Softball Canada – (Ottawa, ON) Softball Canada is pleased to announce that Women’s National Softball Team Head Coach Mark Smith (Falmouth, NS) has been named the recipient of the Coaching Association of Canada’s Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award. The award will be presented to Smith tonight at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Awards Gala at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.

“Softball Canada is extremely happy to have Mark Smith named winner of the very prestigious Jack Donohue Award” stated Softball Canada President Kevin Quinn. “Mark has devoted a large portion of his life to the sport of softball, and for the past many years, in a coaching capacity. Mark’s programs for Softball Canada have been extremely successful. He is a very articulate and well-educated coach who demands excellence from all his athletes. We look forward to Mark’s continued success in our Women’s National Team Program.”
 
The Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award recognizes a coach who exemplifies the great qualities that made Jack Donohue the legendary coach he was. These qualities include honesty, integrity, a positive attitude, competitiveness, a love of the sport, and that sport is about more than just wins and losses.
 
“Mark epitomizes the traits that Jack Donohue exemplified. Not only has he been involved with Softball Canada in a coaching capacity since 1999, he also gives back off the field of play by working with coaches of all levels to provide them with learning opportunities to continue to develop and grow. A highly respectful, honest, and positive leader, we are so proud to have Mark as the recipient of the 2016 Jack Donohue award,” said Lorraine Lafrenière, Chief Executive Officer of the Coaching Association of Canada.
 
Smith has led the Canadian Women’s National Softball Team since 2009, guiding the team to a bronze medal finish this past summer at the 2016 WBSC Women’s World Softball Championship in Surrey, British Columbia. Previous international results under Smith’s leadership includes a Gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games, Silver medals at the 2011 Pan American Games and 2013 Pan American Championship, and a pair of fourth-place finishes at the 2012 and 2014 WBSC Women’s World Championships.
 
“Being recognized for this prestigious award is a culmination of years of hard work and support from many people. I am grateful to Softball Canada for nominating me for this tremendous honour,” says Coach Smith.  “I’d like to recognize the athletes and coaching colleagues, past and present, whose hard work and commitment have significantly impacted my success as a coach and contributed to an athlete-centered approach and culture of excellence. To my softball mentors and good friends Harvey Stevenson, Terry Baytor, and Dick Jacquez, thank you for sharing their wisdom over the years. And most importantly, to my wife Ann, I will be forever indebted to her for allowing me to pursue my love for softball and my passion for coaching for the past three decades.”
 
In addition to the Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award, Smith will also be presented with a Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award that recognizes coaches whose athletes have excelled at World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Special Olympics World Games. Petro-Canada, a Suncor business, has been a key supporter of Canadian coaches and the Coaching Association of Canada through its many programs since 1999.
 

Click here to view the Coaching Association of Canada’s announcement

For more information about the conference and the Gala, including a detailed schedule and full list of speakers, please visit www.coach.ca/sportleadership, follow @CAC_ACE – (#SLS16), or Like the Coaching Association of Canada on Facebook.

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For more information, please contact:

Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca