Ashley Rowe, Regional Coach

Currently, employed full-time by PacificSport Regional Centre, CanoeKayak BC, CanoeKayak Canada, and NCKC she has been with the Club since 2003. As a young athlete in 1989, Ashley competed at many local, provincial, inter provincial and national championships for 6 years as an athlete in the sport. In the summer of 1995, she participated as a member of the BC Canoe-Kayak Team at the Western Canada Summer Games in Abbotsford, BC. During this time, Ashley attended Malaspina University College and completed her studies with a Diploma in Recreation Administration and a diploma in Physical Education.

After volunteering for numerous summers as Junior Coach at the NCKC, she was offered a position as Regional Coach with the Vancouver Island Regional Sport Centre in 1995 (and again in 2007). She accepted the position and worked with NCKC and VIRSC (Vancouver Island Regional Sport Centre) for 3 years providing outreach into the communities of Courtney and Comox, Victoria, and Campbell River. During this time, she also accepted a coaching position with the BC Canoe-Kayak Team to prepare and coach athletes attending the 1997 Canada Summer Games in Brandon, Manitoba and the position of Technical Director for the 1997 North American Indigenous Games in Victoria, BC to coordinate and plan the event logistics, officials, equipment, race schedule etc.

From the spring of 1998 - spring of 2003, Ashley took some time away from the sport of canoe-kayak and traveled to MX, NZ, AUS, then returned home to guide sea kayaking trips in Baja California Sur, Mexico and British Columbia. Upon returning back to University to finish off her degree in Recreation and Tourism Management in 2003 she was presented with her old Regional Coaching Position again!

Returning to the sport she jumped into a position with the BC Canoe-Kayak Team as manager for the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina, Saskatchewan. Ashley is currently working with the development & high performance athletes at the NCKC and the coaching staff at the Victoria Youth Paddling Club to prepare the Island athletes for future competitions and developing lifelong memories through healthy, active lifestyles and fun participation in sport! Ashley has been involved with the selection and training of the Aboriginal Team BC Canoe Team for 2006 and currently in 2008 for the North American Indigenous Games. She is currently involved with NAIG Society assisting with the preparations leading up to the NAIG in Cowichan Valley this August for Canoeing. She looks forward to having sprint kayaking as a demonstration sport for the first time ever at the Games.

She participated in the new Competitive Development program in Ottawa in 2007 and plans to continue with her coaching education. She enjoys teaching and mentoring others as a facilitator for NCCP’s CanoeKids – Coaching in Community Sport course and the Entry Level Competitive Coach Course for Canoe/Kayak.