The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

The Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball Association, Memorial University and the Coaching Association of Canada are extremely pleased to announce a collaborative job sharing effort to hire Karen Murphy as head coach of the Memorial University Seahawks and technical director for the Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball Association.

In this arrangement Ms. Murphy will be working primarily for the university during the AUAA season as head coach of the Seahawks volleyball team and as a volleyball instructor in the Professional Preparation Degree Program. Other administrative duties in the School of Physical Education will be part of her responsibilities. When working for the provincial association she will concentrate her efforts in two major areas; firstly on province-wide coaching development within the NCCP framework and as well practical improvement of our volleyball coaches, secondly, athlete identification and provincial team development. In the upcoming months she will work very closely with the Canada Games teams and their coaches in the areas of yearly planning, and athlete development.

Ms. Murphy recently completed a year of training in the National Coaching Institute the University of Calgary completing her Level 4 coaching certification. The institute, designed to develop top coaches in the country, emphasizes a complete yearly plan for a varsity program dealing with weight training, physical preparation, nutrition, and volleyball specific components.

As part of the National Coaching Institute requirements, Ms. Murphy was assistant coach of the University of Calgary Dino's Varsity women's team that competed in the Canada West Conference of the CIAU. Prior to attending the NCI, Ms. Murphy coached the Memorial University Women's Team in the AUAA and as well she coached the 1993 Canada Games Women's Volleyball Team. In addition to her coaching career Ms. Murphy has an extensive playing background, playing for Memorial for four years and playing Canada Games for Newfoundland and Labrador in 1987 and 1989.

Todd Martin, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball Association, says: "This collaborative effort will be a great boost for Newfoundland and Labrador Volleyball. The addition of an extra technical staff person at the association dedicated solely to coaching and athlete development with very little responsibility to administration is exactly what we need for improvement. In order for our athletes to improve our coaches must also improve and Ms. Murphy will take on some of that responsibility. The association is looking forward to this very progressive step." From Memorial's standpoint, Dr. Bill Redden, director of physical education and athletics, says: "Ms. Murphy will be an excellent addition to the coaching staff at Memorial. The Women's Volleyball Program will have a tremendous boost with a person of Ms. Murphy's experience and training and we are pleased to have been able to be a part of this union between Memorial University and the provincial association."

Contact: Craig Neil, (709) 576-0817.

1996 05 24 3:25 p.m. /md