Gary Crossley, Director

Gary Crossley (Certified CCA Level 3, Partial Level 4 Coach) is the head coach of the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks Curling Program and the Director of the Golden Hawks Curling High Performance Centre. He is a learning facilitator for the Ontario Curling Association and the Coaching Association of Ontario, and in addition is a high performance camp instructor as well as an instructor at the annual Trillium Curling Camp. Recently retired from a 30-year career in education, Gary holds an instructional part-time position in the Wilfrid Laurier University’s Department of Kinesiology.

Born in Halifax, England, Gary was raised in Elmira, Ontario where over 30 years ago he had his first exposure to curling which initially served as a secondary sport activity for him. Initially, Gary competed internationally in Track and Field, later becoming a National Team Head Coach and the National Development Chair for women’s hurdles. After almost 40 years in Track and Field, as both an athlete and as a coach, Gary recently retired from athletics to commit full-time to curling. Gary has won the provincial 3M Coaching Award and in recognition of his many years of volunteer service in sport, at the Ontario Sports Awards in April, 2011 he was the recipient of a Syl Apps Volunteer Achievement Award.

You can reach Gary at director@hawkscurlinghpc.ca or by telephone at +1 (519) 897-2875.

Coaching Philosophy:

I believe that when one makes the decision to coach, they must acknowledge the tremendous responsibilities that are associated with that role. As coaches we accept not only the role of skill instruction but also must instruct or make arrangements for the instruction of the various ancillary tasks that are directly associated with athletic success. In order to accomplish this it is important to recognize the value of a support team who can bring expertise in multiple specialized areas to the environment. Just like curling, coaching at a high level is best served through a team and it is through this collective of expertise that the best situation is created for not only athletes to develop in but also for coaches to learn and grow professionally.

For athletes who aspire to elite performance in sport the Long Term Athlete Development model (LTAD) developed by Sport Canada in discussion with all sport groups I believe represents the best road map for athletes and coaches to follow. With this in mind, the LTAD model is taken into account as programs are developed.

Many life skills can be learned through sport: teamwork, commitment, dealing with success, and dealing with disappointments to name a few. These also represent focus skills in the Golden Hawk environment and these skills will provide not only the foundation of what is required to become a better player, but also the foundation of what is required to become a better citizen in what is becoming an increasingly competitive society. There is great reward in seeing athletes become better players, but equally rewarding is watching these same athletes become better people through the vehicle of sport.