The University of Alberta Alumni Association is pleased to announce that Dru Marshall, Darrell Menard and Ted Poplawski are the recipients of the 2011 Alumni Sports Wall of Fame Award. This award celebrates the contributions of alumni as athletes and builders of University sport.
Dru Marshall’s notable career coaching women’s field hockey includes 20 years as head coach of the University of Alberta Pandas and a period as head coach of Canada’s senior national team. As part of her role, Marshall developed not only athletes, but leaders and citizens – many of whom, inspired by Marshall, have continued to teach, coach, and become leaders in the sport at colleges and universities throughout Canada and the United States. She is a two-time (1992, 1996) Canadian Interuniversity Sport Coach of the Year, as well as a five-time (1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999) Canada West Universities Athletic Association Coach of the Year. She was awarded the 3M Coach of the Year award in 1994, and the Canadian Coaching Association ‘Geoff Gowan Award’ in 2010.
A dynamic advocate for post-secondary coach education, Marshall has been a part of developing sport in Canada in many capacities. She has held numerous leadership positions within the university setting and nationally, contributed to the development of the federal government’s 2009 Women in Sport policy, served on the Sport Excellence Committee that examined federal sport policies, and was a part of the Coaching Working Group that investigated coaching in Canada.
Marshall’s extensive writing on coaching has contributed significantly to its evolution into a respected and significant component of sport in Canada. She currently serves as an author and editorial board member for the Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Coaching Science.
