Durham Head Coach Tony Clarke and the Lords Women’s Volleyball Team

The Durham Lords picked up where they left off and swept the Loyalist Lancers 3-0 to add on to their 5 game win streak.

 

Durham has maintained a full roster of players throughout the season and has not run into any issues with players getting vaccinated.

 

Head coach Tony Clarke said “ Some of the players were hesitant to do it (get vaccinated).” But he couldn’t force it upon the players because it’s “ Their personal choice and preference.” The only hiccup they had was with some of the players taking a little bit longer to get the booster shot, but nothing serious.

 

The season has not been going as well as planned considering they did not have a season in the fall and did not have much preparation. However they were still able to get some practice time in and managed to get some exhibition games to make sure the players were still getting something out of the season. There have  been a lot of ups and downs with the season constantly changing and getting pushed back but Tony says they’re just trying to “ Roll with the punches “ for right now.

 

Durham head coach Tony Clarke has been named OCAA coach of the year multiple times beginning in 2016. He also won coach of the year in 2017, and 2019.

 

Tony appreciated the recognition by his peers and by the league for the award, but would “change that award for a gold medal any day.” Tony is more about the team's success over his own personal accolades and achievements.

 

Tony Clarke started his OCAA coaching career way back in 2008/2009 where he started at Loyalist college where he graduated from. After coaching there for seven years, Tony decided to transfer over to Trent university because he thought it would be a closer commute rather than Loyalist.

 

Tony was only there for a year as the men's coach and it wasn’t much closer than what he was doing before. He was then appointed to be the new head coach at Durham college back in 2014 and has been there ever since.

 

Durham is a much better commute to work and is overall the best choice for Tony as he lives with his family in Bowmanville.

 

Tony Clarke has had much success over his coaching career and is still earning achievements as the years pass. He is excited and is looking forward to what he and his team have ahead.