Ken Leavoy Selected as Coach for Canadian Women’s Softball Team
ELSAH, Ill. - Principia College's Head Softball coach, Ken Leavoy is setting the bar high for coaching excellence. After a strenuous application and interview process, he has now been named an official coach for Canada's National Softball Team.
Leavoy has scouted for the Canadian National Team since 2003 where he goes to major international tournaments each year and scouts other country's players in order to help the Canadian Team know what to expect when they play each country. Each head coach that Leavoy has scouted for recognized that he had a knack for finding the opponents' weaknesses and that he gives a very thorough report on each player and team.
In 2011, Coach Leavoy was asked to be a guest coach at the evaluation and selection camps the National team held. He clearly demonstrated that he was capable of this task because he was invited to return in 2012 as a guest coach. In 2012 he was involved once again in an evaluation camp to select the National Team. He was with the team through the ASA World Cup Tournament in Oklahoma, the Canadian Open International Championships in Vancouver, Canada and finally the International Softball Federation World Championships in Whitehorse, Canada where Canada finished 4th. This fall Softball Canada announced that all National Team Coaching positions were open for application and Coach Leavoy was encouraged by the Head Coach to apply. He was later offered a contract as an official coach of the National Team. The coaching staff knew he was an excellent scouting coach and they also knew he held the same coaching philosophies that they did and thought he would be a great additional to their coaching pool.
The Canadian National Team's head coach has asked Leavoy to work with the Junior National team as well as the Senior team. He heads out early in June to work with the Junior team for about a month as they prepare for their World Championships. In early July he then meets up with the Senior team for another evaluation camp to help pick the team and will be with them through several tournaments including Qualifier tournaments for the Pan Am games and the 2014 World Championships.
Coach Leavoy is no stranger to athletic excellence since he is an amazing athlete himself. Starting in high school where he played rugby, basketball, volleyball, track and field and football. Leavoy was the MVP of his 1971 Provincial All Star (which is equivalent to an All-State game in the U.S) High School basketball game and then decided to go to DIII Principia College despite the fact that he had offers at other schools.
In college, Leavoy played basketball and soccer and even led the conference in scoring his senior year when he had 15 goals in one season. No one has scored more goals in a season since then, and they only played 12 games in a season at that time!
Leavoy's softball experience came after college when he played for 6 years in the ISC Northwest League, which at that time was considered the premier league in North American. He played with and against the best men in the world during that time. He competed in two National Championships, earning one Bronze medal. He was also on Canada's 40 man roster for a few years.
When asked why he chooses to coach at a NCAA DIII college when he could coach at a more competitive school he comments, "I've been asked that question a few times. Most people assume that since I have been with Canada's National team for a number of years and that I am a college coach in the United States, I must be coaching a Division 1 program. I love the game of softball and I love coaching it but I see it more as a means to an end. Learning more about the game, delving into the tiny details that are necessary to make players better, spending hours and hours developing individual skills are very valuable but I see them as part of a bigger picture. The emphasis of a Principia education is the development of the whole individual not just the athletic. The dedication, commitment, self-sacrifice the learning how to persist and face challenges and things that can intimidate are where the focus should be. Those qualities when developed are invaluable to a person. What I feel I get to do here at Principia isn't just about athletics; I get to help individuals learn to equip themselves to be successful in life. I think that is a higher sense of education and that is why I am still here at Principia."
Principia is extremely proud and honored to have coach Ken Leavoy here and we recognize what an honor it is to be coaching at such an elite level and for his home country National Softball Team!
Leavoy comments, "When I got the phone call from the Head Coach telling me that Softball Canada wanted to offer me a contract to be a coach of the National Team I was elated, I felt very honored and then humbled at what it all meant. I had worked very hard for many years striving for excellence and to have it all recognized and respected is too difficult for me to put into words."
Courtesy Principia College sports information
