The Tigers women’s hockey team learned Tuesday they will have to get used to a new face behind the bench.
Dalhousie Athletics fired nine-year head coach Lesley Jordan on Monday, choosing to not renew her one-year contract. The team was informed in a team meeting yesterday.
The future of assistant coach Sean Fraser and goalie coach Joe Johnston is not known, according to a Tigers women’s hockey player who requested anonymity so as to avoid reprecussions from Dal Athletics.
The Gazette’s Henry Whitfield reported first on Jordan’s removal yesterday evening on his blog, Sports With Henry.
Charles Crosby, a Dalhousie spokesperson, did not disclose why Jordan’s contract was not renewed.
“With any personnel issue, it’s a privacy issue, so we can’t talk about the specifics; that’s university policy. Suffice to say, her contract was not renewed.”
Jordan did not directly state on her Facebook page that she was let go, but she did express gratitude to “all Tigers past and present.” She further wrote that she was ready for her “next great adventure!”
Our team source said the players as well were not told why Jordan was relieved of her job.
“Everyone was a little bit shocked. We’re all kind of thinking right now what is going to happen to our summer programs and our fundraising plans. We’re kind of left in limbo here.”
The source said the players had had a suspicion Jordan would not return. Their player and coach season-end interviews were pushed back, and they were surprised Dalhousie did not publicly support the Saint Mary’s women’s hockey team when the program was on the chopping block.
“With everything that was happening at SMU, and then we didn’t hear right away from [our athletic department], it was surprising,” she said.
SMU’s women’s hockey program was saved Mar. 30 after a public outcry and substantial corporate and community support.
Crosby said saying goodbye to Jordan was not a sudden decision, but an “ongoing process.”
Jordan has spent nine seasons leading the Tigers, most notably winning the AUS and CIS women’s hockey coach of the year title in 2006. She has also been involved in the Canadian national team program and was recently head coach of Team Nova Scotia in the 2011 Canada Winter Games.
According to the source, raising money is an unending concern in university athletics, particularly with women’s sports. The team also did not perform as well as expected this season, and the athletic department, she suggested, might be hoping to renew the team this fall, especially as Dal will host the AUS championships in the 2011-12 season.
The Tigers finished fourth in the regular season this year. They had a respectable 1 ? 1 record at the AUS championships.
Before Jordan’s time at Dalhousie, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at SMU from 1998-2000 and was the bench boss the following two seasons at Acadia University.
Jordan’s removal comes a few weeks after her sister, Lisa, was involved in the tumultuous campaign to retain the SMU women’s hockey team she helped create 14 years ago. Although the team was saved, Lisa will not return; she took a head coaching offer from Ryerson University.
The situation at Saint Mary’s is unrelated to Lesley Jordan’s contract, said Crosby.
“It’s an unusual set of circumstances,” he said. “Our team is really strong, and there’s no threat to the [future of this] program.”
Crosby said the search for a replacement has just started. He did not provide a timetable, but said the team wants to hire somebody soon.
“It’s beginning now. Obviously we want to have someone in place when the season gets going.”
“I am leaving the Tigers,” wrote Lesley Jordan in an email to Whitfield. “It was an awesome 9 years. When I look back at all the players and people who I crossed paths with during my time at Dal I feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment. There are no hard feelings on this one.”
Recent Comments