Posted on July 14: She’s a team player with a passionate spirit and a strong allegiance to community

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Therese_Quigley_opt.jpg” caption=”Therese Quigley”]Therese Quigley, McMaster's director of Athletics & Recreation, feels “very blessed” to have lived and worked in McMaster's supportive community for 18 years. And her best years, she vows, are still ahead of her.

Quigley's drive and enthusiasm, along with exceptional teaching, coaching and management skills have brought her a long way. Growing up in London, Ontario, in a family of seven children, she remembers sports as her earliest passion. From the age of six, she played competitively and by her twelfth year, tennis had become the major focus.

She says, “There were public courts about a block and a half from me and London had a very good junior development program. You didn't have to be wealthy to play and many of the players did not come from families who could afford to pay membership fees. A lot of them became tennis professionals. We played at a high level; it was very competitive. Clearly, my whole career grew from the sporting experiences I had at a young age.”

Quigley notes, however, that in those days, there were few opportunities for girls to participate in any kind of team or structured sports. It wasn't until later, while she was attending high school and at The University of Western Ontario, that girls and women were provided more options to compete in a variety of sports. There, she switched her allegiance to volleyball (where she was named the school's Female Player of the Year in 1975) and played on the Canadian national volleyball team from 1972 to 1974. She sees this as a significant period of transition.

“My personality really led me to be interested in team sports. There is nothing like accomplishing something in a team. Why it's so satisfying is hard to put into words, but it's a very different sense of accomplishment. Perhaps coming from a large family, you learn the value of co-operation, of working things out … Certain personality types are very interactive and I just find the team concept very appealing.”

After teaching high school in London for four years, Quigley completed her MA at the University of Alberta. She came to McMaster in 1984 as head coach of the women's varsity volleyball team and lecturer in the School of Physical Education & Athletics. In the early 90s, when the Department of Kinesiology separated from Athletics & Recreation, she had to make a choice.

“The two diplomas are very different,” she says, “and I went where my heart was, where I felt I could make the greatest contribution. I've been very happy with my decision.”

Something of a trailblazer, in 1990 Quigley became the first woman director of athletics and recreation in Ontario. She happily notes that, now, 40 per cent of the schools in Ontario have women as athletic directors. In 1993, The Sports Network (TSN) established an award in Quigley's name, recognizing the three-time Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association Coach of the Year's leadership in and contribution to sport. The Therese Quigley/TSN Leadership Award is presented annually to a female student-athlete who has exhibited outstanding achievement in three areas: volleyball, academics and community involvement. In 1994, she was named Hamilton's Woman of the Year in Sport, Health and & Fitness. Last November, Sheila Copps presented her with a Spirit Award for her contributions to sports in Hamilton.

This past June, Quigley was named the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), International Athletic Director of the Year. Read the Daily News story.

She's grateful for the recognition, but one of her proudest achievements is the work of the Department of Athletics & Recreation in establishing The Pulse Fitness Centre.

“We had this old weight room in the sub-basement. The air quality was poor and the space wasn't meeting the needs of students. We converted it into The Pulse and it went from being archaic to a state-of-the-art facility. Participation levels have grown well beyond the capacity of our current facility and we have been working on a facility expansion for several years. These numbers are reflective of the entire program, not just The Pulse.”

That opportunity for expansion will come, Quigley believes, with her current pre-occupation, the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She is optimistic about Hamilton's chances of hosting the Games and speaks eloquently about the benefits that this will bring to McMaster and to Hamilton.

“The legacy left here in Hamilton and at McMaster will be tremendous and the Games will give us an opportunity to demonstrate to the Commonwealth what Hamilton and McMaster have to offer. We only have to look to Edmonton, Alberta to see the impact of hosting the Commonwealth Games. People still refer to the Games held in Edmonton in 1978 as being transformational — a renaissance in the community. The Commonwealth Games were a catalyst for growth and development; they gave the city an opportunity to position itself in a more international forum.”

Quigley sits as a volunteer on the bid committee for the Games and expects that voluntarism will continue as a natural and necessary part of her life.

“When people ask me what I like best about my job, I always say, after five and weekends. Everyone laughs, but then I explain: that is when all the teams compete and everything comes alive. My regular job is like any other. It has its rewards. But involvement with sport is what I love to do. If it wasn't my career, I'd be there as a volunteer. No matter how old I am, I know I'm going to be involved.”

Photo caption: Therese Quigley is the consummate sports fan and volunteer. This past June, Quigley was named the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), International Athletic Director of the Year. The Sports Network (TSN) established a student award in her honour in the early 1990s and last year she received the Spirit Award for her contribution to sports in Hamilton. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay

Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the March 2003 issue of the McMaster Review.