2023 ACAC Women's Basketball Coaches of the Year
Edmonton, AB (March 01, 2023) -
North Coach of the Year: Robbie Valpreda
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is pleased to announce Robbie Valpreda of the Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) Thunder has been selected as the 2022-23 ACAC Women’s Basketball North Division Coach of the Year.
Taking over in 2013, Valpreda is in his ninth full season as the Head Coach of the Women’s Basketball program at Concordia. In that time, he has become the winningest coach in program history, picking up his 100th career win earlier this season. During the 2022-23 season, Valpreda guided the Thunder to a first place finish in the ACAC North Division with a 16-4 record and led the Thunder to finish top five in the ACAC in points per game and field goal percentage, top three in rebounds per game, and first in points allowed per game. With the first place finish, the Thunder received a bye directly to the ACAC Championship tournament. This is the second time that Valpreda has been named the ACAC North Division’s Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, previously winning in 2016-17.
The Concordia Thunder Director of Athletics & Recreation, Nate MacLellan, commented on the award: “Robbie has not only built a strong women’s basketball team this year, but he’s established a strong women’s basketball program at Concordia. His commitment to his players is second to none, and he consistently gets the best out of his team. Robbie has built a culture of success not only on the court, but in the classroom and community as well. The time and energy he puts in on and off the court is significant and it showed in the results they got this year. On behalf of the Thunder athletics department, I want to congratulate Robbie on this honour and his incredible season.”
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2023 ACAC Women’s Basketball Championship hosted by Lethbridge College in Lethbridge, AB.
South Coaches of the Year: Anthony Skepple
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is proud to announce Anthony Skepple of the Briercrest Clippers has been named the 2022-23ACAC Women’s Basketball South Division Coach of the Year.
Anthony is in his third season as Head Coach of the Clippers, after multiple seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Briercrest Men’s Basketball program and as Head Coach of the Briercrest JV Men’s Basketball program.
This year, Skepple has guided Briercrest to their best ACAC Regular Season record ever, since the program joined the Conference in 1996-97. With the 13-8 record, his team also secured their first-ever ACAC home playoff game on February 25th, and won that to advance to the ACAC Conference Championship Tournament for the first time since 2000-01. Skepple’s commitment to recruiting and developing his players over the last several years, has really paid off in 2022-23, as the team’s record-setting 13-win season for the program also marks a massive improvement from last year, where the team finished 4-12.
Under Skepple’s direction, the Clippers continued to improve all season long, playing their best basketball in the second semester, going 8-1 in their last nine regular season games. That stretch included an eight-game winning streak that was marked by victories over nationally-ranked opponents, and ultimately propelled them into a playoff-hosting position.
Briercrest Athletic Director, Stan Peters, noted that the culture of the program has really turned around under Skepple’s leadership, which is the foundation for the on-court success: “Anthony took over the women’s basketball program in the spring of 2020. It was a time of significant challenge. He retained a strong core of players and recruited players that are fantastic fits for Briercrest college and our athletic department. Anthony is developing into a transformational coach – someone who develops students as people and athletes, who builds a culture and process that helps players learn and grow through obstacles, failures, and success.”
Peters added, “It has been fun to watch the team come together through their individual workouts, practices, team times, and chapels. Anthony has used the pursuit of an ACAC championship to help players grow in their faith, academic pursuits, leadership abilities, and their skills for sport and life. We are proud of who Anthony is becoming and the success the team is experiencing.”
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2023 ACAC Women’s Basketball Championship hosted by Lethbridge College in Lethbridge, AB.
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About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to provide competitive collegiate sport experiences, promote academic achievement and be a leader of sport development in Canada.
For more information on the ACAC, please visit our website: www.acac.ab.ca
For additional information, contact:
Mark Kosak, ACAC
Chief Executive Officer
403-875-7329
markk@acac.ab.ca
Nate MacLellan, Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder
Director of Athletics & Recreation
780-479-9322
nathaniel.maclellan@concordia.ab.ca
Stan Peters, Briercrest College Clippers
Athletic Director
306-681-3676
speters@briercrest.ca
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