UPEI women’s basketball coach retires
UPEI women's basketball coach Dave MacNeill has retired from coaching at the university level.
MacNeill has been coaching the women's basketball team since 2006 after having retired from the position in 1993. He returned on what was supposed to be a temporary basis to fill a gap in the coaching staff. Three seasons later, he is still coaching the team, but he now has a demanding full-time position with the 2009 Canada Games as CEO of Operations.
'In order to be success and fair to the athletes, one needs to spend time developing a team,' he says. 'With my full-time job with Canada Games, that is not possible. I would like to thank all of the players and other support staff for their dedication and hard work over the past three years. It has been a pleasure to work with them.'
UPEI Athletics Director Ron Annear praised MacNeill for his work with the women's basketball team.
"I thank Dave for his time and effort developing and coaching women's basketball at UPEI,' says Annear. 'Dave is a UPEI Sport Hall of Fame Coach who symbolizes commendable traits all young coaches aspire to, sport knowledge, teacher, motivator, competitor, commitment, character and pride. We are very appreciative of Dave's dedication over the years and wish him well with 2009 Canada Games and his future beyond."
MacNeill has a long history with athletics at UPEI and St. Dunstan's University (SDU), one of UPEI's two founding institutions. A basketball player in the 1960s for SDU, he coached the UPEI women's basketball team from 1978 to 1993, with a break from 1980-1983 and again from 1990 to 1991.
In 1978-79, his first year of coaching, he was named AUS Coach of the Year. The following year, he coached the women to a 14-2 record, and first place in the NB/PEI division of the AUS before losing to Dalhousie in the playoff semi-finals before losing to Dalhousie in the playoff semi-finals.
Over the next 10 years, he coached four AUS Championship teams, including three in a row from 1986 to 1989. MacNeill was named AUS Coach of the Year five more times and coached 26 players to AUS All-Conference honours.
The high point of MacNeill's coaching career came in 1988-89, when he coached UPEI to a silver medal at the CIS, losing to the undefeated Calgary Dinos in the championship game. The following year, he returned to lead his team to a 10-6 record and a berth in the nationals as UPEI hosted the CIS women's tournament. In 1992-93, UPEI, under MacNeill's leadership, once again captured the AUS title and represented the Conference in Victoria.
MacNeill was inducted into the UPEI Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
