The department will highlight the nominees of the Huskies major awards - Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Female Rookie of the Year, Male Rookie of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, and Male Athlete of the Year - during the week leading up to the 55th Annual George Brown College Athletic Awards on Friday, April 4th at the Glenn Gould Studio.
Here are the nominees for the 2024-25 Coach of the Year.
Tyler Latu’ila, Men’s Volleyball
Latu’ila has big shoes to fill in his first season as head coach, and he meant expectations. They finished fifth in the East Division with an 11-7 record but was one of the best teams in the second half of the season going 5-2. They just missed out on hosting a home playoff match. The program made history under Latu’ila as Yaroslav Svidritskiy became the first Husky to be named both the OCAA East Division Player of the Year and a CCAA All-Canadian. He also was named an East Division First Team All-Star, while Andrew Rong was an East Division Second Team All-Star and earned a spot on the East Division All-Rookie Team.
John Williams, Men’s Soccer
The team got off to a slow start in the outdoor campaign, but finished the season going 4-0-1 to clinch the fourth spot in the East Division. It marked the only home playoff game for the Huskies the entire season. They went on to fall 1-0 in extra time in the first round of the playoffs.
The program bounced back during the indoor season. They finished first in their pool at Regionals, going undefeated and outscoring their opponents 14-2. They maintained their momentum at Provincials, going undefeated in round robin play and ending up with the silver medals. This achievement marked the program's seventh medal in the last nine seasons, underscoring their consistent success across different seasons and formats. Yonis Jama and Mark Do Coito earned spots on the Championship All-Star team, while Joseph Agostino was named goalkeeper of the tournament.
Howard Wong, Badminton
Wong made an immediate impression in his first season as head coach, with the team being the most consistent in the OCAA. The team took home medals in three of the five disciplines, highlighted by gold medals from Ellen Shen in Women's Singles and Kaylee Choi & Sarah Song in Women's Doubles, as well as a silver in Men's Singles by Sahil Lokhande. Plus, the Huskies won the Women's Team Championship banner for the first time since 2020.
Thanks to that impressive effort, the Huskies qualified for three of the five disciplines at CCAA Badminton Championships. At Nationals, Choi and Song earned the bronze medal, while Lokhande finished in fourth place. He was named OCAA Coach of the Year for his outstanding work throughout the season.
