Celebrating success in its first season of existence, the
Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) is pleased to
announce this year’s successful applicants of its Female
Coach Mentor Program. In its second year, the CCAA is delighted to
offer this unique opportunity to 14 applicant institutions, an
increase from last year’s 10 selected applicants.
ST. CLAIR COLLEGE WOMEN'S SOCCER PROGRAM
Apprentice Coach Monica Russell – A former
player with St. Clair College, Monica has played soccer at various
levels of competition, including the Ontario Youth Soccer League,
Ontario University Athletics for the University of Toronto and the
OCAA for St. Clair. Throughout the years, she had the privilege to
develop her skills under numerous coaches who’ve inspired her
to give back to the sport. Eager to learn and gain further
experience in coaching, Monica looks forward to working under the
guidance and leadership of a coach she respects and admires. Having
recently received her community coaching certificate at the senior
level from the Ontario Soccer Association, Monica is already giving
back as head coach of a U10 girls competitive team. She looks
forward to using the skills acquired in this program to further
develop these young players. As a goalkeeper herself, Monica also
wants to focus much of her attention to the goalkeepers, an area
which she feels is often overlooked in coaching.
Mentor Coach Dan Docherty – Dan has been
heavily involved with the game of soccer for the past 40 years as a
player, official, coach and administrator. Outside of St. Clair
College, Dan continues to support the local Windsor club system as
a coach and organizer. He also attends and hosts player and coach
seminars on an annual basis, allowing him to learn more about the
game while also creating opportunities for the community coaches to
broaden their knowledge of soccer. As he embarks on his 4th season
as Head Coach of St. Clair’s Women’s Soccer team, he
looks forward to helping interested female coaches take a more
prominent role in Women’s Soccer. Furthermore, recognizing
the lack of goalkeeper instruction, Dan is excited to have Monica
on board to assist in an area that is such an integral part of the
game of soccer.
SENECA COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM
Apprentice Coach Lisa Best – Co-captain in
the last 2 of 4 years with the Seneca Sting Women’s Varsity
Basketball team, Lisa was given the opportunity to grow both as a
player and a leader. Previous to her tenure at Seneca College, she
worked and volunteered at summer camps and after-school programs
for children aged 3-12. While in the CCAA Female Coach Mentor
Program, Lisa hopes to use what she has learned both as a player
and a volunteer, but also recognizes that the best way to learn and
develop your skills as a coach is to do essentially what a coach
does. Whether it be attending every practice/game/tournament,
helping to develop certain skills, doing administrative work,
motivating the team, encouraging the individual players or simply
keeping a positive outlook, Lisa feels it is time to pass on the
same knowledge, skill and determination she received over the
years.
Mentor Coach Marcy Skribe – A Certified
Level I coach, Marcy is currently completing her Level II
Certification. A Durham College and Seneca College graduate, her
coaching experiences includes Assistant Coach at Durham from
1999-2001, Assistant Coach at Seneca from 2002-2005 and she
recently became Head Coach in 2005. A former basketball and soccer
player in the OCAA, Marcy has seen the league grow tremendously
over the past 10 years. She has been fortunate to experience a
great deal due to the willingness of others to give their time,
share their knowledge and provide guidance. As a mentor coach,
Marcy would like to give back in honour of all those that did so
much for her. She feels that this is a great opportunity for a
former student-athlete to begin the initial stages of coaching,
while also allowing her to show them the ropes and continue to help
them develop their game at a new level.
Launched in October 2005, this is the second round of applications
for the CCAA Female Coach Mentor Program. The CCAA Female Coach
Mentor Program is designed to identify and nurture female
graduating student-athletes who demonstrate the desired skills for
coaching by providing them with the opportunity to share the
coaching experience in CCAA National Championship sports. Aimed at
increasing the number of female coaches within the collegiate sport
system, the three goals of this program are:
- To increase opportunity for young women to have access to the coaching experience;
- To support identified female graduated student-athlete coaches in their pursuit of professional development opportunities; and
- To provide qualified CCAA coaches in National Championship sports with advanced training opportunities and mentoring experience.
Funded by Sport Canada, a branch of the Department of Canadian
Heritage, the CCAA Female Coach Mentor Program is a national
project conducted in partnership with the Atlantic Colleges
Athletic Association (ACAA), the Quebec Student Sport Federation
(QSSF), the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA), the
Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) and the British
Columbia Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA).
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The CCAA is the national governing body for college sport in
Canada, providing high-level competition through intercollegiate
sport that recognizes excellence in academics and athletics.
For more information, please contact:
Sandra Murray MacDonell
CCAA Executive Director
Tel: 613.937.1508 / Email: sandra@ccaa.ca