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Women's Basketball Coaches of the Year
02/25/2010 ... Edmonton ... The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference is pleased to announce the 2009-10 ACAC Coaches of the Year as selected by their ACAC coaching peers:
North - Rob Poole, MacEwan
Rob Poole has been a long time fixture on the sidelines of basketball courts in Alberta. During a 37 year period he has participated as a player, coach, official, and administrator at various levels. He is probably best known for his many years as the coach of the Harry Ainlay High School Senior Boys team. During his reign, the Titans were one of Canada’s most successful high school programs, as they won four Provincial Championships and 13 City Championships. In recent years, he guided the girls program to the Provincial level and captured another Provincial Championship title during a 31-0 season in 2008. Many of the graduates of Ainlay’s program continued to have success as members of the University of Alberta’s National Championship years.
One of the most significant influences on coach Poole occurred during his graduate program of the University of Victoria. Under the guidance of one of Canada’s most successful coaches, Ken Shields, he developed his coaching skills to a higher level. In addition, he worked as an assistant coach in Basketball Alberta’s provincial program which provided him with a strong background in the game.
With the support of his family and friends, coach Poole accepted the position of head coach of Grant MacEwan University’s women’s basketball team in 2009. On top of coaching, he currently is the teacher-librarian of Harry Ainlay High School. He attributes much of his success in coaching to the support he receives from his wife, Alison and his daughters Alanna and Sierra. When he has spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and walking their Airedale Terriers Bentley and Kate.
Congratulations Rob on your award!
South - Dawn Smyth, Red Deer College
In her third year as head coach of the Red Deer College Queens Basketball Team, Dawn Smyth has continued to build the RDC program and change the culture of the Queens.
Over the last two years, mentoring two female coaches through the CCAA Female Coaching Mentorship Program Dawn, along with her coaching staff, has created a hard working positive team environment, in a very talented and tough conference. A philosophy stressing respect for teammates, player development, learning self discipline, self improvement and accountability both on and off the court has been the staple.
Growing up in Ottawa Ontario, Dawn had the chance to work with Basketball Ontario teams, coaching with local clubs and assisting at the University of Ottawa. Following her passion Dawn moved to Victoria attending University of Victoria, coaching with Camosun College men’s and women’s programs and attending the National Coaching Institute.
During the Queens off season Dawn commits to continuing her learning in coaching. The last two years she has travelled to Latvia, Bermuda and Germany twice to observe National teams, professional teams and coaches to learn different philosophies, strategies and techniques. This year she plans to travel to Spain to take a coaching course from 3 of Europe’s top Euroleague coaches.
Dawn ensures that her student-athletes thrive both on the court and in the classroom. The RDC Queens Basketball Program has had one of the top overall Grade Point Averages, including the top overall GPA across all RDC sports the last two seasons.
Congratulations Dawn on your award!
