The replacement for former UVic Vikes women’s rugby coach Mark Hall is expected to be named in the coming days as Hall stepped down in early December.
Hall held the position for three seasons but the demands of doing double duty as athletic director at Shawnigan Lake School finally took its toll, he said.
“It was a great run, I was happy with the program, I know it will continue to improve as a sevens team as well as the 15s,” he said.
During Hall’s watch two national team players stepped in as assistant coaches, Brittany Waters (the interim coach) and Julianne Zussman. The team also made gains by recruiting top talent which it had been unable to do previously, such as national team hopefuls Jess Neilson and Jamie Beck, as well as Lauren Kerr and Gurpreet Dhaliwal.
In 2013, the VIkes managed a Canada West win, which were becoming a rare feat for the club. That led to a Canada West bronze medal in 2014.
“Waters, if she gets the job, would be great. The key thing for the Vikes to continue their success is adding size, we just weren’t big enough,” Hall said.
Hall endorsed Waters, an occupational therapist, as capable of leading the team, though the competition list is sure to be a deep one with so few high level rugby coaching jobs available in the epicentre of Canadian rugby.
Athletics manager James Keogh said the spot will likely be filled this week.
reporter@saanichnews.com