Bio

Rick Schooley first became interested in hockey watching the old St. Louis Braves. When the Blues came to town, he started skating at Steinberg and then playing at the Winterland Rink on St. Charles Rock Road. 

He then found out he could get a job at the Kirkwood Rink where they would actually pay him to skate, plus the employees could use the ice for hockey if it was available. It was there he met Bill McKenna, who was a mentor to him and really taught him a love for our great game.

With all the extra hours of ice time, he improved enough to be able to play with or against Hall of Famers such as Mark Kohrs, Mark Smith and David Bates, not that he was ever in their class.

He played several seasons in what he remembers being called the St. Louis Senior Men’s Hockey League for teams such as Falstaff, Barton Pontiac and Krieghauser. There were also senior leagues at both Immerfrost and Arnold. He also played a season for Meramec Community College in what was a college league portion of Mid-States. 

He started coaching when his son, Derek started playing at the age of 4. During this time, he coached several travel teams and made trips each year to Chicago and various other cities. One of the highlights was when the Webster Groves team went to the Wheatfield Blades tournament in New York and won the AA division of their tournament. 

After a few years away from coaching, Don Moorhouse asked him working as his assistant with a new program that was starting called the St. Louis Crusaders. He coached with the program as both an assistant and head coach for several years as they eventually became the St. Louis Amateur Blues.

During the 1990s, he worked with Huron Hockey and started a Learn to Play Program at the Fenton Forum which introduced more than 500 boys and girls to ice hockey. One of the players to get his start here was Cam Janssen

After another hiatus, Don called again and asked him to assist again with the Missouri Jr. River Otters. As this program only lasted one year, he then coached at both the Chesterfield and Affton Programs in their Central States program and Missouri Hockey levels. 

Rick has been through all levels of the USA Hockey Coaching Program. He received the USA Hockey Master Level Coach (Level 5) in 2006.