Tova Rae Joins Capilano

A total of 13 first-year aspiring female coaches will participate in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s (CCAA) Female Apprentice Coach Program (FACP) during the 2023-24 season.

The FACP, which is funded in part by Sport Canada, is designed to identify and support female graduating student-athletes who demonstrate the desire and skills for coaching by providing them opportunities to share in the coaching experience in the CCAA.

In CCAA Volleyball, four female apprentice coaches will be featured this season.

At Capilano University, Tova Rae will be mentored by Darrin Moreira with the men’s volleyball Blues in the PACWEST.

Rae suited up for the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners in the PACWEST for three seasons. She graduated in 2021 after earning two gold medals and one bronze at CCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships.

Having Rae working with the Men’s Volleyball team at Capilano is a unique opportunity.

“I anticipate eagerly all of the new learning experiences that are to come, not only with the increased commitment and performance level of a post-secondary team, but also with the piece of being a female coach in a leadership role within a male sporting context,” she said.

There are a vast number of male coaches coaching female teams but very few women coaching men’s teams and Moreira believes women should not be excluded from 50% of coaching positions available. This is why he believes it is important to bring more women into coaching Men’s Volleyball – in addition to getting more women into coaching in general.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Tova but, equally importantly, an excellent opportunity for the young men in our program and hopefully it will showcase that women are just as capable of coaching men as men are of coaching women,” he said.

Georgette Reid, Director of Athletics and Recreation at Capilano wholeheartedly supports this initiative.

“Supporting the growth and professional development of female coaches is important for the future success for sport period,” she said.

Rae already sports a deep and varied coaching resume, having taught and lead many different groups of children and youth at the community and high school sport levels, as well as high performance athletes at the competitive club volleyball level in BC. She has been coaching development camps and clinics for nearly 10 years.

The apprenticeship with the Blues will help Rae progress toward her goal of pursuing high performance coaching development that she hopes will hopefully lead to head coaching a post-secondary program in the future.

“I appreciate that the CCAA Female Apprentice Coach Program is in place to support coaches like me and women in sport who are motivated to be developing strong skills in order to continue pursuing leadership roles,” said Moreira.