When Dani Sinclair was growing up as a hoops fanatic in Guelph, Ont., there weren鈥檛 many options to watch women鈥檚 basketball on TV.
The one game guaranteed to be on every year was the CIS national championship final and it invariably seemed to feature the University of Victoria. Sinclair vowed she would one day play for that team, which she did by captaining the 2003 Vikes鈥� CIS national championship side.
And on Thursday, the university removed the interim tag from her head coaching title, making her the Vikes new bench boss.
鈥淓leven years ago, a leap of faith brought me here and a big part of that was the tradition of excellence in UVic basketball,鈥� said Sinclair, whose playing name was Dani Everitt, and who transferred for her final two seasons at UVic after three years at McMaster.
鈥淣ow, to accept this dream job is an amazing feeling . . . it鈥檚 humbling and truly an honour to be the next leader of this program,鈥� said the former CIS first-team all-star and four-time conference all-star.
Sinclair has been assistant coach with the Vikes since 2006. She stepped into the interim head coaching job last season when incumbent Rich Chambers took a year鈥檚 leave due to personal issues. Chambers was unable to return. Sinclair then guided the Vikes to a 24-11 overall and 16-6 conference record and CIS national top-10 ranking for most of the season.
Sinclair was assistant coach for sa国际传媒 at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and has been head coach of several regional and sa国际传媒 teams.
Sinclair鈥檚 players spoke of her dedication to coaching.
Graduating Vikes captain Deb Yeboah noted, despite Sinclair being pregnant and giving birth mid-season in December, the coach missed only one practice in 2012-13.
鈥淸Sinclair] is such a hard worker and always challenging us to be better. I鈥檓 confident she is the right fit for the team,鈥� said forward Jessica Renfrew, who will be entering her fourth season with the Vikes.
Sinclair cited Chambers, well-known in sa国际传媒 coaching circles, as being 鈥渁 great mentor to me.鈥�
Although Sinclair played for the Vikes under Brian Cheng, after Kathy Shields had left the bench due to medical reasons, Sinclair singled out the UVic coaching legend and eight-time CIS-champion Shields as a huge influence.
鈥淜athy is the model of what a coach in the CIS should be,鈥� Sinclair said.
Shields has stayed close to the program.
鈥淒ani [Sinclair] has a special quality and is a natural leader and one of the hardest workers out there,鈥� said Shields. 鈥淭he players look up to her, follow her and respond to her. She鈥檚 a great role model and brings a lot of balance to her life.鈥�
