The women’s volleyball and hockey teams are starting the fall semester with new coaches, as their old coaches take on less time-consuming positions with the department.
Joely Christian is the new head coach for women’s volleyball. Christian was an OUA and CIS all-star as a player, and was a national team member from 1988 to1991. She spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
Christian replaces Chris Galbraith, who is staying with the team as an assistant coach. In the press release announcing the decision, Galbraith said that he had to reduce his role with the team to focus on his business commitments.
“Joely Christian is a very talented up-and-coming coach, and I think that our ability to get her to Queen’s was an incredible coup. Our women’s volleyball program is going to benefit tremendously from that,” said Athletics and Recreation Chair Leslie Dal Cin.
Rob Lalonde is succeeding Harold Parsons as the women’s hockey head coach. Parsons will remain with the team in an istrative role. He will be responsible for recruiting, equipment and finances for this season and return as the full-time head coach next season.
“I think we’ve come to a situation where our current coach was not able to continue with the number of hours and everything required for the program,” Dal Cin said. “What we’ve done is created a different model that allows him to continue to be involved, which is a good thing, because he has been a very successful coach. It also allows us to maintain consistency for the team as they move forward, so I think we’ve found an excellent solution there.”
Lalonde played for the Gaels from 1985 to 1988, and has run goalie schools and clinics for twenty years. He was an assistant coach with the Gaels last year.
Dal Cin said despite the short period of time gap before the teams’ seasons start, she thinks the new coaches will help the Gaels.
“I think we’ve benefited from the changes that we’ve made.”
— Andrew Bucholtz
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