CORNWALL, Ont. – Durham College women’s soccer coaches Dave Staley and Julia Prohaska have been selected as candidates for the 2010 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) female apprentice coach program. This season, the CCAA will be offering this unique opportunity to 20 apprentice coaches.

Funded by Sport Canada, a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the CCAA Female Apprentice Coach Program is a national project conducted in partnership with the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association (ACAA), the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA), the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) and the British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA).

Apprentice Coach

Julia Prohaska is a former collegiate player with Durham College’s women’s soccer program and twice was able to lead her Lords team to the National Championship. Upon her graduation from Durham with honours, she attended Graceland University in Iowa and immediately helped that program to a National Championship berth in her first season. She has since graduated from the US and returned home with a desire to coach college soccer in the CCAA. Julia is the kind of high caliber person we want to develop, stay engaged and benefit from a program like this offered by the CCAA.

Mentor Coach

David Staley captured the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association silver medal in his first year as head coach at Durham in 2009. Coach Staley is committed to the requirements of being a mentor coach to Prohaska during the fall season and building on her development during the OCAA indoor soccer. He attests that Prohaska has the attitude, intelligence and soccer skill set to be a strong coach in the future.

The Female Apprentice Coach Program is aimed at targeting the rich source of potential female coaches in the ranks of graduating student-athletes and creating a new coaching position, the apprentice coach. The CCAA is working towards the goal of having at least one female member on the coaching staff of each women’s sports program. Incentives are offered to institutions that offer apprentice coach positions within the CCAA sports of soccer, volleyball, basketball, badminton, golf and cross country running. The grant is identified for professional development opportunities in either NCCP or related coach education, and for operational costs associated with the apprentice coach.

The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association is a national sports organization that enriches the lives of student- athletes through intercollegiate competition.

Source: Durham College with files from CCAA Communications