March 3, 2006
RYERSON'S POROSA HONOURED
HAMILTON - Ryerson men's volleyball coach Mirek Porosa was overwhelmed after receiving the highest coaching honour in Canadian university Thursday morning in Hamilton at the national championships.
Porosa was voted the Canadian University coach of the year by his peers from around the country. He becomes the first Ontario University Athletics coach to win the award since its introduction in 1978. He is also the first Ryerson coach to win national acclaim.
"I was caught totally by surprise. I can't really put it into words," said Porosa. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. It's ten years of work and sleepless nights that went into this."
Aside from Porosa, the OUA was shut out of the major awards at the CIS breakfast. The University of Saskatchewan's Mark Dodds was named CIS player of the year; the University of Winnipeg's Ryan DeBruyn was named rookie of the year; Jeff Weiler of Dalhousie University was give the Dale Iwanoczko award for community service.
However, three OUA athletes were honoured as all-canadians. OUA player of the year Ryan Vandenburg was named to the first team, while Western's Alex Jerome and Devon Miller from Queen's were named to the second team. OUA rookie of the year Oleh Kovalchuk of Ryerson and Steven Kung of the University of Toronto were named to the CIS all-rookie team.
Porosa was floored by the honour.
Despite spending 10 years as the head coach of the Rams, the affable Porosa is seen as a newcomer among the top ranks of Canadian coaches. He spent his first seven seasons at Ryerson in relative obscurity as he worked to build a competitive program, but over the past three seasons the team has gained notoriety as one of the best programs in the country.
"Ten years ago Ryerson took a chance on me," Porosa said in his acceptance speech. "I was an immigrant to this country who could hardly speak english."
The 49-year-old native of Poland took one of the worst programs in Canada to a team ranked consistently in the top ten in a very short time. Since going winless for two seasons from 2001-03 the Rams have made drastic strides posting records of 9-9, 14-6 and 18-2 this season - the best in Ryerson history in any sport.
"Mirek is not only a great coach, but he is also a great friend and father-like figure to everybody on the team," said Ram Ryan Vandenburg. "He not only helps you become a better player on the court but also a better person in life overall. Our record is proof of the years of tenacity, hard work and commitment he has put in."
Ryerson's recent success coincided with Porosa's promotion to a full-time position. For his first eight years, he worked as a part-time time coach and fought hard to make the position full-time. The move paid off as Porosa and the Rams have posted a 32-8 regular season record and 61-18 overall.
Porosa was a member of the Polish national team in the 1970s and played professionally in that country. He continued to play until the early 80s and was once honoured for being the top setter in Poland. He has learned to be especially cautious of injuries to his players because his career was drastically shortened because he destroyed the cartilage in his thumb while playing with a local anaesthetic in his thumb.
"I'm grateful to all the coaches, they know how hard it is to build a program from scratch," he said. "I would also like to thank Ryerson University and most of all my players who have worked so hard."
(Source: Adam Button, Ryerson Sports Information.)
Porosa was voted the Canadian University coach of the year by his peers from around the country. He becomes the first Ontario University Athletics coach to win the award since its introduction in 1978. He is also the first Ryerson coach to win national acclaim.
"I was caught totally by surprise. I can't really put it into words," said Porosa. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. It's ten years of work and sleepless nights that went into this."
Aside from Porosa, the OUA was shut out of the major awards at the CIS breakfast. The University of Saskatchewan's Mark Dodds was named CIS player of the year; the University of Winnipeg's Ryan DeBruyn was named rookie of the year; Jeff Weiler of Dalhousie University was give the Dale Iwanoczko award for community service.
However, three OUA athletes were honoured as all-canadians. OUA player of the year Ryan Vandenburg was named to the first team, while Western's Alex Jerome and Devon Miller from Queen's were named to the second team. OUA rookie of the year Oleh Kovalchuk of Ryerson and Steven Kung of the University of Toronto were named to the CIS all-rookie team.
Porosa was floored by the honour.
Despite spending 10 years as the head coach of the Rams, the affable Porosa is seen as a newcomer among the top ranks of Canadian coaches. He spent his first seven seasons at Ryerson in relative obscurity as he worked to build a competitive program, but over the past three seasons the team has gained notoriety as one of the best programs in the country.
"Ten years ago Ryerson took a chance on me," Porosa said in his acceptance speech. "I was an immigrant to this country who could hardly speak english."
The 49-year-old native of Poland took one of the worst programs in Canada to a team ranked consistently in the top ten in a very short time. Since going winless for two seasons from 2001-03 the Rams have made drastic strides posting records of 9-9, 14-6 and 18-2 this season - the best in Ryerson history in any sport.
"Mirek is not only a great coach, but he is also a great friend and father-like figure to everybody on the team," said Ram Ryan Vandenburg. "He not only helps you become a better player on the court but also a better person in life overall. Our record is proof of the years of tenacity, hard work and commitment he has put in."
Ryerson's recent success coincided with Porosa's promotion to a full-time position. For his first eight years, he worked as a part-time time coach and fought hard to make the position full-time. The move paid off as Porosa and the Rams have posted a 32-8 regular season record and 61-18 overall.
Porosa was a member of the Polish national team in the 1970s and played professionally in that country. He continued to play until the early 80s and was once honoured for being the top setter in Poland. He has learned to be especially cautious of injuries to his players because his career was drastically shortened because he destroyed the cartilage in his thumb while playing with a local anaesthetic in his thumb.
"I'm grateful to all the coaches, they know how hard it is to build a program from scratch," he said. "I would also like to thank Ryerson University and most of all my players who have worked so hard."
(Source: Adam Button, Ryerson Sports Information.)
