Victoria Brown is a CCAA Female Apprentice Coach

Story courtesy of the CCAA

The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is proud to announce its 2019-20 participants in the annual Female Apprentice Coach Program (FACP) for the sport of Basketball.

After five seasons as a student-athlete with Vancouver Island University's Women's Basketball program, Victoria Brown will officially transition into coaching this year as an apprentice in the FACP.

She will be mentored by former Head Coach, Tony Bryce.

"I have had the opportunity to study the many different models of coaching as well as understand the female roles throughout sport history," said Brown, who is a graduate of the Sport, Health and Physical Education program at VIU. "As I pursue my goal of becoming a coach in my community, I believe it is extremely important to have as much training and coaching experience as I can with athletes."

Brown has coached at numerous VIU youth sport camps over the past five summers. In 2018, she co-organized the annual Future Mariner Basketball Tournament and taught Physical Literacy to youth on a study trip abroad to Belize.

She also collected three consecutive CCAA National Scholar Awards along the way.

While she already had a strong presence with the Mariners, Brown flourished when Bryce took over the team two years ago. She was named captain in her last two seasons at VIU.

Brown, however, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in her fourth year of eligibility and in 2018-19, her season ended prematurely because of the injury. While disappointed, she provided leadership to the team from a new position.

"Taking her role as a leader seriously, Victoria moved from the playing court to the bench, inspiring her peers to an incredible season," said Stephanie White, Director High Performance Sport, Recreation and Physical Literacy at VIU.

VIU went on to earn the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) title and placed fourth at the 2019 CCAA Women's Basketball National Championship.

Bryce, the 2012 CCAA Men's Basketball Coach of the Year, believes Brown's experiences and commitment to excellence will be invaluable to himself, returning players and most importantly, new incoming student-athletes.

"She is a phenomenal person who is highly respected by her teammates and coaches," said Bryce. "I truly feel Victoria has what it takes to be an outstanding coach and ambassador in women's sport."

For her part, White is committed to developing more female coaches in Nanaimo and on Vancouver Island. Having Brown on board will assist in developing a steady female coach presence in the program.

"I know the CCAA Female Apprentice Coach Program can help support that growth and will support the values of gender inclusion that I encourage at VIU."