Coach Larochelle named to Team Ontario
For a lot of people, the summer is a time to relax, regroup and recharge, but for Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball team head coach Marc LaRochelle, that’s not the case.
LaRochelle has been selected as an assistant coach, of the 2014 18U Team Ontario women’s squad that will participate in the National Team Challenge Cup this July.
Last year, LaRochelle coached at Team Ontario’s High Performance Centre, hosted by Nipissing University.
“To be selected as an assistant coach for Team Ontario is an honour and privilege and I look forward to working with some very knowledgeable coaches and talented athletes,” said Larochelle.
From July 2 – 7 and from July 10 – 15 Team Ontario will call Nipissing University home. They’ll head to Winnipeg for the Challenge Cup, July 15 – 20.
Team Ontario is made up of athletes born in 1996 or later who are members of the Ontario Volleyball Association. Athletes who receive a 17U or 18U Division 1, Tier 1 Ontario Championships All-Star Award and age-eligible 2013 Team Ontario Indoor Provincial Team athletes will be directly invited to the 2014 High Performance Centre.
The Direct Invite Process identifies approximately 20 athletes who have previously demonstrated a genuine ability to be selected for the HPC. The remainder of the roster will be filled out through an open tryout format, where coaches will select the top players.
LaRochelle is one of four assistant coaches who will be on the staff. He will be joined by Josh Nichol, Jennifer Neilson and Tammy Dibbits – who all bring a strong background in volleyball and a lot of knowledge of the game.
Scott Hunt and Corrine Williams will be the head coaches. The six total coaches will be split into two groups and in charge of two different provincial teams.
LaRochelle has been at the helm of the Lakers Women’s Volleyball program since 2005-06 when the Lakers were a member of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. In that time, he accumulated a regular season record of 123-16 and his teams claimed eight consecutive provincial medals, one gold medal, six silver medals and a bronze medal. In 2006-07 LaRochelle was also named the OCAA and Canadian Colleges Athletic Association coach of the year.
As a full-time head coach at Nipissing, he is now looking to build the Lakers program and replicate the success achieved in the OCAA as they made the jump to the OUA for the 2013-14 season.
The Blind River native began his coaching career with the Jeunesse Nord Sr. Girls team capturing two consecutive NSSSA championships. He returned to the volleyball scene as head coach of the Canadore College women's program from 2000-2003. In his final year as the Panthers head coach, the team completed a very successful OCAA season finishing fourth with a 10-6 record in the very competitive West division.
Team Ontario claimed gold at least year’s event and will be looking to repeat as champions this year.