National Women's Wheelchair Basketball player Jennifer Krempien, far left, says outgoing head coach, Tim Frick is a world leader in basketball.

Tim Frick is going out at the top of his game. The Sport Science and Bachelor of Physical Education and Coaching (BPEC) instructor, who was recently named Coach of the Year by Coaches of Canada, is leaving his post as head coach of the National Women's Wheelchair Basketball team.

Frick was presented with the Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award in Calgary on November 7 during the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Sportif, an annual conference organized by the Coaching Association of Canada.

Frick lead the team to three Paralympic Games titles and four world championship gold medals. He was head coach for 19 years. Prior to that, he coached Rick Hansen and Terry Fox.

Receiving the award named for the late Jack Donohue, a former Canadian Men's National Basketball Coach who also coached icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in high school, was an honour, says Frick.

"Jack was the consummate coach. He was a great mentor to a lot of us. I was lucky enough to have started when he was at his peak and I was able to pick his brain," says Frick.

He too has become a consummate coach, say the players who have worked with Frick.

"He is more than effective. He's a world leader," says Jennifer Krempien, who retired this Fall after having competed with the women's national team for 16 years.

In addition to his technical expertise, Frick supports his players in their personal development.

"He understands that in order to be a complete player, you have to be a complete person. We're women with families and lives. He knows we don't have the luxury to put our lives on hold for four years," Krempien says.

"Creating and building relationships is productive for everybody involved. It's a hallmark in the BPEC Program at Douglas too. We tell our students over and over again, `You're coaching the person doing the activity.' A sign of a true coach is that he or she helps the individual so that they can increase their performance and take it to a higher level," says Frick.

He says the atmosphere at Douglas is "fun, 24-7," and that he'll miss the staff, students and faculty who are like family, when he takes early retirement effective March, 2009.

Frick and his wife Gerry relocated from Port Coquitlam to Pender Island in the Summer and he's looking forward to having the time to do things that were, until recently, "put on the backburner."

He plans on helping Gerry with her passion, volunteering with German Shepherd Rescue of BC, and putting the finishing touches on his rec room. Frick will keep active with disc golf and coaching the grade seven basketball program on Pender Island.

"When you're involved in elite sport, you miss celebrating a lot of milestones with your friends and family. I'm looking forward to doing that now."

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