Ken Shields (2003)

Ken Shields had a taste of coaching glory in his first season as a co-coach of the 1969/70 UBC Canadian Ladies Championship team. He then switched to the men's game and while guiding Laurentian University through six seasons he collected his first CIAU Coach-of-the-Year award. Ken moved to UVic to take on the dual roles of men's Varsity Coach and Coordinator of Athletics for the blue-and-gold. In his first year the Vikings finished second in Canada West. Soon after things turned to gold for the young coach and then came the "Streak." Between 1980 and 1986, the Vikings won an incredible seven straight CIAU titles. In his 13 seasons at the helm, Ken coached his Vikes to nine CIAU national finals and won three more CIAU Coach of the Year awards. During this same time he worked with the national team program and was soon the National Team Coach and Program Director. He went on to guide Canada to seventh place at the 1994 World Basketball Championships. His legacy includes the creation of a National Coaching Institute at UVic and the development of High Performance Training Centres for rowing, soccer and middle-distance running. He also was a key committee member for hosting the Commonwealth Games in Victoria and was founding president of the Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development.