St Thomas men’s volleyball team assigned two coaches in hopes of improving team – Volleyball news
St Thomas men’s volleyball team has been provided with two coaches who will act collaboratively to turn things around for the Tommies. The co-coaches are Francis Duguay and Tom Coolen.
The Athletic Director of St. Thomas, Mike Eagles, commented on the two new coaches and said, “Tom wouldn't have the tactical and technical expertise of a guy who's played the game like Francis. And Francis is young, so wouldn't have the coaching experience
and the player management abilities that a guy like Tom would have. Tom has some background in the game, but by himself, would not be able to coach a team. So we're putting the team together.”
The team experienced a bad patch last year after the death of a volleyball player on the squad. The demise of the young athlete happened during a team party and has left the team in uncharted waters. After the unfortunate incident, the whole team was suspended
from school.
With the leadership of the newly appointed coaches, the school’s administration hopes to bring the volleyball team back from their low point.
Duguay is still a student at St. Thomas and is currently enrolled in his fourth year. He has a lot of experience in the sport and is a volleyball player himself. Interestingly, Duguay still qualifies to become part of the Tommies if he wants. Duguay has
played volleyball for Ecole Sainte-Anne for two years starting from 2005 to 2007. After that, he was associated with the Tommies until 2010.
This will not be the first time that the young Duguay will assume a coaching position. He has already given it a try by being the head coach of the U-16 volleyball club program. He was with the U-16 of the club de Volleyball des Castors from 2008 to 2011.
After that, Duguay also offered his coaching expertise to the local club’s U-18 team. When this summer is through, Duguay will be a fully certified Level 2 volleyball coach.
Coolen on the other hand has achieved a lot of accolades while coaching the hockey team. He has invested two decades into hockey and has been active at the professional, major-junior as well as university level.
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