NEWS: Rose-Anne Joly appointed head coach of Gee-Gees women’s basketball program

OTTAWA, ON – University of Ottawa Varsity Athletics is proud to announce Rose-Anne Joly as the Gee-Gees women's basketball team's Head Coach and Program Manager. Joly served as Head Coach in an interim capacity for the 2021-22 season.

In her first season at the helm, the Gee-Gees posted a 10-4 conference and a 15-6 overall record against U SPORTS competition. In all, the Gee-Gees were ranked in the national Top 10 for six consecutive weeks to start the regular season.

"It's a special opportunity to become a Head Coach in your hometown and to continue the work that has been put in place in the last few years," said Joly. "I'm extremely grateful towards the University of Ottawa for giving me this opportunity and for the trust they have in me. I'm very excited to continue this journey and to keep building this program surrounded by an amazing community!"

Prior to the past year in the interim role, Joly spent four years on the Ottawa coaching staff, first serving as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2016-17 season, before becoming the program's full-time Lead Assistant Coach from 2017 to 2020.

"Through both her interim role and more recently this nomination process, Rose-Anne has demonstrated her ability to lead this program with a lens not solely focused on performance, but one of a very holistic student-athlete approach," said Roger Archambault, Assistant Director of Varsity Athletics. "Our role in Varsity Athletics greatly surpasses simply winning, and we are excited to have Rose-Anne on board to help this program on this journey."

In April, it was announced that Joly would join the coaching staff of the CEBL's Montréal Alliance for the summer, being named an assistant coach in charge of player development and data analysis.

From Gatineau, Que., Joly has packed significant experience into her coaching career thus far.

Before returning to the Gee-Gees, Joly served as Coach and Operations Coordinator of the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. 

Joly began coaching at the high school level at École polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Joly then moved on to CÉGEP Division 1, where she spent over five years as an assistant coach at Collège Nouvelles Frontières until 2016. At the provincial level, Joly served as an assistant coach for the National Championship winning Quebec U15 team in 2016 and the gold medal winning Quebec U17 team at the Canada Games in 2017.

Joly also served as the head coach of Quebec's U14 team in 2017 and later was named the head coach of the U14 Ontario Summer Development Program in Ottawa in 2019. Joly is certified as an NCCP Level 3 coach.

In Dubai, Joly coached the NBA Basketball School curriculum to young athletes to improve their skills and understanding of the game. Over the course of Joly's tenure overseas, she oversaw operations of the school in Dubai as well as contributed to the growth of the game throughout the Middle East.

As a player at Collège Nouvelles Frontières, Joly was named Rookie of the Year in her first season of CÉGEP basketball, and was named MVP in her second year, before tearing her ACL in her third and final year. Joly then committed to the University of Ottawa, playing one year for the Gee-Gees in 2009-10, before a final knee injury put an end to her competitive playing career.

Off the court, Joly is the President and founder of Basket Plus, a non-profit which supports young people living in poverty by building more resilient communities through strategic partnerships between varsity teams, the private sector, and local non-governmental organizations. In 2018, Joly led the effort building an outdoor basketball court in Togo, and in 2019, a Sports Complex in Haiti, all with the help of the Gee-Gees women's basketball program. 

Joly also holds a Bachelor of Industrial Relations and Human Resources from the Université du Québec en Outaouais. 

Joly will officially begin her official new post on May 9.