Women's Soccer | 6/1/2017 2:20:00 PM

MONTREAL – Jose-Luis Valdes, head coach of the McGill University women's soccer program, was named by U SPORTS Wednesday to the coaching staff of the Canadian team that will compete in the 2017 Summer Universiade, also known as the FISU world university games, in Chinese Taipei, Aug. 19-30, at Taipei City. Joining Valdes from McGill, as part of the support staff, is physiotherapist Charlotte Villeneuve.

Valdes will work with the staff put together by head coach Peyvand Mossavat of the UOIT Ridgebacks, a group that also includes Carleton's Raz El-Asmar. Other head coaches for the Games, announced thus far by U SPORTS include UNB's Miles Pinsent (men's soccer), Windsor's James Gravelle (men's volleyball), UBC's Daniel Huzar (women's volleyball) and UBC's Kevin Hanson (men's basketball). The complete coaching staff for each sport is available below.

It marks the second FISU stint for Valdes, who also served as an assistant bench boss with the Canadian women's soccer team at the 2015 Summer Games in Gwangju, South Korea.

Valdes was appointed head coach of the McGill women's soccer team in January, 2013 after serving one year as interim head coach of the McGill Redmen. In 2017, he will enter his fifth season behind the helm of the Martlets with a 32-28-12 record overall, including a 23-21-12 mark in RSEQ regular season play.Fluent in English, French and Spanish, the 35-year-old native of Montreal previously served 11 seasons (2001 to 2011) as an assistant coach with the McGill women's team, helping the Martlets win five conference titles.
 
A goalkeeper for the McGill Redmen from 2001 to 2004, Valdes graduated from McGill in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in physical and health education.He has also had several other international stints as an assistant coach, In 2012, Valdes was part of the Team Canada coaching staff that won a silver medal at the CONCACAF women's under-17 tournament in Guatemala. In  2010, he helped Canada win gold at the CONCACAF under-17 women's championship tournament in Costa Rica.

The full Canadian delegation is posted below. 

Head Coach: Peyvand Mossavat, UOIT
Assistant Coach: Jose Valdes, McGill
Assistant Coach: Raz El-Asmar (Carleton, 2012-15)
Physiotherapist: Charlotte Villeneuve, McGill
Sports Scientist/Conditioning: Farzad Yousefian, UOIT


WOMEN'S SOCCER ROSTER:
U SPORTS schools represented: 10
Highest-represented school: Laval (6)
2015 Universiade Team Canada Result: 4^th
 
Anna Schellenberg, Alberta
*Arielle Roy-Petitclerc, Laval
Audrey Lagarde, Sherbrooke
Jessie Candlish-Brown, Alberta
Joanie L'Abbé, Laval
*Joëlle Gosselin, Laval
Jordan Smith, Calgary
*Julia Liguori, UQAM
Katherine Koehler-Grassau, UOIT
Kayla daCosta-Pacheco, Ottawa
Kylie Bordeleau, UOIT
Laura Callender, Queen's
Marie-Eve Jacques, Sherbrooke
 Marie-Joelle Vandal, Laval
Marie-Yasmine Alidou D'Anjou, UQAM
Maxine Murchie, Wilfrid Laurier
*Melissa Roy, Laval
Natasha Klasios, Toronto
Roxanne Dionne, Laval
Sarah Dilling, Calgary
 
*Athletes to watch
The Canadian women's soccer team features a deep roster, with 10 athletes returning from the 2015 FISU Games team that placed fourth in Gwangju, South Korea, the team's highest-ever finish.  Four players have also represented Canada at U17 and U20 national team camps, with two athletes having appeared in World Cup competition. The team also boasts reigning BLG Award winner and U SPORTS Women's Soccer Player of the Year Arielle Roy-Petitclerc, as well as Championship MVP Joëlle Gosselin, both of the Laval Rouge et Or, along with U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Julia Liguori from the UQAM Citadins.
 

Men's Soccer

Head Coach: Miles Pinsent (Fredericton, N.B.),
UNB Varsity Reds (14 seasons)
2016-17 season: 6-1-5, lost AUS semifinal 
U SPORTS Coach of the Year: 2012 
U SPORTS medals: 2013 (bronze), 2015 (silver)

Assistant Coach: Jamie Pollock, Moncton
Team Leader: George Lucas, UNB
2015 Summer Universiade Team Canada result: 13th 

Men's Volleyball 

Head Coach: James Gravelle (Windsor, Ont.),
Windsor Lancers (4 seasons) 
2016-17 season: 5-12, missed playoffs

Assistant Coach: Eric Yung, Nipissing
Assistant Coach: William Alexander, Windsor
2015 Summer Universiade Team Canada result: 19th
 

Women's Volleyball

Head Coach: Daniel Huzar (North Vancouver, B.C.), UBC Thunderbirds (Assistant Coach, 9 seasons)
2016-17 season: 20-4, won U SPORTS Championship
U SPORTS medals: 2008-13 (gold), 2014 (silver), 2017 (gold)

Assistant Coach: Michelle Wood, Acadia
Team Leader: Laurier Eisler, Alberta
2015 Summer Universiade Team Canada result: 6th 

Men's Basketball

Head Coach: Kevin Hanson (Vancouver, B.C.),
UBC Thunderbirds (17 seasons)
2016-17 season: 19-1, lost Canada West quarter-finals
U SPORTS Coach of the Year: 2006, 2010
U SPORTS medals: 2009 (silver), 2010 (silver),
2011 (bronze)

Assistant Coach: Daniel Vanhooren, Calgary
Assistant Coach/Team Leader:
Jacques Paiement Jr., Laval
2015 Summer Universiade Team Canada result: 7th

About the 2017 Summer Universiade
 
The Summer Universiade is a biennial international multi-sport event open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

The 2017 Summer Universiade will feature 14 compulsory sports and seven optional sports. Compulsory sports: athletics, basketball, fencing, football (soccer), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, volleyball, judo, table tennis and taekwondo. Optional sports: archery, badminton, baseball, golf, roller sports, weightlifting and wushu. 

Official website: http://www.taipei2017.com.tw/   

For further information, please contact:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
McGill Athletics & Recreation
(514) 398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca 

Alan Hudes 
Coordinator, Communications
U SPORTS
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca