The 2009-2010 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) season marks the first year of the CIS – Coaches of Canada partnership. Coaches of Canada is pleased to be the title sponsor for the CIS’s 19 Coach of the Year Awards. The Fall of 2009 saw Coaches of Canada present the following six coaches with this honour.

“Coaches of Canada is thrilled to be able to celebrate coaching excellence within the university sport community. The professionalism exhibited by CIS coaches deserves to be recognized and we are happy to partner with CIS for this purpose,” says Wayne Parro, ChPC, Executive Director, Coaches of Canada.

NAME: Sharon Rajaraman
UNIVERSITY: Saint Mary’s
SPORT: Women’s Field Hockey

Sharon Raharaman became the first Saint Mary’s coach to claim the Marina van der Merwe award as CIS women’s field hockey coach of the year since the inception of the trophy in 1984. She was also the first recipient from an Atlantic University Sport school since 1990.

NAME: Neil Langevin
UNIVERSITY: Lethbridge
SPORT: Women’s Rugby

Neil Langevin became the first coach from a Canada West program to be named coach of the year in CIS women’s rugby. In his tenth campaign at the helm, Langevin guided the Pronghorns to a 4-0 regular season record, a 2-0 Canada West playoff mark, a fourth straight conference banner and, most importantly, four wins in as many outings at the CIS championship in Vancouver that allowed Lethbridge to capture the Monilex trophy for the third consecutive year.

NAME: Marc Mounicot
UNIVERSITY: McGill
SPORT: Women’s Soccer

Marc Mounicot became the second McGill mentor to win the coach of the year award in CIS women’s soccer and the first since Tony Iachetta in 1988. In his 12th season behind the bench, the native of St. Jean de Luz, France, guided a young Martlets team to a surprising 10-3-1 second-place record in the eight-team Quebec conference, a semifinal win over Sherbrooke and a berth in the league championship game, a 2-1 loss to nationally No.1-ranked Montreal.

NAME: Samir Ghrib
UNIVERSITY: Laval
SPORT: Men’s Soccer

Sami Ghrib was named the top coach in CIS men’s soccer for the first time in his career. Ghrib is at the helm of Laval since the rebirth of the program in 2000. Following a few learning years, the Rouge et Or have become annual contenders under his guidance, reaching the national final in 2007 and advancing to the CIS championship for the fifth consecutive campaign in 2009.

NAME: Dave Scott-Thomas
UNIVERSITY: Guelph
SPORT: Women’s and Men’s Cross Country

Guelph’s Dave Scott-Thomas was named CIS coach of the year in both women’s and men’s cross country for a fourth straight season. They Gryphons’ mentor has now received the distinction 14 times (six women’s – eight men’s) since taking over the Guelph program in 1997. He is also a two-time CIS coach of the year in track and field.

NAME: Steve Sumarah
UNIVERSITY: Saint Mary’s
SPORT: Football

Saint Mary’s Steve Sumarah received the Frank Tindall trophy as the coach of the year in CIS football. The native of Halifax became the third Huskies sideline boss to capture the prestigious award since its inception in 1969 following Blake Nill and the late Larry Uteck, both two-time winners.

Coaches of Canada would like to congratulate Sharon, Neil, Marc, Samir, Dave and Steve on this accomplishment and we look forward to presenting this award to 14 more coaches during the 2010 Spring National Championship season.

For more information on these award-winning coaches look for the CIS feature in the upcoming issue of Coaches PLAN du coach (Vol.16 No.4).