(Ottawa, Ont.) Wheelchair Basketball Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Marc Antoine Ducharme as the head coach of the Canadian Senior Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team.
A native of Chambly, Que., Ducharme takes on the head coaching duties as the Canadian women look to earn a berth to next year’s world championship at the America’s Cup qualifier in Cali, Colombia in August.
“As a coach and a builder he has been a driving force behind Quebec’s emergence as one the most distinguished wheelchair basketball programs in the country.”
“Marc Antoine is an experienced coach and a great communicator with a proven track record of success at the domestic level in Canada,” said Wheelchair Basketball Canada High Performance Director Jeff Dunbrack. “As a coach and a builder he has been a driving force behind Quebec’s emergence as one the most distinguished wheelchair basketball programs in the country. We are confident he can bring that same passion and success to the National Team program and empower Team Canada to maximize its strengths and achieve results on the international stage.”
“It is with great pleasure that I have accepted the role to lead the Canadian Senior Women’s National Team,” said Ducharme. “This is an opportunity that does not come along every day and I intend to lead the team to success. This year’s goal is to qualify the team for the 2018 World Championship in Germany at the qualification tournament of the Americas in Colombia at the end of August. The collective effort of our team and the intensity of our training are two things that I do not compromise on and I am sure that this group of athletes has these types of qualities and has what it takes to get back to the top of the podium and qualify for the upcoming world championship.”
Ducharme has been a part of the wheelchair basketball community in Canada for many years. An active player and coach, he is also the general manager of Parasports Quebec and has been with the organization for more than a decade. In his role as a coach, Ducharme has worked with countless players at all levels throughout his coaching career.
Ducharme has previously represented Canada as an assistant coach with the Senior Men’s National Team from 2006-2007. In that role he was behind the bench as Team Canada claimed the gold medal at the world championship in 2006 and the silver medal at the 2007 Parapan American Games.
At the national level, he has coached and spearheaded the development of some of Canada’s finest athletes with the junior and women’s provincial team programs in Quebec. He began coaching with the provincial women’s team in 2004. Ducharme recently led the junior team to a fourth consecutive gold medal at the 2015 Canada Games and he remains undefeated in two appearances as the head coach of Quebec at the Canada Games in 2011 and 2015.
He was also an assistant coach with the Quebec side that won the gold medal in 2007 and he competed twice as an athlete for Team Quebec at the Canada Games, winning both silver and gold medals in 1999 and 2003, respectively.
About Team Canada
The Senior Women’s National Team is amongst the most successful and dominant teams in Canadian amateur sport history. The team captured three consecutive Paralympic gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000, and bronze in 2004. They have also reached the podium at seven consecutive world championships.
About Wheelchair Basketball Canada
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sport governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that is committed to excellence in the development, support and promotion of wheelchair basketball programs and services for all Canadians from grassroots to high performance. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem around the world for winning a combined six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the last seven Paralympic Games. For more information, visit www.wheelchairbasketball.ca.