2009 Summer Universiade -Trinity Western’s Roxburgh to lead Canada in women’s soccer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2009 Summer Universiade
Trinity Western's Roxburgh to lead Canada in women's soccer

August 19, 2008

OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Tuesday the appointment of Trinity Western University's Graham Roxburgh as head coach of Canada's women's soccer team for the 25th Summer Universiade set to take place July 1-12, 2009, in Belgrade, Serbia.

Official website 2009 Summer Universiade: www.universiade-belgrade2009.org
Team Canada website: www.cisport.ca/e/international/universiade/belgrade_2009

Accompanying Roxburgh in Serbia will be assistant coach Liz Jepsen from the University of Alberta and team leader Jorge Sanchez from Concordia University.

This will be the first tour of duty for all three at world university games.

"Anytime you get the chance to represent your country at an international event it is something special and I am deeply honoured to be given this opportunity," said Roxburgh. "It will be a privilege to work with some of the great talent within CIS women's soccer, as well as with a great coaching staff."

"Having travelled a lot overseas on various touring teams, there is no doubt that these are experiences of a lifetime for all involved. Our aim will be to make Belgrade 2009 something very special, both in terms of the competition and in representing both Canada and CIS on and off the field."

A veteran of numerous international competitions with Canadian women's and men's soccer teams, Roxburgh has been head coach at Trinity Western since 1998. Since the Spartans joined CIS in 2001, he has led TWU to one national title (2004) and a pair of Canada West crowns (2006, 2004). He was named BCCAA Coach of the Year in 1998 and the Spartans were chosen BC Sport Team of the Year in 2004.

Jepsen, who became head coach at Alberta in 2005, was named CIS coach of the year in 2006 in her second season at the helm. She has won a pair of CIS championships with the Pandas, one as a player in 1989 and one as an assistant coach in 2001.

Sanchez is head coach at Concordia since 2002 and has been president of the CIS Women's Soccer Coaches Association since 2005.

Women's soccer made its Universiade debut as a demonstration sport in 1993 when the Games were hosted in Buffalo and the women's soccer tournament was held in Hamilton. The sport became an official Universiade discipline in 2001 in Beijing, China.

Canada has finished fifth on two occasions, first in Buffalo when six teams competed in the tourney and then in Izmir, Turkey, in 2005 when 12 countries participated in the event. The Canadians were 10th out of 16 teams at the last Summer Universiade in 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Canada's results in women's soccer at Summer Universiade (5 previous appearances):

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 10th / 16 teams
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 5th / 12
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 10th / 11
2001 (Beijing, China): 11th / 12
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 5th / 6

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.

-CIS-

For more information:

Michel Bélanger
Communications Manager
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Tel: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.universitysport.ca

Scott Stewart
Sports Information Director
Trinity Western University
Tel: (604) 513-2123
ssstew@twu.ca
gospartans.ca

Last Updated: 2009-09-03
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca