According to the Canadian Press on Tuesday, Michele Belanger of Montreal, Quebec, has decided to retire as the head coach of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s basketball team. What makes the retirement extremely newsworthy is the fact that Belanger held the position as the Varsity Blues head coach since 1979.
Over 41 years, Belanger posted a record of 854 wins and 504 losses. In 1986, Belanger guided the Varsity Blues to their only Canadian university national championship. At the University of Winnipeg, the Varsity Blues defeated the University of Victoria Vikettes 68-63 in the championship game. Belanger also has the distinction of being the longest serving head coach in any sport for the University of Toronto in the school’s history.
At the Ontario University Association level, Belanger was the women’s basketball coach of the year eight times and helped the Varsity Blues win nine provincial championships. Last season with the Varsity Blues, the team struggled as they only had a record five wins and 17 losses. However, Belanger was able to win her final two games as head coach as the University of Toronto beat Laurentian University 60-57 on February 14 and then Nipissing University 69-53 on February 15.
At the international level, Belanger also coached Canada to a silver medal in women’s basketball at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. In the gold medal game, Canada lost 82-63 to the United States. However, it was Canada’s only loss in the tournament. In five previous games, Canada beat Hungary 70-65 in overtime, South Korea by a score of 94-42, Mozambique 65-44, the Czech Republic 61-53 in the quarterfinals and Russia 70-60 in the semifinals.
