Roxburgh enjoyed yet another exceptional campaign at the helm at Trinity Western University. Ranked in the national top 10 all season, his squad finished league play with a program best 12-1-1 record, good for first place in Canada West, before capturing a second conference title in three years. The Spartans were the highest-scoring team in the league with 31 goals in 14 games while placing second in defence with only seven goals allowed.
Named TWU head coach in 1998, Roxburgh and his program joined U Sports in 2001 and have since enjoyed unparalleled success. The Spartans have already claimed four Canada West banners and three Gladys Bean memorial trophies as U Sports champions. They go into the 2011 national championship sporting a 10-1-1 lifetime mark at the tournament. Under his guidance, the Spartans have an all-time overall record of 141-63-38 (.661) in U Sports play.
Roxburgh also coached the Canadian women’s soccer team at the last two Summer Universiades. He guided the Red and White to seventh place in 2009 in Serbia and a fifth-place finish last summer in China, matching the team’s best-ever result at the world university games. As director of soccer for Athletes in Action, he has coached and played against several national teams from around the world, including Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, South Africa, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Croatia.
“What a special honour for Graham to be selected by his peers for this prestigious award,” said Murray Hall, director of athletics at TWU. “Graham has set the standard for coaching excellence at TWU in a number of areas under our ‘Complete Champion Approach’. He has built a quality expert-based staff around him and recruited top student-athletes who fit the high performance, high-character culture he demands.”