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2011 Coach of the Year Award Recipients Announced!

Coaches BC, in conjunction with the Bob Bearpark Foundation, is pleased to announce the 2011 recipients of the annual Coach of the Year Awards. This year’s winners have displayed an outstanding achievement and unique contribution to the advancement and well-being of athletes and their sport. Winners have been selected in three categories not only for their coaching achievements in 2011 exclusively, but for their contributions to their sport and athletes throughout their entire coaching careers. We Thank you to all those who submitted nominations.

Coaches BC would like to congratulate the following coaches for their success and wishes them the best of luck in their future coaching endeavors.

Category 1- Recreational/ Grassroots Award

Dave Brett

Dave is the owner of Griffins Boxing and Fitness in North Vancouver and an NCCP Certified Level 3 coach. He is known for his ability to make boxing fun by fostering a sense of self-worth and accomplishment in his athletes. When starting the gym, Dave developed a revolutionary system of boxing, the “Glove System”, allowing people to learn how to box in a step wise process, using non-contact and safe techniques. It is not uncommon to find Dave offering his time for extra practice where he provides advice to his athletes on how they might improve their skills. Dave is also very proactive in the development of young boxing coaches by providing them with the opportunity to take coach education courses, First Aid courses; additionally, Dave always takes the time to hold a coaches session to wrap up every practice. Dave has also helped to promote the sport of boxing by planning days where teachers can bring their students to his club and receive a free training session and learn more about the sport.

Category 2 - Regional/Provincial Development Award

George Donatelli

George is a NCCP certified Level 2 speed skating coach whose coaching history dates back to 1966. During his coaching career Dave has coached Olympic silver and bronze medallists at the 1988 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games, as well as numerous National and Provincial team athletes. In addition to Dave’s impressive coaching history, he has also contributed to speed skating by being founding member of numerous speed skating clubs throughout BC and has been a Level 3 official for twenty-two years. Dave is known to be a generous and compassionate man who takes great pride in making a positive difference in the lives of young athletes.

Category 3 - International Award

Bill Tschirhart

 Bill is a NCCP Level 4 curling coach. By leading international coach and instructor seminars as well as contributing articles to major curling periodicals and curling instruction publications, Bill has provided a strong contribution to the sport of curling both internationally and within Canada. Bill has coached Canadian gold medal winning Senior Men’s and Women’s teams at three World Senior Curling Championships. He was also invited to coach team New Zealand at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and Team China at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Bill is the creator and a major contributor of a series of coaching essays entitled “A Pane in the Glass: A Coach’s Companion” for which all the proceeds go to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation.