Volker Nolte and Vickie Croley, both Head Coaches at the University of Western Ontario were in Toronto on April 10 to accept their Ontario-Coach-of-the-Year awards from the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Michael Chan. This is a repeat performance for Volker Nolte, who picked up the award for the Male Coach of the Year back in 1993. The Coaches awards were presented among 8 other major awards for athletes, teams and volunteers during the ceremony held at the Toronto Marriott during a gala dinner.
Volker is the Varsity Rowing program’s Head Coach at Western, leading his crews to a historic number of first place finishes. Volker has contributed in many ways, a leader among coaches, a respected author and technician called upon around the globe for his expertise to find those extra seconds of boat speed. His books on ”Rowing Faster” are a must read for rowing coaches all over. Among many notable past achievements, in 1996, Volker coached the Men’s Lightweight fours in a tight field to a podium silver at the Atlanta Olympics. This years award is a recognition of his success coaching national team single sculler, Carling Zeeman, who captured silver at the World Championships.
Vickie Croley, is the Head Coach of Athletics at UWO, and has a long record of influence and success in her sport. Over an impressive 20 year span at Western she has led athletes to many national titles, focusing on jumps, heptathlon and decathlon. Her recognition at the Ontario Sport Awards is very deserving for her success with decathletes on the world stage in 2013. Several athletes in her program represented Canada successfully on the international stage while many of her up and coming athletes posted personal bests and top ten placings. Damian Warner won a bronze at World Championships and top place in the decathlon at the prestigious Gotzis meet. Taylor Stewart delivered a top ten finish in the Long Jump at FISU Games. Vickie is seen in her sport as a “difference maker” in Ontario, a leader by example in the Ontario high performance community.
Congratulations to both celebrated coaches, setting a high standard for all coaches in Ontario. A list of past Ontario Coach of the Year recipients can be found here.
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