Coaching Association of Canada Announces the 2007 Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award Winners

OTTAWA, October 3, 2007 – The Coaching Association of Canada today announced the names of the 30 coaches who are the 2007 recipients of the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Awards.

The awards will be presented during Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif, scheduled to take place inHalifax, October 12-14, 2007. The Sport Leadership Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, October 12, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. at the Cunard Centre.

This year, these prestigious awards recognize coaches whose athletes won medals over the past year at open world championships. “At Petro-Canada, we dream big, and that’s why we support coaches who do the same,” says Steven Keith, Petro-Canada’s director of Olympic and Community Partnerships. “We are proud to support the 2007 Coaching Excellence Award winners.”

The winners are:

Shelley Barnett of Burlington, Ont., coach of Canada’s bronze-medal winning synchronized figure skating team.

Randy Bennett of Victoria, coach of Rick Say, a member of the bronze medal-winning 4x200 metres freestyle relay team.

Laryssa Biesenthal of Victoria, coach of lightweight women’s single bronze medallist Melanie Kok.

Steve Bush of North Vancouver, B.C., coach of Jaret Llewellyn, silver medallist at the world water ski championships.

Derrick Campbell of St-Lambert, Que., coach of Charles Hamelin and François-Louis Tremblay, members of the silver medal-winning 5000 metres short track relay team.

Scott Cranham of Calgary, coach of Blythe Hartley, silver medallist on the 1 metre springboard.

Melody Davidson of Oyen, Alta., coach of the victorious women’s national hockey team.

Mario Delisle of Montreal, coach of 2007 Boccia World Cup gold medallist Paul Gauthier.

Allison Dobb of Coquitlam, B.C., coach of the men’s coxed pair — Kip McDaniel, Derek O’Farrell, and coxswain Brian Price —winners of the bronze medal.

Stephen Fearing of Vancouver, coach of Kristi Richards, world champion in single moguls.

Martin Gagné of Longueuil, Que., coach of short track speed skater Kalyna Roberge, 500m world champion and a member of the bronze medal-winning 3000m relay team.

Dominic Gauthier of Cap-Rouge, Que., coach of Jennifer Heil, world champion in dual moguls and silver medallist in the single event.

Wynn Gmitroski of Victoria, coach of Gary Reed, 800m silver medallist at IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Tom Johnson of Vancouver, coach of Brent Hayden, 100 metres freestyle world champion and of Brian Johns, a member of the bronze medal-winning 4x200 metres freestyle relay.

Rob Kober of Penticton, B.C., coach of Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, world champion in single moguls.

Paul Kristofic of Toronto, coach of downhill silver medallist Jan Hudec.

Marcel Lacroix of Calgary, coach of Denny Morrison, silver medallist in 500 metres and 1500 metres at the world all round championships and 1500 metres bronze medallist Christine Nesbitt.

Michel Larouche of Montreal, coach of Alexandre Despatie, silver medallist on the three-metre springboard.

Yi Hua Li of Pointe Claire, Que., coach of Arturo Miranda, winner with Alexandre Despatie of the three-metre synchro silver medal.

Neal Marshall of Calgary, coach of Cindy Klassen, winner of bronze medals in 500 metres and 3000 metres at the world all round championships.

Daniel Murphy of Laval, Que., coach of aerials bronze medallist Steve Omischl.

Andy Murray of Calgary, coach of Canada’s world champion men’s ice hockey team.

Scott Oldershaw of Burlington, Ont., coach of Adam van Koeverden, 2007 K-1 500 metres world champion and K-1 1,000 metres silver medallist.

Carol-Angela Orchard of Toronto, coach of Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, winner of the beam bronze medal at the 2006 world championships, the first ever by a Canadian woman.

Gerry Richard of Kelowna, B.C., coach of the world champion Kelly Scott rink.

Tony Smith of Cochrane, Alta., coach of Kyle Shewfelt, floor bronze medallist in 2006.

Mike Spracklen of Victoria, coach of the world champion men’s eight.

Scott Taylor of Barrie, Ont., coach of the world champion Glenn Howard rink.

Anne Renée Thibault of Montreal, coach of the bronze medal-winning adaptive coxed four — Tony Theriault, Scott Rand, Meghan Montgomery, Victoria Nolan, and coxswain Laura Comeau.

Xiuli Wang of Calgary, coach of Kristina Groves, bronze medallist in 1500 metres and 3000 metres at the world single distances championships.

The Coaching Association of Canada is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mandate to improve the effectiveness of coaching across all sports and at all levels of the sport system. Visitwww.coach.ca for more information.

For more information, contact:

Sandra Gage

Director, Marketing and Communications

Coaching Association of Canada