TORONTO - The Seneca Sting is pleased to announce the hiring of Anthony Fong as the new women's volleyball head coach.
Fong has nearly 30 years of coaching experience in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) at the high school, club and provincial level. It's this current experience which Wong feels will benefit him in his role with the Sting.
"I've had the wonderful opportunity to coach at a variety of levels starting at the grass roots to being able to work with the regional level at provincial competitions and everything in between. My past 25 years of coaching has led me to my journey here to hopefully be able to help contribute to this program. I've worked closely with many coaches and various clubs across Ontario and I will continue to rely on my relationships with them to help support our program."
An NCCP Level 2 certified coach, Fong began his coaching career at his alma mater, Jarvis Collegiate, where his teams regularly went undefeated during the regular season under his tutelage. Fong is a firm believer in not only creating better volleyball players, but helping build stronger people and giving back.
"I was extremely lucky growing up in downtown Toronto that I was able to participate in various free programs the city offered. At that time, we had amazing coaches like Ed and Kristine Drakitch deliver these programs and Kristine was an important influence in me getting into coaching. I've always felt I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunities that I have had and my work in the volleyball community has been part of that paying it forward. I am extremely proud of so many of my former athletes who have not only had success on-court careers, but more importantly, off the court. Many have gone on to become coaches themselves, teachers, first-responders and people who contribute tremendously in our community and I've been the most proud of that."
A long-standing coach in the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA), Fong has coached numerous teams in Toronto, Etobicoke and Scarborough over the past 20 years. During this time, Fong helped the Region 5 girls capture a gold medal at the 2017 Ontario Summer Games as well as oversaw a number of medal-winning teams as the Athletes Development Program Chair for Region 5.
It was Fong's success and vast coaching background which John Sharpe, Manager of Athletics and Recreation indicated set him apart from other coaching candidates.
"Seneca is very excited to welcome Anthony Fong on board as the new Head Coach of the Sting Varsity Women's Volleyball team. Anthony brings with him a wealth of experience and success at the High School and Club levels. We look forward to Anthony leading the program forward towards OCAA success."
Currently, Fong is the Club Director and Coach with the Toronto United Volleyball Club, a position he has held since 2012. Under Fong's leadership, the club has annually expanded their membership and offerings for athletes of Asian descent as they prepare for the North American Chinese Invitational Volleyball tournament.
The Sting went 6-12 last season, narrowly missing the OCAA First Round in a four-way tiebreaker. Highlighting the second semester was a four-match win streak which brought the Sting into playoff contention until the final match of the season.
"I believe all great programs are part of a journey and process, and I don't focus too much or measure success based on wins and losses. As long as the players continue to work hard, be their best and follow their path, the results will follow and that's all I can ask of the athletes."
Fong's leadership will be on full display this year as the Sting are expected to be young and inexperienced, having graduated 19 players over the last three seasons. Sharpe feels that Fong is more than up to the task of bringing the players up to speed and preparing them for competition.
"Anthony has a proven track record of developing volleyball players. We feel confident that he will teach the players the right way to play and ultimately, contend for a post-season spot."
Tryouts for the Women's Volleyball team will begin on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. in the Newnham Gym. The Sting will begin the regular season in late October. The OCAA Championship will be hosted Feb. 27-29 at Canadore College.
Source: Seneca Sting