Wilson is one of the reasons UBC Field Hockey has been so successful during the past decades. She maintained the rich tradition by coaching the team through 16 seasons, guiding the Blue and Gold to seven Canada West titles and five National Championships. She has won the Vancouver, Canada West, CIS and Canadian Coach of the Year Awards and was a coach with Canada's Olympic team. A respected teacher at UBC, the CIS National Player of the Year Award is named in her honour.
Gail Wilson joined the UBC coaching staff in 1977 after a heralded athletic career at the University of Toronto where in 1993 she was inducted into that university's Sports Hall of Fame. From 1977/78 until 1992/93, Wilson executed one of the most successful recruiting and coaching careers in UBC history.
With Vancouver and UBC in particular the featured locale for women's field hockey in Canada, Wilson for 16 seasons guided UBC to seven Canada West titles and five CIS National Championships. Her teams were Canada West champions in 1977, '78, '80, '81, '82, '83 and '90 and were second or third on four other occasions. Nine of her 16 seasons saw UBC a Canada West or National Champion.
In April 1981, UBC, CIS Champions, toured Great Britain and won the Glasgow University Invitational Hockey Tournament. In 1982/83, her team went 25-0, winning both the CIS title and the Vancouver First Division championship, and is still considered one of UBC's greatest teams ever - in any sport. This Wilson-coached team was inducted into UBC's Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
In 1984/85 and 87/88, Gail received the CIS Coach of the Year award, was the 1990 Canada West Coach of the Year and in 1991 was awarded the 3M Canada Coaching Award as Field Hockey Canada's Coach of the Year. Also in 1991, she was selected the Vancouver Women's' Field Hockey Association Coach of the Year as UBC also competed in the very tough Vancouver City League.
Gail is also an Olympian as she was an Assistant Coach for Canada's National women's field hockey team, helping guide it at the 1988 Olympics. She was also Canada's Junior National coach in 1986 in addition to Assistant Coach with the National team 1983-88. The CIS National Player of the Year is honoured with the Gail Wilson Award - a CIS legacy and recognition that is unparalleled.
It was in 1987 Wilson and UBC were reported to be the acknowledged world leaders in computer analysis of field hockey data. Wilson, in adapting the UBC Sports Analysis Centre's 1984 idea, created objective and quantitative statistical breakdowns of every play in each individual match. This cutting edge technology provided valuable individual analysis as well as a scouting tool. Gail performed this same analysis for the National Team at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
Wilson, who earned her MPE degree at UBC in 1980, has since been a Senior Instructor specializing in Physical and Health Education at UBC's School of Human Kinetics. She was the recipient in 1991 of UBC's Human Kinetics Outstanding Teaching Award.
In 1993, Gail Wilson handed the UBC coaching reigns over to Hash Kanjee who has successfully upheld the marvellous UBC Field Hockey tradition established over the years by May Brown, "Bim" Schrodt and Gail Wilson.
What Gail is most proud of is her establishment of the annual “Pop Cup” Tournament. This ever-growing event honors one of Gails’ former players, the late Diana Popowich, and each year attracts alumni who, together with current UBC players, celebrate UBC field hockey.
“Sometimes to mold a group of talented players is more difficult than improving and developing a group of less talented players," opines a former star on Gail Wilson's team. This player remembers how dedicated Gail was and how she could make her players feel that same dedication. "She was able to build up the expectation that you can perform at a certain level together along with that sense within us of not wanting to let her down. Even when we see her 20 years later, we still want to do our best in front of her - to live up to her expectations.”
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
