepting the position of Head Coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). There he recruited and coached his teams to multiple ECAC titles, and created what many regard as one of the greatest college hockey teams of all time, the NCAA Championship (Frozen Four) winning 1985 Engineers. To date, his teams at RPI hold the greatest majority of the NCAA Division I team records, and boast an astounding 38 game unbeaten streak playing a national schedule during his tenure.
For the next step in his career, Addesa accepted scouting/recruiting positions with the Detroit Red Wings, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks. Identified as a proven talent evaluator and team builder, Coach was approached by each organization as they were embarking upon the process of rebuilding their player pools. His contributions to each organization’s collective efforts have consistently been followed by growth and increased depth in their talent pool, and significant improvement of their on-ice performance.
He has also been involved in junior hockey since the mid-90’s, in particular, the Junior Bulldogs where he was head coach and GM for over 15 years. Mike Addesa has coached, mentored, and advised student athletes and helped hundreds of pro and college hockey players reach their goals. He believes in developing each and every individual player, having them put in the hard work – on and off the ice, in order for them to reach their specific goals.
Coach Addesa has placed student-hockey players at Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Amherst, Williams, Babson, UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, UMass-Boston, UMass-Dartmouth, Salem State, Maine, Vermont, Merrimack, Boston College, Norwich, Denver, Colorado College, Ohio State, Western Michigan, The Milwaukee School of Engineering, and many others.
ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER – DEREK ALFAMA
In 2018, Derek Alfama joined the CWHL, “Professional Women’s Hockey”, Worcester Blades serving as their General Manager. Alfama was instrumental with moving the Blades franchise from Boston to the new Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center in Worcester Massachusetts where he also serves as the General Manager.
From 2015 to 2018, while serving as an Assistant Coach at Providence College, Alfama guided the offense to a 7th place national scoring ranking with a 3.16 goals per game average, 2nd place Hockey East Regular Season finish and a consistent National Ranking. He was also part of the staff recognized as 2016/2017 Hockey East Coaching Staff of the Year and 2017/2018 Hockey East Coaching Staff of the Year Runner-up.
Alfama previously served as an assistant coach for the women’s hockey team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He began in 2013 and spent two seasons with the Engineers. Prior to his time at RPI, Alfama served as the assistant coach at the College of the Holy Cross. He worked with the Crusaders for two seasons and in both seasons, he helped the team to the ECAC Open Championship game.
Alfama also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Norwich University (2008-2011). During his time at Norwich, Alfama helped the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances, the quarterfinals in 2008-2009 season and runner up in 2009-2010. Norwich won the NCAA Championship in 2011. While at Norwich, Alfama was part of the staff which received the American College Hockey Association Division III National Staff of the Year Award both in 2010 and 2011.
Alfama, 1996 graduate of Norwich, received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. He was a 4 year contributor to the Cadet’s men’s ice hockey team. During his senior season, Alfama served as captain and was the recipient of the Robert Priestly Award.
He resides in Douglas, Massachusetts with his wife Angela, his son, Donovan and daughter, Avery.
