Credit: Craig Glover, The London Free Press
By: Jonathan Yue, U Sports Communications
After years of contribution to Canadian sports, Thérèse Quigley announced she will be retiring from her position of director of sport and recreation services with the Western Mustangs at the end of this month.
Quigley joined the Mustangs in 2009 after a 18-year stint as the athletic director for McMaster University, continuing her commitment to the growth of student-athletes and university sport in Canada. But now she has decided it is the right time to move on.
“Canadian university sport is in a great spot, in the schools, at the OUA level as well as the national level with the establishment of U Sports,” said Quigley, who is also a four-time U Sports volleyball medalist and played for the Canadian national team. “It’s a good time for me to focus more on my own personal interest and responsibilities.”
One of the most memorable moments of her career was getting women’s soccer included in the Summer Universiade and hosting the very first FISU women’s soccer championships at McMaster University in 1993.
“When Buffalo hosted the games in 1993, Doramy Ehling, who was the manager of International for CIAU, approached me asking if McMaster and Hamilton would agree to (be) a satellite (host), and perhaps we could influence FISU to consider adopting women’s soccer.” Quigley recalled. “After a number of negotiations, we ended up hosting the 1993 women’s FISU games for soccer. It was a huge success and it was a very proud moment.”
Quigley was an All-Canadian volleyball player, who also won the F.W.P. Jones Trophy in 1975 as the Western Mustangs’ top female athlete. She would become a volleyball coach at the University of Alberta from 1982 to 1984, before joining McMaster University as the head coach, chair of women’s Athletics and then the director of athletics and recreation from 1990-2009. From 2009, she would give back to where it all started, Western University, further developing and guiding student-athletes to success, as well as accomplishing great achievements for the Mustangs.
Through her commitment, as an athlete, as a coach, as well as being part of multiple committees, Quigley has made a prominent impact on the development of university sport in Canada. Seeing it through the many perspectives of sport, when asked about the importance of the growth of student-athletes, Quigley felt the impact it does for them is unmatched. (Photo: Therese being presented with a jersey from the Mustangs first OUA and CIS Women's Hockey Championship winning team, 2015)
“I strongly believe that sport, and in our case university sport, helps change lives. It certainly had a huge influence on shaping my life from a student-athlete through to retirement at this point,” Quigley said. “I see young men and women grow over those transformative years and the opportunity to experience university sport is such a privilege and has such a lifelong impact.”
A Tribute to Thérèse Quigley: