Taylor has his work cut out
July 6, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
Dave Taylor was of two minds Monday after hearing that the University of Regina was to play host to the 2013 CIS women's basketball tournament.
"My first reaction was, 'Great! We got nationals!' " said Taylor, the head coach of the Cougars women's team. "That lasted about 15 seconds, until I remembered, 'Oh my God, it's 2013. We're going to have lost Brittany Read, probably Joanna (Zalesiak) and maybe five other players. I'd better go recruiting. Who am I going to get?' "
The U of R discovered it's to play host to two championship tournaments when the CIS announced a long list of host cities on Monday. The women's volleyball nationals are to be played at the U of R's Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport in 2014.
The championships will be the eighth and ninth to be staged by the U of R. The school previously played host to the women's basketball tournament in 1979 and 2009, women's hockey nationals in 2002 and '03, wrestling nationals in 1982 and '91, and the 1980 men's hockey championship.
That resume -- and the success of the 2009 women's basketball tournament at the CKHS in particular -- no doubt led to the U of R earning the right to play host to the '13 and '14 events.
"We've shown we can run successful championships," said U of R athletic director Dick White. "We tend to run championships people take notice of."
"(Getting the '13 nationals) is a direct result of our success the last time," noted Taylor, whose squad won the CIS silver medal at home in '09. "We've heard it over and over again that we raised the bar for that championship.
"It's pretty soon to be bidding for it again, but the fact that we got it is a testament to the work the volunteers did and the community support we got the last time."
The strength of a school's team also plays a role in the CIS decision-making process -- and the Cougars women's basketball and volleyball squads are perennial top-10 teams.
Melanie Sanford, the head coach of the Cougars women's volleyball team, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
The U of R also bid to play host to the 2013 and '14 CIS men's hockey championships, but lost out to the University of Saskatchewan. White said he knew the U of R's bid was unsuccessful when he found out the school was getting the basketball and volleyball tournaments in those same seasons.
"I'm pleased to get two," he said. "I thought it was possible given how well-subscribed the bidding process was for women's basketball and women's volleyball that we might have gotten only one, so getting two was great news."
The 2011 women's basketball championship was awarded to Windsor, with Calgary getting hosting rights for 2012. Laval, McMaster and Sherbrooke are to stage the women's volleyball tournament in 2011, '12 and '13, respectively.
Regina hoped to play host to the 2012 women's basketball tournament. Read, the Cougars' star post, is to be in her fifth and final season of CIS eligibility in 2011-12 and Zalesiak, the U of R's flashy guard, is planning to graduate that year.
"The three-year plan I came up with was to end when Brittany graduated," Taylor said. "Now I've got to decide if I'm going to extend it to four years or make a new plan."
In reality, Taylor can bank on the '13 tournament as a great recruiting tool.
"With the Regina kids (currently in high school), I know I can go up to them the next time I see them and say, 'You know what? If you commit to play here, you're going to be playing in front of 2,000 fans in a national championship,' " Taylor said. "It also helps (recruiting) when I go across the country. I can target specific areas we need to address."
That said, Taylor hopes the Cougars enjoy plenty of success even before the '13 championship tournament.
"Ideally," he said, "we want to go into that year as the defending champs."