After nearly 20 years, Dani Sinclair will be leaving Victoria. The former University of Victoria (UVic) Vikes player, assistant coach and head coach was named the new Carleton Ravens women’s basketball head coach on March 31. Carleton now has nine female coaches, Sinclair the only one in a head coach position.
It would have taken a compelling opportunity to make the “big decision” to leave UVic, according to Sinclair. Carleton was that offer. The deal was in place for her to come to Carleton in 2020 while her former coach Brian Cheng filled in as interim coach this season.
“It’s always been a plan to try to get back somewhere … in Ontario,” the Guelph native said. “The opportunity to work at Carleton and to work with Dave [Smart] moving into that general manager position. The professional development opportunity there was hard to pass up.”
From athlete to coach
As a player, Sinclair idolized the UVic dynasty teams, led by legendary coach Kathy Shields who won eight national championships. Meanwhile, Sinclair–then known as Dani Everitt–was making her mark at McMaster, winning CIS Rookie of the Year and earning three Ontario University Athletics all-star spots.
She was an OUA all-star in her three years with the Marauders, but always wanted to play at UVic.
“They had won a number of national championships and they were at the height of their game and I wanted to be a part of that, and I was lucky enough to be able to be,” Sinclair noted.
As the head coach of the Vikes back in 2001, Cheng remembers getting an email from Sinclair, stating her interest in transferring. After Sinclair transferred to UVic, Cheng remembers meeting with her in his office for the first time.
“I was like, ‘tell me a bit about yourself,’” Cheng recalled. “She did the classic, ‘Whatever you need coach I’ll do, and whatever the team needs.’ I think a lot of people say that and I think a lot of coaches like to hear that, but she was good to her word and she did whatever the team needed.”
Cheng said Sinclair was naturally “a very good person” who instilled trust in her teammates. He added that Sinclair wanted to fit in with the team and do what was needed of her – including being a leader.
In her first season playing with the Vikes, Sinclair reached the national championships, hosted coincidentally at McMaster.
She talked with Cheng and both of them agreed that while the team’s rookie point guard was doing a good job at the time, the Vikes needed a more experienced player at the position for nationals to beat the best teams.
Sinclair convinced Cheng to let her play point guard at nationals, despite not having any reps at the position that season.
“Dani was never one of the fastest players out there. She wasn’t one of the most athletic,” Cheng said. “But boy could she play basketball.”
The Vikes went on to win a tight championship match to give Sinclair the national championship moment at UVic she had long coveted.
Sinclair said she knew all along she had an interest in coaching. “I always knew that teaching, coaching was in my blood and was what I was meant to do but I never had any aspirations early on to be a university coach,” she said.
“I love the idea of helping an individual athlete improve as a player over the course of that time and watching them evolve.”
Even as a player, Cheng noticed that Sinclair had the qualities of a coach, often working quietly to help her teammates improve.
“She was already a coach when she played for me,” Cheng noted. “Seeing the coach in her while she played, she had natural abilities to coach and she has lots of good skills.”
“I think it was a good hire,” he said.
“You’ll see a fiery coach on the sidelines but it’s a lot of the things that she doesn’t say that makes her leadership great.”
Balancing Motherhood
During her single season as an assistant at Dalhousie in 2009-10, Sinclair was pregnant with her first child leaving her future as a coach up in the air.
“I didn’t know what head coaching entailed,” she said. “I didn’t know what mothering entailed.”
Head coach Anna Stammberger, however, convinced her to change her mind. “She gave me the belief that I could do it,” Sinclair noted.
After moving back to Victoria to be a full-time assistant coach, Cheng supported her through having a new family, with flexibility around her schedule and allowing her kids to travel with her when needed.
“Anna and Brian just really paved the way for me to get my feet set,” Sinclair said. “My mom provided so much care. She was basically a nanny at home.”
“When I look back on it now, I think, ‘how the heck did I even do it,’” Sinclair said. “Coaching in itself is a lot of sleepless nights and stress. In a way, I probably got even less sleep, but it also helped to keep things in perspective and I think the athletes enjoyed having the kids around.”
Sinclair continued to be fuelled by her work ethic. “It wasn’t a conscious thing that I have to do this to prove that you can be a mom and coach but maybe, subconsciously, that was in the back of my head,” she said.
Her hard work paid off as she became UVic’s head coach in 2012 and her teams made the playoffs every season. In 2016, she gave birth to her third child at 4:30 a.m. one day and coached a playoff game that same evening.
“I would never advise that anybody do that,” Sinclair noted. “That wasn’t necessarily the plan. The doctor at the hospital just gave me the go-ahead and so I said okay.”
Though she admits there was the subconscious need to prove herself.
“There’s fewer women coaching and I think, in some ways, you’re scrutinized different than men,” she said.
“You have to prove you know your stuff and I didn’t probably want to give any reason for anyone to believe I couldn’t do it,” Sinclair added. “That’s probably not a healthy way to think and it’s kind of a funny story at this point.”
Looking forward
Despite all her experience, Sinclair said she continues to evolve as a coach.
She learned different things from different coaches she’s been around. “They all have very different styles. I’m heavily influenced by all of them,but they all are really good people,” Sinclair said.
While she didn’t get a chance to play for Shields, she talks regularly with her. “As a mentor, she’s brilliant at being able to convey feedback. She tells you what you need to hear,” she said.
Working as Cheng’s assistant coach for numerous seasons, she pointed out how he’s a “wonderful person, very gracious” and learned from his work ethic.
“I remember we’d be watching videos and ordering our second round of dinner at three in the morning, pouring over video,” she recalled. “He came from a different background where he didn’t play [university basketball] so I think he felt it was necessary to work that hard.”
For Sinclair, coaching has also been about developing relationships – with athletes and coaches. She highlighted the importance of listening to her coaching staff’s ideas, and her athletes’ ideas as well.
“I can be a bit authoritative I think – as a parent and as a coach – but I also recognize the importance of empowering your athletes to raise [them] like they’re your lifeline,” she said. “They have to have a voice. This is their experience at the end of the day.”
Sinclair is still at Victoria and does not officially start the job until May. However, she is already video-conferencing with her coaching staff and starting to work with the players as well. Sinclair plans to have a debrief with Cheng about the team.
“The hope was to come out there and visit in April but that obviously can’t happen [due to COVID-19 regulations],” Sinclair said. “We’ll just play it as it goes but there’s lots that can be done from afar at this point.”
Sinclair said she’s looking forward to working with Smart and being challenged by him to become a better coach herself. “We basically ask the players to look to get better and it’s on us as coaches to do the same thing,” she said.
Despite leaving, Victoria will remain a special part of her life.
“It’s hard for me right now to even put it into words because it’s meant so much for me,” Sinclair said. “It’s such a great place and through this process, they’ve been incredible and supportive in this process of transitioning to Carleton.”
Feature image provided by Armando Tura.
