After an outstanding five years of playing women's basketball in Canadian Interuniversity Sport with the McMaster Marauders and the University of Victoria Vikes, Dani Sinclair turned to coaching.
Sinclair served five years as an assistant coach with the Vikes and another one with the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax. Her goal was to became a head coach in the CIS.
Now, she's getting that chance. Although her official title is associate coach with the Vikes, Sinclair will be handling all the day-today operations this season because head coach Rich Chambers is taking time off for personal reasons. Chambers, who lives in Port Moody, will remain involved with team, focusing on recruitment and program management.
"This is something that I've always wanted to do but not under these circumstances,'' said Sinclair. "I'm in contact with Rich every day and he will make a decision after this year about coming back.
"I've been an assistant coach for many years but this is still a very big jump. As the coach, you can never just walk away from it. You live it 24/7 and 365 days of the year. It is always on my mind and I even dream about it. You need to put in the time to succeed.
"With Rich and Brian [former UVic head coach Cheng], I've had some great mentors. They prepared me for this by being involved in every aspect of the team.''
Sinclair played three years for McMaster and in 1998-99 she was the CIS rookie of the year. She was also a three-time Ontario University Athletics all-star.
She then took a year off before coming to Victoria and leading the Vikes to the 2002-03 CIS title. In her final season, Sinclair was named a sa国际传媒 West first team all-star and a first team All-Canadian.
The Vikes return to preseason action tonight at McKinnon Gym against the UBC-Okanagan Heat. Game time is 6 p.m. while the teams will meet again on Saturday, with a 5 p.m. tip-off.
"We have a very good mix of young and old,'' said Sinclair. "Debbie Yeboah is in her fifth year and she will be a leader [for] us. She came to camp very focused.''
Some of the others expected to step into the leadership role are Kristen Monasterski, Chelsea McMullen, Cassandra Goodis and Jessica Renfrew. Monasterski is a transfer student from Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, while Goodis and Renfrew are entering their third years. McMullen came to the Vikes last year from Camosun College and this is her final year of eligibility.
"Some of the rookies who have looked good at camp are Jenna Krug, Jenna Bugiardini and Nicole Karstein,'' said Sinclair.
"Krug is very athletic, a good shooter and solid on defence. Bugiardini is beyond her years in a lot of ways. She will make an impact on our team right away. Karstein is a former Team sa国际传媒 player and she will help us with her size.''
Next weekend, the Vikes will travel to Kamloops for a tournament at Thompson Rivers with teams from Saskatchewan and Grant MacEwan. For the final tune-up before the start of the sa国际传媒 West season, the Vikes will then travel to Ontario for pre-season games against McMaster, Guelph, Toronto and Western Ontario (Cheng's new team).
The men Vikes are also in pre-season action tonight at McKinnon against the Seattle Mountaineers. Game time is 8 p.m.
Both UVic teams open the sa国际传媒 West season at home on Nov. 2-3.
