Source: Waterloo Sports Info
The Department of Athletics is pleased to announce the hiring of Andy Ireland as the next head coach of the Waterloo Warriors women's rugby program.
Ireland takes over for Katie Selman who led the Warriors to a 3-1-1 regular season record last year while falling short in the OUA quarter-finals in a tough loss to Western.
Ireland's involvement in rugby runs deep including some playing time with the Wasps, a semi-professional team from the UK and over 10 years of coaching experience. Ireland has coached the Wasp's women's team (2004-06), the Cambridge University team from 2007-11, assistant coach of women's rugby at the University of Toronto, and was a guest coach for team Ontario who won the national championship in 2007.
"Andy has a contagious passion for the game of rugby," commented Interuniversity Manager, Chris Gilbert. "He has an extensive knowledge and background in coaching rugby and we are excited for Andy to start working with our student-athletes."
Ireland has been an integral part of transforming the Saracens, an Ontario club team, into one of the most competitive teams in Ontario. He has spent time learning from pro coaches in his time in Edinburgh and has attended training sessions from Mike Friday (head coach of US rugby program) to become the best coach possible.
"Rugby is based on simple core skills and I am a firm believer that if you can do them well and add some speed to the game the coaching side is relatively simple," mentioned Ireland. "I hope to give the team the essential tools and the players will decide what to do with them to be successful."
Ireland is currently working towards his level 3 coaching certification and is returning to Toronto in the spring to start his new position as Director of Rugby at PEAC, a school for elite athletes in Toronto.
"It's a privilege to be the next head coach of the Warriors at such a prestigious university as Waterloo," said Ireland. "Women's rugby at Waterloo has a rich history of success and I look forward to continuing that tradition."
Ireland's duties begin immediately and he will be actively recruiting in the off-season looking to guide Waterloo to their first OUA championship since 2001.