These prestigious awards recognize coaches whose athletes have excelled at world championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games, and at the Special Olympics World Games. The Coaching Association of Canada and Petro-Canada honour these recipients before their peers at the annual Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Awards Gala.
Recipients of the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award are some of Canada’s most outstanding national team coaches. These coaches have dedicated their time and efforts to ensuring that athletes reach their potential on the international stage.
The 2024 nomination period is now open. Nominations will be accepted until Monday, September 16
Qualifying period: September 1, 2023 to September 8, 2024
Nominate Now
The CAC and Petro-Canada are pleased to highlight the contributions of the 2023 recipients below.
Alberta | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Amanda Trenchard | Special Olympics Canada | Soccer, Women's 7-a-side |
Bart Schouten, ChPC | Speed Skating Canada | Team Canada (Hayden Mayeur, Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu, Connor Howe); Ivanie Blondin; Ted-Jan Bloemen |
Ben Wilkinson | Alpine Canada Alpin | Marilelle Thompson, Reece Howden |
Dana Ferguson | Curling Canada | Collinda Joseph |
Dave Johnson | Swimming Canada | Ingrid Wilm |
Jane Kolodnicki | Athletics Canada | Noah Vucsics |
John Kucera | Alpine Canada Alpin | James Crawford |
Laurent Praz | Alpine Canada Alpin | Team Canada (Valérie Grenier, Jefferey Read, Britt Richardson, Erik Read) |
Marie Powell | Special Olympics Canada | Regan Hofley, Jennifer Riddell |
Michael Lizmore, ChPC | Curling Canada | Mark Ideson |
Mike Blondal, ChPC | Swimming Canada | Rebecca Smith |
Nicole Ban | Volleyball Canada | Team Canada |
Patricia Enns | Special Olympics Canada | Caroline Thibault, Shannon Doiron, Colleen Voth, Rachel Peers |
Philippe Abbott, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Mel Pemble |
Quin Sekulich | Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton | Mirela Rahneva |
Remmelt Eldering, ChPC | Speed Skating Canada | Team Canada (Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann) |
Ron Thompson | Athletics Canada | Marco Arop |
Tanya Dubnicoff, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Kate O'Brien |
Toben Sutherland | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Megan Oldham |
British Columbia | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
David Wilkinson | Special Olympics Canada | Laura Stremble, Kyle Vogelgesang, Wayne Gowanlock, Jennifer Adams |
David McKay | Wrestling Canada Lutte | Karla Godinez Gonzalez |
Dylan Armstrong | Athletics Canada | Ethan Katzberg |
Geoffrey Harris | Athletics Canada | Zachary Gingras, Austin Smeenk |
Haley Bennett | Swimming Canada | Nicholas Bennett |
Heather Hennigar, ChPC | Athletics Canada | Nathan Riech |
Jennifer Fyfe | Special Olympics Canada | Rebecca Birrs, Patricia Colgan, Jodi Klukas, Kimana Mar |
John Stuart | Softball Canada | Men's National Team |
Katie Spittlehouse, ChPC | Alpine Canada Alpin | Frédérique Turegeon |
Laura Brown, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Dylan Bibic |
Marc McDonell | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Brendan Mackay |
Mohamad Saatara | Athletics Canada | Camryn Rogers |
Nicholas Cooper | Alpine Canada Alpin | Team Canada (Valérie Grenier, Jefferey Read, Britt Richardson, Erik Read) |
Peter De Marchi | Special Olympics Canada | Jessica Larivée, Louis Charette, Jolyn Watts, Jesse Thibeault |
Richard Wooles, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Dylan Bibic |
Stephen McBride, ChPC | Sail Canada | John McRoberts and Scott Lutes |
Steve Omischl | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Mikael Kingsbury |
Trennon Paynter | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Rachael Karker |
William Marshall | Alpine Canada Alpin | Alexis Guimond |
Yolande Jones-Grande | Athletics Canada | Bianca Borgella |
Manitoba | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Jacqueline Mazur | Special Olympics Canada | Reetu Chahal, Josée Seguin, Marley Gayler |
Reid Carruthers | Curling Canada | Kerri Einarson |
Steven Dreger | Special Olympics Canada | Soccer, Women's 7-a-side |
New Brunswick | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Ryan Allen | Swimming Canada | Danielle Dorris |
Newfoundland and Labrador | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Jeff Butt | Special Olympics Canada | Daniel Moores, Aaron Higgins, Ryan Kealey, Phil Brown, David Nicholson |
Rosemary Ryan | Special Olympics Canada | Michael Budden, Samantha Walsh, Christian Gerro, Jeremy Wall |
Nova Scotia | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
David Kikuchi | Gymnastics Canada Gymnastique | Ellie Black |
Doug Branscombe | Special Olympics Canada | Basketball, Men's 5v5 |
Ontario | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Andrzej Sadej, ChPC | Judo Canada | Priscilla Gagne |
Caleb Flaxey | Curling Canada | Brad Gushue |
Carol Lane | Skate Canada | Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier |
Carol Love, ChPC | Rowing Canada Aviron | Team Canada |
Chris Powers | Alpine Canada Alpin | Cameron Alexander |
Evan Krofchick | Special Olympics Canada | Jesse Canney, Miori Hénault, Chris Innes |
Glenn Cundari | Special Olympics Canada | Taylor Carter, Derrick Wiseman, Melvin Hanhams, Krista Stockman, Allie Price, Natasha Stasiuk, Erin Thom |
Glynn Leyshon | Athletics Canada | Damian Warner |
Gregory Portnoy | Athletics Canada | Pierce Lepage |
James Richardson | Special Olympics Canada | Basketball, Men's 5v5 |
Jon Lane | Skate Canada | Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier |
Juris Razgulajevs | Skate Canada | Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier |
Ken Hall, ChPC | Athletics Canada | Renee Foessel |
Patrick Paradis | Swimming Canada | Sabrina Duchesne |
Renée Stewart | Special Olympics Canada | Alec Baldwin, Patti Connors |
Richard Parkinson, ChPC | Athletics Canada | Sarah Mitton |
Bob Westman | Athletics Canada | Marissa Papacontantinou |
Ryan Mallette | Swimming Canada | Javier Acevedo, Finlay Knox |
Sandy Boville | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Megan Oldham |
Québec | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
André Tourigny | Hockey Canada | Team Canada |
Antoine Valois-Fortier | Judo Canada | Kyle Reyes, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Christa Deguchi |
Brian Smith | Canada Snowboard | Elizabeth Hosking |
César Nicolaï, ChPC | Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association | Iulian Ciobanu & Alison Levine |
Dany Racine | Athletics Canada | Guillaume Ouellet |
David Zilberman, ChPC | Wrestling Canada Lutte | Linda Morais |
Eric Van Den Eynde, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Shelley Gautier |
Greg Arkhurst | Swimming Canada | Mary-Sophie Harvey, Katerine Savard |
Gregor Jelonek, ChPC | Speed Skating Canada | Team Canada (Christopher Fiola, Laurent Dubreuil, Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu); Team Canada (Brooklyn McDougall, Carolina Hiller, Ivanie Blondin); Laurent Dubreuil |
Hui Tong | Diving Canada | Pamela Ware |
Janusz Pawlowski | Judo Canada | Jessica Klimkait |
Jean-Michel Lavallière | Swimming Canada | Tess Routliffe |
Jeff Ain, ChPC | Cycling Canada | Mike Sametz |
Marc-André Pelletier | Swimming Canada | Aurélie Rivard, Abi Tripp, Nicolas-Guy Turbide |
Marilyn Langlois, ChPC | Skate Canada | Les Supremes |
Michel Hamelin, ChPC | Canadian Freestyle Ski Association | Mikael Kingsbury |
Pascal Denis | Skate Canada | Les Supremes |
Patrik Gaudet | Canada Snowboard | Arnaud Gaudet |
Pierre Caron | Alpine Canada Alpin | Laurence St-Germain |
Sebastien Travers | Cycling Canada | Kate O'Brien |
Sébastien Cros, ChPC | Speed Skating Canada | Steven Dubois; Pascal Dion; Courtney Sarault; Kim Boutin; Team Canada (Kim Boutin, Claudia Gagnon, Courtney Sarault, Renée Steenge, Rikki Doak) |
Serge Gagnon | Special Olympics Canada | Marc Richardson, Ian Cushon, Stephen Denham, David Whittington |
Stéphane Lapointe | Diving Canada | Molly Carlson and Jessica Macaulay |
Yihua Li, ChPC | Diving Canada | Caeli McKay |
Saskatchewan | ||
Coach | National Sport Organization | Athlete/Team |
Ben Lozinsky | Special Olympics Canada | Basketball, Women's 5v5 |
Jackie Powell, ChPC | Special Olympics Canada | Chelsey Makaro, Tyler Servant, Abby Wilson, Kelsey Wyse |
Megan Penno | Special Olympics Canada | Basketball, Women's 5v5 |
Ryan Jones, ChPC | Swimming Canada | Shelby Newkirk |