The University of British Columbia Athletics

At UBC (entering 2018-19 season)

Regular season record // 344-88 (.796)
Canada West playoff record // 55-23 (.705)
U SPORTS championship tournament record // 44-16 (.733)
Canada West Championships // ‘06,  ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, ‘13, ‘14
U SPORTS Championships // 2008, ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, ‘17
Canada West Coach of the Year // 2006, ‘10
U SPORTS Coach of the Year // 2006, ‘10
 
Doug Reimer enters his 22nd season as the head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds women’s volleyball team. In his time with the program, his teams and players have had unprecedented success, and Reimer continues to build on his legacy as the most successful coach in U SPORTS women’s volleyball history, and one of the most decorated in all of Canadian athletics.
 
Reimer’s UBC teams have qualified for the U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship tournament an astounding 20 times in 21 years while competing in the country’s best conference. The T-Birds’ medal total during this run is 14 (seven gold, four silver, and three bronze).
 
Last season, the Thunderbirds won bronze at the national tournament, beating Calgary in four sets, avenging a loss to the Dinos a week earlier in the Canada West title game. First-year star Kiera Van Ryk became the first UBC rookie to win Canada West and U SPORTS Rookie of the Year honours.
 
Reimer’s 20th campaign with the T-Birds ended with his seventh national title at UBC, after a four-set triumph over Alberta in the U SPORTS final in Toronto.
 
Reimer, of Kelowna, B.C., now has eight U SPORTS titles to his name, which also includes national-record run of six straight from 2008-13. His first came with Winnipeg in 1993.
 
Individually, Reimer has been named the U SPORTS Coach of the Year five times, the most of any women’s volleyball head coach in Canada. He earned the prestigious honour twice with UBC in 2006 and 2010, once while at his alma mater Victoria (1986), and back-to-back with Winnipeg (1993, ‘94).
 
In 2007-08, Reimer guided his T-Birds to the program’s first national title in exactly 30 years with a 3-2 comeback victory over Montreal in the gold-medal final.
 
That began a U SPORTS record-tying streak of six championships in a row for UBC, a run that also propelled the school to the top of the list in terms of all-time titles in women’s volleyball (10). The T-Birds now have 11.
 
In 2008-09, the T-Birds closed their season on a 15-match unbeaten streak and triumphed in the title game with a 3-2 victory over Calgary.
 
The 2009-10 season could very well be the finest in U SPORTS women’s volleyball history as Reimer led UBC to a perfect 25-0 record, the No. 1 ranking for the entire campaign, their second straight Canada West championship, and third straight national title. Dating back to midway through the 2008-09 campaign, the T-Birds won 40 straight conference and playoff games.
 
For his efforts, Reimer was named the 2010 U SPORTS and Canada West Coach of the Year. He was also recognized as the Sport BC Coach of the Year for his accomplishments in 2010 while the T-Birds were named Team of the Year at the 45th annual Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards presented by TELUS. In 2017, the squad was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame.
 
He was not the only T-Bird recognized at the national level in 2010 as Liz Cordonier was named the U SPORTS MVP, before going on to claim the BLG Award as the U SPORTS Athlete of the Year, and Claire Hanna brought home the Libero of the Year award. Three T-Birds earned All-Canadian status as well.
 
The T-Birds made it four national titles in a row in 2010-11, a season that saw the team win the league championship as well.
 
In 2011-12, the Thunderbirds lost to Alberta in the Canada West Final on home court but gained revenge on the grandest stage, claiming a 3-2 triumph over those same Pandas in the national title game to extend their championship streak to five.
 
Reimer’s T-Birds made history in 2012-13. They swept Alberta 3-0 in Sherbrooke, Que., in the U SPORTS final, joining Alberta and Winnipeg as the only programs to win six straight national championships. In the spring of 2013, Shanice Marcelle was named a BLG Awards winner as the top female university athlete across all sports in Canada.
 
Reimer was a two-time All-Canadian setter during his playing days with Victoria, and was honoured with UVic’s top student-athlete award. He was UVic’s head coach from 1985-87, going 28-2 in 30 conference matches. He then went on to coach Saskatchewan’s Canada Games team to a gold medal before leading Winnipeg to a U SPORTS title in 1992-93.
 
Reimer came to UBC for the 1994-95 season after his back-to-back coach of the year seasons at Winnipeg. He coached for three successful seasons at UBC – left to become the full-time head coach of Team Canada – and returned to campus for the 2000-01 season. His major accomplishments with Team Canada included a second-place finish at the NORCECA Olympic qualifier for Sydney and a fifth-place finish at the 1997 World University Games in Sicily.