Walker named CCAA Coach of the Year
March 2, 2016 – Janice Walker of the VIU Mariners has been named the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Badminton Coach of the Year.
She received the award this evening at the 2016 CCAA Badminton National Championships banquet, hosted by Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, BC.
“Janice has built a strong, well-respected team at VIU that has become a perennial contender at the CCAA National Championships,” said David Munro, CCAA VP Sport Development.
“She has the gift of developing and getting the best out of every player and making players feel at home at VIU.”
Under Walker’s guidance, Graydon Robb (Men’s Singles) and Melissa Liew (Women’s Singles) captured PACWEST Championship titles this season and qualify for the National Championships.
Walker has been successful in training a team at VIU that ranges from national level student-athletes to beginners. She also organizes a local high school league, in which Mariners assist as coaches.
“She cares about her players and mentors them to give back to the community,” said Munro. “Janice is a very worthy recipient of this award.”
In addition to serving as the PACWEST Convenor once again this season, Walker was on the Host Committee for this year’s National Championships.
CCAA Coach of the Year winners receive a customized ring provided by Jostens Canada, the Official Ring Supplier of the CCAA Championship Awards Banquet.
OTHER NOMINEES
| Jordan Richey | Matt Plachta | Nil Doucet | |||
 |  |  | |||
| NAIT Ooks | Fanshawe Falcons | Dragons de Sainte-Anne | |||
| Richey led the Ooks to a dominating season in the ACAC as they repeated as conference champions. A total of nine student-athletes from NAIT qualified for Nationals. Richey has built a quality badminton program at NAIT and works tirelessly to ensure his student-athletes are excelling in academics; his team had an average first-semester GPA of 3.2. Richey also coordinates NAIT summer camps and this season, he served as the CCAA National Convenor. | Three Falcons qualified for the OCAA Championships this season under Plachta’s guidance. Fanshawe’s Women’s Doubles team was victorious at the OCAA West Regionals and the Falcons took home a bronze medal in Women’s Singles from the OCAA Championships. Plachta is very helpful to the student-athletes both on and off the court and he always makes academics the highest priority. | The Dragons solidified their game this season while relying on a strong core of returning student-athletes from the previous season. This experience played a big role in their intensity during training and tournaments. Sainte-Anne had two runner-up finishes and placed third three times in five ACAA tournaments. |
The CCAA is a national sport organization enriching the academic experiences of student-athletes through intercollegiate sport.
