VICTORIA (CIS) – Former University of Victoria Vikes women's basketball head coach Kathy Shields will be awarded with the Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award tonight. She will be honoured along with fellow coach Dick Mosher, sports reporter Monty Mosher, and builder and administrator Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod.

The CIS Awards Banquet will be held at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria as part of the organization's annual general meeting.
 
Shields and Mosher are the co-recipients of the Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award, presented since 2007 to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to university sport as demonstrated by long-term commitment and leadership as a coach at the local, provincial national and/or international levels of Canadian university sport.

Mosher of The Chronicle Herald in Halifax will receive the Fred Sgambati Media Award, presented annually by CIS to a member of media in recognition of his/her major contribution to the development and growth of Canadian university sport.
 
Major McLeod will receive the Austin-Matthews Award, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to interuniversity sport, as demonstrated by his/her long-term commitment and leadership as a coach, director, chairperson and/or executive committee member at the local, provincial and/or national levels of Canadian interuniversity sport.
 
“These four individuals have made remarkable contributions to university sport in Canada,” said CIS president Clint Hamilton. “We are extremely appreciative of their dedication to CIS and feel privileged to have the opportunity to recognize their outstanding careers with these awards.”
 
JEAN-MARIE DE KONINCK COACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD (co-recipients)
Kathy Shields joined the University of Victoria women's basketball program as an assistant coach in 1977-78 following a successful playing career with the UBC Thunderbirds and the Canadian national team. She became the Vikes' head coach a year later and would hold the post for 21 seasons until 2001, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She officially stepped down from the position in 2005 due to medical reasons.
 
Shields' coaching career is second to none in CIS annals. In 21 campaigns at the helm at UVic, she led her troops to 14 Canada West titles and eight CIS banners – an all-time record in women's basketball – while compiling a spectacular 320-50 overall record, good for an astounding .865 winning percentage. She was named CIS coach of the year on three occasions and received the same honour at the conference level no less than eight times.
 
In addition to her duties with the Vikes, Shields returned to the national team program in the 1980s and 90s including two stints as an assistant coach with the senior squad (1981-84, 1989-92), one season at the helm of the junior team (1986), and two and a half years as Team Canada head coach from 1993 to 1995. She was a member of the coaching staff at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where Canada finished fourth and guided the senior team to seventh place at the 1994 FIBA world championship in Australia.
 
Shields was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and is also a member of the UVic Sports Hall of Fame, the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame, and the BC Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2008, she received the Order of B.C. along with her husband Ken. A year earlier, Centre Court at UVic's McKinnon Gymnasium had officially been named Ken and Kathy Shields Court. The CIS women's basketball rookie of the year award is also named in her honour.
 
“Kathy is a remarkable individual, a world-class coach with a tremendous resume of accomplishments,” said Clint Hamilton, director of athletics and recreation at UVic. “She's left a tremendous legacy with many of her former players now coaching at the university level. She is a leader in the coaching profession and did it with a tremendously personable style.”
 
Dick Mosher began his relationship with the University of British Columbia in 1963 when he spent three years as a centre-forward with the Thunderbirds' soccer team before moving on to the University of Oregon and later to Michigan to pursue his PhD in human growth and motor development. He returned to UBC in 1975 as a professor in the School of Physical Education and coached local Vancouver metro soccer teams for a decade before taking the post as head coach of the T-Bird men's squad in 1986.
 
He led the UBC men to the Canada West and CIS titles in his first season and the rest, as they say, is history. Following two campaigns (1987, 1988) without any hardware, Mosher guided the T-Birds on an amazing run that saw them win six straight Canada West banners and five national titles, missing out only in 1993 when they claimed CIS silver. During his nine-year stint at the helm of UBC's men's team, his side lost only seven games and kept an unbelievable 86-7-13 overall record (.873). He was named Canada West coach of the year three times and was honoured once by his CIS peers.
 
In 1994, when the UBC women needed a new head coach, Mosher took on the challenge and served as mentor of both programs, leading the women's squad to Canada West gold and CIS silver. Starting in 1995, he would focus his attention to the women's game and until his retirement following the 2009 campaign, he guided the T-Birds to four more Canada West banners, three CIS titles and an overall mark of 158-47-37 (.729). He ended his tenure with the UBC women with four conference and two CIS coach of the year trophies.
 
In nine seasons with the men's team and 16 with the women's, Mosher's combined overall record was a sparkling 244-54-50 (.773), including a mind-boggling 26-4-2 (.844) at CIS championships. His sides amassed 14 podium finishes (nine gold, two silver, three bronze) in 14 appearances at the CIS tournament. His six national titles with the UBC men are a record for a head coach in CIS soccer, while his three banners with the women's squad put him in a tie for first all-time.
 
Mosher, who served as UBC's interim athletic director for one year in 1991-92, remains the academic coordinator for the Department of Athletics and is a professor and graduate advisor in the Department of Human Kinetics. His son Mike took over as head coach of the men's soccer program in 1995 and has since led the T-Birds to three Canada West and as many CIS titles.
 
“Dick is one of those rare coaches who has been successful his whole career while coaching two teams,” said Bob Philip, director of athletics and recreation at UBC. “He always kept soccer a simple game and with some very good athletes his strategy was to do the small things right. His record speaks for itself. A players' coach and a winner. One of the best ever.”
 
FRED SGAMBATI MEDIA AWARD
Monty Mosher grew up in Wolfville, N.S., and played baseball for the Kentville Wildcats in 1985, the year they won the national championship. He also played Canada Games baseball for Nova Scotia in 1981.
 
A graduate of Acadia University (arts and education) and the University of King's College in Halifax (journalism), Mosher was a sports intern at the Calgary Herald for one summer before accepting his first job from The Chronicle Herald - Eastern Canada's largest daily newspaper - as the beat reporter for the AHL's Halifax Citadels. He has now been a sports reporter for 26 years and has dedicated a significant portion of his career to covering university sport in Atlantic Canada.
 
He began covering university football in 1993 and basketball in 1996 and has reported on a number of Canadian university, college, high school and local level sports. On top of his outstanding work with AUS regular season events, he has covered countless AUS championships as well as many CIS championships including the men's basketball Final 8, the Atlantic, Mitchell and Uteck Bowls, and several Vanier Cup finals. He is a voting member of the CIS football top 10 and players of the week committees.
 
Mosher has been nominated for a 2011 Atlantic Journalism Award - an honour he already won in 2002 and 2004 - for a piece called “Lost Boy Has Found Home”, recounting the story of 7-foot-2 men's basketball player Riiny Ngot's path to St. Francis Xavier University and university sport.
 
It is an inspiring story of how Ngot, a native of Sudan, survived civil war, carried his sister 1,500 km while dodging predators, swam a crocodile-infested river and saw or heard more people die horrific deaths than he can count. The groundswell of interest this story created across Nova Scotia led Ngot to many public speaking appearances at high schools, churches and community centres. Many took up a collection to help Ngot in his dream to return to Africa to see his parents, a dream that became reality this past year.
 
“Monty's reporting has added tremendous profile to university athletics in the region and elevated interest in university sport to an exceptional level,” said Phil Currie, executive director of Atlantic University Sport. “His efforts in covering AUS and CIS events have not gone unnoticed and we are proud to see him receive the Fred Sgambati Media Award.”
 
AUSTIN-MATTHEWS AWARD
 
Danny McLeod grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Medicine Hat, Alta., in the 1920s and 30s. At the outbreak of WWII, he left the farm to serve his country, rising from the rank of private to captain and becoming the first Canadian to graduate from Sandhurst, the historic home of British officer training. After winning the Military Cross for valour in action, he remained in the army following the war and achieved the rank of major.
 
In 1960, Major McLeod became the first director of athletics at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont. A driving force behind the creation of CIAU (now CIS) as we know it today, he was the organization's founding secretary-treasurer, a position he held until 1971 when he retired from RMC. During his tenure, he successfully presented CIAU's application to join the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and was Canada's chef de mission at the 1968 International Student Games. Also involved at the provincial level, he was president of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association (OSLAA) in the 1960s.
 
A respected and successful hockey coach, Major McLeod simultaneously coached the RMC team, the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League and the Kingston Aces (Senior A), who represented Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. He was twice named OHL coach of the year. Following his retirement from RMC, he joined the NHL as supervisor of officials in the expanded 12-team league and trained all on-ice officials on international rules for the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the USSR. The trophy awarded annually to the MVP of the CIS men's hockey championship – the University Cup – is named in his honour (Major W.J. 'Danny' McLeod Award).
 
In 2004, Major McLeod received an Honorary Doctorate of Military Science from RMC. The NHL Officials Association honoured him in 2007 with the prestigious Birchell Leadership Award.
 
“Danny is a legendary figure in Canadian sport history and it is tremendous that CIS recognizes his contribution with the Austin-Matthews Award,” said Darren Cates, director of athletics at RMC. “Not only was Danny a founder of CIS and provided exceptional leadership as the organization's first secretary-treasurer, he mentored numerous people that went on to leadership roles with CIS. Danny was a brilliant coach, administrator and leader.”   

Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award recipients:
2011 Kathy Shields, women's basketball, Victoria *
2011 Dick Mosher, men's and women's soccer, UBC *
2010 Steve Konchalski, men's basketball, St. Francis Xavier
2009 Larry Haylor, football, Western Ontario
2008 Lou Pero, men's basketball, Lakehead
2007 Linda Marquis, women's basketball, Laval
* co-recipients
 
Fred Sgambati Media Award recipients:
2011 Monty Mosher, The Chronicle Herald (Halifax)
2010 Tim Micallef, The Score Television Network
2009 Howard Tsumura, The Province (Vancouver)
2008 Pierre Durivage, Productions Rivage (Montreal)
2007 Bill Sturrup (posthumous), CHML Radio (Hamilton)
2006 Serge Vleminckx, Journal de Montréal
2005 Ian Hamilton, Regina Leader-Post
2004 Jean-Paul Ricard, La Tribune (Sherbrooke)
2003 John Short, Edmonton Journal / CJCA Radio
2002 Wayne Kondro, The Ottawa Citizen / Southam News
2001 Phil Lachapelle & Ken Welsh, CHTV Hamilton
2000 CHRW (Radio Western Ontario University)
1999 Christine Rivet, Kitchener-Waterloo Record
1998 Robert MacLeod, Globe and Mail
1997 Paul Hendrick, ONTV
1996 Ken Newans, CFCN-TV (Calgary)
1995 Not awarded
1994 Bruce Perrin, TSN
1993 Not awarded
1992 Serge Vleminckx, Journal de Montréal
1991 Not awarded
1990 Ken Fathers, Windsor Star
1989 Ken Newans, CFCN-TV (Calgary)
1988 Norm Marshall, CHCH-TV
1987 Peter Watts, TSN / Don Lovegrove, Hamilton Spectator
1986 Pete James, CFPL TV
1985 Scott Mathews, Atlantic Television Network
1984 John Hancock, CBC-Radio Montreal
1983 Al Ryan, Toronto Star
1982 Scott Taylor, Winnipeg Free Press / Normand Legere, Evangeline Moncton
1981 Mike Murray, The Hockey News / Henry Pasila, CHCH TV
1980 Wally Sears, Sackville
1979 Henry Viney, CFCN Calgary
1978 Not awarded
1977 Randy Phillips, The Gazette (Montreal)
1976 Bill Johns, Kitchener-Waterloo Record
1975 Jim Crerar, Victoria Daily Times
1974 Hugh Townsend, Halifax Chronicle Herald
1973 Jim Vipond, Globe and Mail
1972 Bob Gage, London Free Press
 
Austin-Matthews Award recipients:
2011 Major William John 'Danny' McLeod
2010 Francis Clayton
2009 Robert Dubeau
2008 Ross Wilson
2007 Barb Mullaly
2006 Lyle Sanderson
2005 Aubrey Ferris
2004 Not awarded
2003 Val Schneider
2002 Joyce Fromson
2001 Darwin Semotiuk
2000 Jean-François Grenier
1999 Not awarded
1998 Don Wells
1997 Rich Newbrough
1996 Keith Harris
1995 Ken & Donna Fultz
1994 Mary Lyons
1993 Robert Hindmarch
1990-92 Not awarded
1989 Carl Totzke
1988 Not awarded
1987 Robert Descheneaux
1986 Marilyn Pomfret
1985 Ed Zemrau
1984 Dr. Vance Toner
1983 Gladys Bean
1982 Elizabeth Chard
1981 Robert Pugh
 
L.B. “Mike” Pearson Award recipients:
2011 Not awarded
2010 Not awarded
2009 Not awarded
2008 Not awarded
2007 Not awarded
2006 Dr. Jean-Marie De Koninck
2005 Sylvia Fedoruk
2004 Not awarded
2003 Ed Zemrau
2002 Dr. Robert Brodrick
2001 Dick Pound
2000 Paul Giannelia
1999 Dr. Sean Riley  
1998 Not awarded
1997 Carol Anne Letheren
1996 Doug Mitchell
1995 John Cleghorn
1994 Senator Trevor Eyton
1986-93 Not awarded
1985 George Springate
1984 Dr. Hugh Noble
1981-83 Not awarded
1980 The Right Honourable Roland Michener
1976-79 Not awarded
1975 Angus Duncan McLachlin
1973-74 Not awarded
1972 The Right Honourable L.B.  “Mike” Pearson
 
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie annually for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.