Daly Named To U SPORTS Apprentice Coach Program

(FREDERICTON, NB) Current UNB REDS women’s basketball assistant coach Colleen Daly is one of 18 former student-athletes selected to participate in the U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program in 2022-2023.

“I’m really thankful to be part of this apprenticeship program and get to learn, on the job, with this incredible team and head coach,” said Daly.

The U SPORTS Female Coach Apprentice Program aims to increase the number of women in coaching positions with university level teams across Canada. The program matches women, former student-athletes who’ve recently graduated, with a head coach in one of the 11 U SPORTS sanctioned sport offerings for female-identifying student-athletes.

“I hope to eventually be a head coach for a U SPORTS team, but for now, I just want to continue to learn and grow and develop as a leader and as a coach,” said Daly. “I’m already learning a ton from the players we have here, as well as the coaching staff.”

Daly will be matched with the head coach she played five seasons for, REDS’ head coach Jeff Speedy.

“It’s fantastic for her, it’s fantastic for us,” said Speedy. “Our coaches don’t really get paid much for all the time they put in coaching with us. She’ll do a lot more work now because she’s part of this U SPORTS program and she’ll have outside professional development opportunities as well, not just on the court with us, so you hear about win-win all the time, this is definitely one of those scenarios.”

Daly spent five seasons playing for UNB between 2011-12 and 2017-18. She appeared in 78 regular season games during that time.

2021-22 is her first full season as one of the REDS three volunteer assistant coaches.

“I think I’m able to relate to the players that we have,” she said. “It wasn’t too long ago that I was in their shoes. So, I can sit down with them and understand what they’re going through and give them some advice. I went through it, just like they are now.”

“When you’re an assistant coach that has a full-time job and you show up for two hours a day and you don’t get to go on every road trip, it’s not easy to have that rapport and that relationship with the players,” said Speedy. “I think any coach that was a player at a high level has an instant level of respect, but that only gets you so far. The relationship she has with the players, you can tell. When she speaks, they listen, and I don’t think they always listen when I speak. They hear my voice enough, but for her, she chooses her words carefully, she chooses her times carefully, and when she speaks, they listen. So, the combination of the type of person she is and the respect the girls have for makes it quite obvious that she’s cut out to do this.”

Before joining the REDS’ staff, Daly served as a volunteer head coach with UNB’s Junior REDS grassroots program during three seasons.

She also spent three seasons working with the varsity girls’ basketball team at Fredericton’s Leo Hayes High School, moving one step up the ladder each season, first as an assistant coach, then as their co-coach, and, in 2020-21, as the head coach.

The U SPORTS program, with funding from Sport Canada, provides money so that female coaches can commit more time to gaining experience. The REDS will match the funding.

“Colleen was a tremendous student-athlete here,” said John Richard, UNB’s Director of Athletics. “After speaking with Coach Speedy, and learning of Colleen’s desire to grow her coaching skills, and position herself to pursue professional coaching opportunities, I’m confident that she’ll take full advantage of this apprenticeship program.”

This is the first time, in the three year history of the U SPORTS Female Apprentice Coach Program, that a UNB applicant has been selected to participate.

Working with Speedy, Daly will take on more duties with the REDS, including preparing for and running practice sessions, managing in-game aspects of the team’s performance, and assist in off-court duties, including video analysis and recruiting.

“Speedy has been an excellent mentor. I couldn’t have asked for much more,” said Daly. “He’s taken me under his wing and guided me throughout practices and games, giving me a lot of responsibilities here at UNB. Really, I just hope that I can give as much as this program has given to me.”