TORONTO, Ont. – In celebration of International Women's Day, U SPORTS is proud to announce 18 former student-athletes have been selected for the 2021-22 U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program.
Winta Desta, from Ottawa, Ont., played basketball for the Lakehead Thunderwolves from 2010-14 and will take part in the program at Ontario Tech University under the guidance of Christa Eniojukan.
"I am thrilled to receive this opportunity to work with coach Christa and Ontario Tech women's basketball," said Desta. "Coach Christa has a wealth of knowledge and has achieved success at every level. My ultimate goal is to work in a role where I can combine my passions and experience in sport, health and development. I feel that working at Ontario Tech with Christa and her staff through the U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coaching Program is the perfect opportunity to grow and further progress my career."
The program aims to increase the number of females in coaching positions across Canadian universities, by matching apprentice coaches who have recently graduated, with a head coach in one of the 11 U SPORTS-sanctioned sport offerings for female-identifying student-athletes.
"We're excited to continue to build our Female Apprentice Coach Program," said Lisette Johnson-Stapley, Chief Sport Officer at U SPORTS. "Despite the unprecedented challenges faced in the program's inaugural year, this initiative is already opening new doors, providing the tools for further coaching development and education in Canadian university sport and fostering success to our proud alumnae who aspire to become coaches themselves in the near future."
A total of 46 applications were received for the 2021-22 edition of the program, nearly double from the inaugural campaign, with 18 apprentice coaches selected for the second consecutive year. Nine of the 11 sports are represented – including rugby, soccer, cross country, hockey, basketball, volleyball, swimming, track and field and wrestling – as well as all four U SPORTS member conferences, in addition to the BIPOC community.
"We are very excited to welcome coach Winta to the program," said Eniojukan. "She brings a wealth of experience from playing in U SPORTS and coaching at the highest high school level on the boys side with Bill Crothers and Northern Kings. Her in-depth understanding of building athletic bodies with her physiotherapy lens will help raise our program."
All participants in the program will be a member of the coaching staff at their respective schools and where possible, will provide feedback to colleagues as well as student-athletes, while taking part in team activities. Job duties may vary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each apprentice coach will also attend at least one National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), with the option to also take additional professional development courses and seminars in the field of coaching.
The 2021-22 U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program begins on April 1.
