Coach Bios

Allan Bush Coach Allan Bush brings a wealth of experience and energy to KW Lightning.  His previous coaching experience includes YBL house league, junior girls, senior girls and midget boys high school basketball.  This season will be Coach Bush's sixth year with KW Lightning.  Last year, his Juvenile Girls team won gold in Division 1. In addition to coaching, Coach Bush has refereed high school and university basketball for over 16 years.  During that time, he was the president of the KW Basketball Referees Association and vice president of the provincial board of officials. Coach Bush played basketball for five years at Waterdown District High School.  You can find him at games through out North America and at March Madness every year. Allan is currently President of KW Lightning and represents KW Lightning at regional as well as provincial OBA meetings.

Kate McCrae begins her first season as an assistant coach with KW Lightning.  She has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the women's programs at the University of Waterloo and Yale University in the NCAA. Prior to her time at Yale, McCrae spent a year working with Special Olympics Canada, where she transitioned the organization through the NCCP coaching certification change-over, including Coach Development and Long Term Athlete Development.  In 2005-2006, McCrae spent a year in Northern Ireland with Peace Players International (formerly Playing for Peace). An international non-profit organization which uses basketball to unite and educate young people in divided communities. Kate McCrae is a 2005 graduate of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ont., where she played for 5 years and served as the women’s basketball captain for three seasons.  For 3 years, Kate has coached at Naismith basketball camp and was Co-Director of the Yale University Elite Women's Basketball camp in 2008.  Kate is a Lightning graduate and was our guest speaker at last year's KW Lightning year end banquet!

Kris Cates-Bristol attended the University of Colorado-Boulder from 1996-2000 and while there worked as the head equipment manager for the men's varsity basketball team.  This position included keeping statistics during practices and games, traveling with the team on all road trips, as well as acting as a scout player during practices.  Additionally, he worked at numerous University camps including Stanford, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Rutgers. Following University, Kris spent 2 years as a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and basketball pro at The Sports Club LA in Washington DC.  From 2003-2006, he worked for PeacePlayers International (formerly Playing for Peace) as the Managing Director in Northern Ireland.  While abroad, he had the incredible opportunity to both play and coach in the Ulster Basketball Association leagues.   Currently, Kris works as the Partnership Officer at The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a non-profit, international think tank dedicated to addressing international governance challenges through world-class research.