Ottawa, ON – The Coaching Association of Canada announced today the recipients of its Women in Coaching National Coaching Institute (NCI) Scholarships for 2008-2009. The 16 women coaches each received a $1,500 NCI tuition scholarship to further their coach education.Roxanne Butler (Rugby), Michelle Aucoin (Basketball), Jennifer Holleman (Boxing) of NCI – Atlantic; Amanda Johnson (Swimming), Cassandra Smith (Snowboard) of NCI –Calgary; Marie-Hélène Chisholm (Judo), Martine Dugrenier (Wrestling), Mélanie Savard (Waterski), Héloïse Allard (Alpine Ski), Catherine St-Pierre (Judo) of NCI – Montreal; Melanie Gregg (Athletics) of NCI – Manitoba; Carla Nicholls (Athletics), Kay Montgomery (Curling) of NCI – Saskatchewan; Allison McNeill (Basketball), Elena Voloshin (Athletics) and Melanie Jans (Squash) of NCI – BC are the recipients of the 2008-2009 scholarships. Twelve Ontario women coaches enrolled in the NCI have been separately funded through the Quest for Gold program.Created by the Coaching Association of Canada as part of the Women in Coaching campaign, the NCI Scholarships program is aimed at increasing the number of certified women coaches both qualified or actively coaching in a high-performance context. The program is allocated $30,000 on an annual basis, funds that are then divided in individual tuition scholarships of up to $1,500 for study in a two-year program, or $3,000 in a one-year program. The scholarships are evenly awarded to women coaches attending one of the seven NCIs located across Canada, and any unspent funds are put toward NCI Professional Development initiatives.About CAC's Women in Coaching programThe Women in Coaching program is a national campaign to increase the number of coaching opportunities for women, at all levels of sport. Since 1987, over 500 women coaches have received some $3,000,000, in the form of professional development grants, apprenticeship grants, and National Coaching Institute scholarships.About CACThe Coaching Association of Canada is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mission of enhancing the experiences of all Canadian athletes through quality coaching. CAC and its partners deliver a leading-edge coaching system whose goal is to have an impact on 1,000,000 athletes through the training of 100,000 coaches each year in the National Coaching Certification Program. Visit www.coach.ca for more information about coach education and training.– 30 –

For more information, please contact:

Sheilagh Croxon
Consultant
CAC's Women in Coaching
scroxon@rogers.com

Michèle Dion
Communications Coordinator
Coaching Association of Canada
613-235-5000 ext. 9-2384
mdion@coach.ca