Swoosh Level Up Clinic

Avery Harrison will become the 1st Instructor of the all-new Swoosh Level Up Clinic, and recently Avery guided the Olds women’s basketball team to their first Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national championship. Avery's third National title as a head coach and fourth overall. 

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Coach Harrison began his coaching career at Hugh Sutherland High School in Carstairs coaching alongside Blaine Vadnais. In their time together, the team accumulated a 139-15 league and playoff record, taking home gold and silver medals from three provincial championships. After graduating from the University of Calgary, Harrison began his ACAC coaching career as an assistant with the SAIT Trojans men’s team in the 1980s. In his five seasons with the men’s team, the Trojans won four ACAC banners and appeared in three consecutive CCAA gold medal games, winning in 1986 to cap a perfect 34-0 season. 

 

After being named Head Coach in 1990-91 he guided the team to two ACAC Silver medal finishes and two trips to Nationals. He then coached at Mount Royal College for two seasons taking the team to two ACAC championships, and an appearance in the CCAA National Championship game in 1998.  The team went 47-1 in ACAC league and play-offs games over that time. Returning to SAIT in 1998-99 he coached them to a 19-1 regular-season record and their first CCAA National Championship.  The Trojans followed that up with another National title in 2001. After the 2005-06 season, Harrison took a short break from coaching but returned for a two-year stint as an assistant with Mount Royal University.  He was then named Head Coach at Lethbridge College where he remained for four years taking them to a Nationals appearance in 2012.  After a one-year break, he returned to the ACAC basketball court as an Assistant Coach with Steve Shoults at St. Mary’s University, and in two seasons the team went to the ACAC final earning two Silvers and the first appearance at the National Championships in the school history.

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In 22 years as a head Coach his teams have won 5 ACAC championships, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze, as well as a Silver and 3 Gold at the CCAA National championships. He has coached 43 ACAC All-conference players, 11 all Canadians, and three CCAA Players of the Year. His cumulative regular season and playoff record is 326-168 (510-263 overall).  As an assistant, he was part of four ACAC Gold medals, three Silver and one Bronze, as well as two silver and one Gold at the CCAA national championships. Harrison picked up his fifth ACAC Coach of the Year award in 2018-19, a season that saw him pick up his 500th career win as a head coach in the ACAC (Feb. 8, 2019, vs. RDC). He also has two CCAA Coach of the Year awards on his resume. Coach Harrison has 34 years of coaching in the ACAC, spanning five different decades, and we are proud to have Coach Harrison as our lead instructor.