Vimy Lacrosse Welcomes New Director and Instructor
As the school year starts and on-field Lacrosse practices come into view, Academic and Athletic Development, the parent society of Vimy Lacrosse would like to announce some important changes to the Vimy Lacrosse Staff.
Vimy Lacrosse is proud to announce and welcome Dallas Smith as Program Director. Smith, an alumnus of Vimy Ridge Academy, will be responsible for day-to-day planning and operations, working with student-athletes, assisting them in identifying post-secondary academic and athletic opportunities.
He joins Vimy Lacrosse from the Manitoba Lacrosse Association located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Manitoba Lacrosse Association is a non-profit organization that acts as the recognized lacrosse authority throughout the province of Manitoba. It was there where Smith served as Executive Director, while also leading the technical side of lacrosse operations, including a cross-sector box and field high-performance program.
Smith also comes to Vimy with twenty-years of lacrosse experience, including NCAA experience playing for Binghamton University, a Division I school in upstate New York, where he graduated in 2015. In addition to playing experience, Smith has a strong coaching background serving as the Head Coach for DHC Hannover in Hannover, Germany and various box and field teams throughout Alberta.
Charleigh Kondas joins Vimy Lacrosse as an instructor focusing on our female lacrosse program. Charleigh brings to Vimy Lacrosse four years of NCAA experience playing for Division I Longwood University, where she graduated in the Spring of 2018.
Charleigh has an strong coaching background. She has coached the Fort Saskatchewan Rebels girls box lacrosse team for six years, worked with the Razorbacks female field program for three years and now entering her third year working with our Vimy female travel teams.
Charleigh also has experience with the Team Alberta program playing one year at Pee Wee, two years at Midget and one year at Junior. Charleigh is currently the Assistant Coach of the Team Alberta U19 and U15 Female Field team that played in the National Championships this August.
Vimy Lacrosse welcomes Charleigh. She will be a great addition to our strong coaching staff. She will be bring exceptional leadership to our female program and will work hard to help all of our student-athletes develop in the classroom and on the field.
You can contact Charleigh at Charleigh.Kondas@partner.epsb.ca.
Paul Rai, who has been the Director of Vimy Lacrosse for 13 years, is moving to an advisory role with Vimy Lacrosse. Paul will continue to work on the recruitment of new student-athletes, oversee the development of new lacrosse programs, assist with promotion of Vimy Lacrosse and lead Vimy Lacrosse external camps/trips. Paul will also assist with day to day instruction on a part time basis.
Paul will still be a visible and valuable part of Vimy Lacrosse in his new role and student-athletes and their families should expect to see him around the Vimy Campus and on the field throughout the year.
Charleigh and Dallas are joining a world-class teaching and instructional staff at Vimy Lacrosse. Coach DeGans, Quinlan and Smyth are once again returning as integral parts of Vimy Lacrosse.
Tony deGans will continue to be the Vimy Lacrosse Head of Operations. Tony will continue to develop the schedules, ensure the day to day logistics are in place, handle all lacrosse equipment and inventory and be a full-time instructor. He will also be a our main Liaison to Donnan Lacrosse, working with Jason Knight to provide excellent lacrosse instruction to our elementary student-athletes.
Coach Quinlan and Smyth return to Vimy Lacrosse as Teachers and Instructors. Both provide a wealth of coaching experience throughout all levels of lacrosse. Coach Quinlan is a decorated NLL champion with 1 championship as a player and 3 as an Assistant Coach with the Rush. Coach Smyth won 7 consecutive provincial titles as a player with the Edmonton/Sherwood Park Outlaws and two national championships. Coach Smyth is currently the Head Coach for Team Alberta Bantam Female Box Lacrosse who have won bronze and silver in the last 2 national championships.
Beyond what Coach Quinlan and Smyth bring on the field, their experience and expertise in the classroom is an invaluable asset to Vimy Lacrosse student-athletes.
All the changes that are occurring at Vimy Lacrosse will not affect the service we provide our student-athletes. The changes will be seamless and we feel instruction will be enhanced as we add to our roster of instructors. We believe these changes will only raise the level of coaching our student-athletes receive.
