by Sheila Robertson,
OTTAWA (July 2nd, 2026): Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) has launched its third Commonwealth Women Coach Internship Program (WCIP). The innovative initiative, which has its roots in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, pairs six intern coaches with six mentor coaches and prepares up-and-comers for international coaching assignments (see Appendix 1).
Prospective intern coaches, who are nominated by their respective national sport organizations (NSOs) and selected by the CSC, must be Canadian residents, have local, regional, or national experience, and must have completed some coach certification training. The mentor coaches are all experienced at the highest levels of Canadians sport and are committed to providing the requisite guidance, support, and knowledge to develop the interns’ professional growth.
The 2026 intern coaches and their mentors are:
Celine Freeman-Gibb, ChPC, of Windsor, Ont., a full-time throws coach at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. Her mentor coach is Richard Parkinson, ChPC, of Stouffville, Ont., an acclaimed national team throws coach with multiple throws medallists to his credit, including two-time world indoor champion shot putter Sarah Mitton, who is also a two-time world silver medallist.
Rose Huang of Vancouver, B.C., coaches table tennis athletes within development and performance pathways. Her mentor coach is Maxime Surprenant, ChPC, of Montreal, Que., Table Tennis Coach of the Year in 2024.
Madeline (Maddy) Price of Toronto is a two-time Olympian and was an assistant sprints coach at Duke University in Durham, N.C., for five years. Mentor coach Kurt Downes, ChPC, of Windsor, Ont., has been a member of 14 national team coaching staffs and is an experienced sprints, hurdles, and combined events coach.
Emma Suttle of Vancouver, B.C., is a coach at Monarc Boxing and Fitness in Vancouver. Her mentor coach is two-time world champion boxer Ariane Fortin of Montreal, full-time national team coach and motivational speaker.
Jennifer (Jenn) Russell of Bolton, Ont., is the head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gee’s women’s rugby team. Her mentor coach is Kévin Rouet of Quebec City, PQ., the head coach of Canada’s women’s national rugby union team.
Sarah Rudolf of Tsawwassen, B.C., is assistant coach of the UBC Thunderbirds Varsity Swim Team and director of swimming and administration lead of the Ridge Meadows Swim Club in Maple Ridge, B.C. Her mentor coach is Linda Kiefer, ChPC, of Toronto, Assistant Head Coach of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues since 1990.
Claire Carver-Dias, CSC President and double Commonwealth Games gold medallist, said: "Strong coaches help create strong athletes and strong sport systems. We are proud to support these talented women coaches through mentorship and development opportunities that will help shape the future of Canadian sport.”
Sheilagh Croxon, ChPC, of Etobicoke, Ont., is serving as CSC WCP program lead for the third time. She has a wealth of coaching experience at all levels of sport in Canada and internationally. “I look forward to working with CSC in collaboration with the NSOs to continue this valuable program in 2026,” said Croxon, who has designed a virtual education program built around providing leadership development sessions featuring women trailblazers in Canadian sport. “We have assembled an exceptional group of intern coaches and experienced mentor coaches who will build positive momentum in Commonwealth sport. By providing intern coaches with the opportunity to gain valuable coaching experience, ensuring their access to leadership development and quality mentorship, I am confident that future national teams will benefit from the inclusion of talented, trained women coaches such as these.”
WCIP is financially supported by Sport Canada’s Support Program for Gender Equity and Safety in Sport.
About Commonwealth Sport Canada
Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) is the franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth sport movement in Canada. CSC supports Canada’s athletes to achieve excellence at Olympic and Paralympic Games and world championships, enriches the lives of youth across the Commonwealth and hosts the Commonwealth sport events.
For further information:
Brian MacPherson, CSC CEO
(613) 244-6868 / [email protected]
Appendix 1
Meet the Intern Coaches and Their Mentors
Celine Freeman-Gibb and Richard Parkinson, ChPC - Athletics
Celine Freeman-Gibb, ChPC, has been an assistant coach specializing in throws at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., since 2023. This past year she coached her freshman javelin thrower to a conference championship win. A graduate of the University of Windsor with a master’s degree in Human Kinetics-Sport Management, and bachelor’s degrees in both Education and Human Kinetics, Freeman-Gibb was a science, physical education, and computer teacher as well as the throws coach at the University of Windsor, helping the Lancers men’s team to back-to-back national championship titles. Freeman-Gibb is a National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) Performance Coach Trained, Club Coach certified. Selected as the throws coach for Team Ontario at the 2025 Canada Summer Games, she was also head coach for the 2023 North American Indigenous Games and the Ontario Summer Games in 2022 and 2024. As an athlete, Freeman-Gibb competed for the University of Windsor capturing three women’s national team titles and two individual shot put titles.
Richard Parkinson, ChPC, is a national team throws coach whose athletes have produced podium and finalist performances at Olympic and Paralympic Games, world championships, the Pan American Games, and the Commonwealth Games. Recognized for his ability to consistently translate training performance into championship results, Parkinson’s integrated approach combines biomechanics, strength and conditioning, and performance analytics. He has coached internationally and is a sought-after presenter by the global throws community.
Rose Huang and Maxime Surprenant, ChPC - Table Tennis
Rose Huang, who has a kinesiology degree, multidisciplinary stream, from the University of British Columbia (UBC), coaches athletes within Table Tennis Canada’s development and performance pathways, including an Under-15 player who is a member of the U-15 national team. She coached at the Vancouver Table Tennis Club, the National Girls Training Camp, and was provincial team coach for Team British Columbia at the 2025 national championships. Born and raised in Vancouver, Huang was head coach of UBC’s table tennis team and most recently coached Canadian players to two bronze medals at the 2026 North American Championships. She has also coached at an ITTF World Youth Championships, national championships, the Pan American Cup, and World Team Championship Trials. As a player, Huang was a member of the national team for six years and won numerous national championship medals.
Maxime Surprenant, ChPC, has been a full-time table tennis coach since 2012, head coach of the national junior team since 2015, and head coach of the Quebec Table Tennis Federation since 2021. A three-time Table Tennis Canada Coach of the Year, he was cited for “dedication, passion, and significant achievements … a role model for aspiring coaches and athletes alike.” Surprenant began his coaching career in 2010 at the age of 19 in Brossard, Que. Within a year he was named a national team coach for the North American Championships. A highlight of his career to date was coaching the men’s team event to the silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Championships, which guaranteed qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. Surprenant resides in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
Madeline (Maddy) Price and Kurt Downes, ChPC - Athletics
Madeline (Maddy) Price made her reputation as a sprinter who represented Canada at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games and three world championships, notably as a leader of the 4x400 relay. A professional sprinter, athlete mental health advocate, and mentor to girls in sport, she is now completing the Performance Coach Certification component of the National Coaching Certification Program. A key component of Price’s transition into coaching has been serving first as a volunteer assistant coach and then in a paid capacity at her alma mater, Duke University in Durham, N.C. As a coach, she focuses on positive self-talk, confidence building, resiliency, and visualization. Committed to leadership, she serves as Athlete Director on Athletics Canada’s Board of Directors. Price grew up in the Bay Area, Cal., and hold dual citizenship since her parents were from Canada.
Kurt Downes, ChPC, is an Olympic coach, community builder, and educator who has been the president and head coach of the Border City Athletics Club in Windsor, Ont., since 2013. In a career spanning over 20 years, the native of Windor, who resides in Harrow, Ont., has built a stellar reputation developing athletes from grassroots to high school , university, and international levels. An educator with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, Downes is also a PhD candidate in kinesiology at the University of Windor. He has served as a coach of 14 national teams, including the 2020 Olympic Games and multiple world championships, specializing in sprints, hurdles, and combined events. Downes is an author and thought leader on athlete development, women in sport, long-term participation, athlete retention and the future of the running culture in Canada through coach education and sport leadership initiatives. While a student at the University of Windsor he competed in sprints, relays, and jumps and was a national champion and CIS All-Canadian
Emma Suttle and Ariane Fortin - Boxing
Emma Suttle took up boxing when she was eleven years old to build self-confidence. The North Vancouver native quickly fell in love with the sport and began a five-year competitive career as a 13-year-old. She was a four-time provincial champion and a national silver medallist. Suttle’s coaching began with the onset of Covid, and she is now a full-time coach with Monarc Boxing and Fitness in Vancouver. A key responsibility is the club’s youth program in which she emphasizes a positive and inclusive environment that promotes skill development, confidence, discipline, and personal growth. Suttle is also on the high-performance coaching staff of Boxing BC and is an intern coach with Team Canada. Her goal is to become a head coach with Boxing Canada.
Ariane Fortin has been a full-time national team coach with Boxing Canada since March 2026. Certified by the International Boxing Association and the Institut national du sport du Québec, she coached the South Korean women’s national team for three years, including at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She also served as chair of the Board of Directors of Boxe-Québec. Born in Quebec City and raised in St-Nicholas, Que., Fortin began boxing at the age of 16 at the Levis Boxing Club after watching the movie Girlfight (La pugiliste). She
competed internationally as a middleweight from 2004 to 2016, winning world championship titles in 2006 and 2008, a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. She competed at the 2016 Olympic Games and retired with 130 wins in 165 fights. A graduate of Téluq University with a degree in professional writing and French, she is a sought-after motivational speaker and analyst as well as a coach who develops training programs and leads workshop.
Jennifer (Jenn) Russell and Kévin Rouet - Rugby
Jennifer (Jenn) Russell was named head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees varsity women’s rugby team in February 2026 and is also assistant coach of the Ontario senior west women’s team. Since 2022, she has been head coach of Rugby Canada’s U18 15s program. A native of Bolton, Ont., Russell was head coach of York University’s women’s rugby team from 2016 to 2020. She worked at Havergal College in Toronto from 2014 to 2026 holding various roles including Director of Student Leadership; she also coached the college’s 15s and 7s rugby teams. She has degrees in physical education and kinesiology from Western University. A star player for the university’s team, she is a member of its Women’s Rugby Hall of Honour. Russell’s coaching philosophy emphasizes teamwork, performance development, and the well-being of her athletes. Russell and her partner Dale are the parents of five-year-old Tadhg and Fiadh, who is three.
Kévin Rouet, who was born in Colombes, France, played rugby in the amateur divisions in France. He studied mechanical engineering at École Nationale Superieure d’Arts et Metiers (ENSAM) de Bordeaux in France. After moving to Quebec in 2009, he earned a master’s degree in project management from the University of Quebec at Rimouski. After five years as a project manager working on bridge construction, in 2016 he decided to concentrate on building his credentials asan international rugby coach. Rouet coached the women's teams at Laval University and Rugby Quebec and was an assistant coach with Stade Bordelais during the 2021-2022 season. He joined the Canadian women's 15s team in 2019 as an assistant coach In March 2022, he was named as head coach of the Canada’s women's national rugby union team and in 2023 Rugby Canada named him High Performance Women’s Director for both the 7s and 15s women’s teams. Highlights include finishing an historic second at the 2025 Rugby World Cup and coaching the team to its first-ever victory over the New Zealand’s fabled Black Ferns.
Sarah Rudolf and Linda Kiefer – Swimming
Sarah Rudolf has been assistant coach of UBC’s Thunderbirds Varsity Swim Team since 2024. She is also director of swimming (head coach) of Ridge Meadows Swim Club in Maple Ridge, B.C. A graduate of Simon Fraser University (SFU) with a degree in kinesiology and linguistics, she has been a Swim BC coach for 23 years, coaching beginners through to national medallists and provincial record holders. A former competitive swimmer, Rudolf trained with the Hyack Swim Club in News Westminster, B.C., and competed for SFU. She currently works with swimmers, including Olympic medallists, preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games. Rudolf, whose hometown is Port Coquitlam, B.C., and who resides in Tsawwassen, B.C., was chosen to participate in Swimming Canada’s Women in Coaching Development Program which provided hands-on experience at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Hungary. She has been selected to fill a similar role at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships in August.
Linda Kiefer, ChPC, has been the associate head coach of the University of Toronto’s (U of T) Varsity Blues since 1990. Recent international coaching assignments include multiple Commonwealth Games teams, the 2019, 2023, and 2025 World Aquatics Championships, and the 2016, 2022, and 2024 Olympic Games. Along with Blues head coach Byron MacDonald, Kiefer coached three-time Olympian Kylie Masse to Olympic, world championship, and Commonwealth Games medals, including gold in 200m backstroke at the 2017 worlds. She was named Aquatics Canada Coach of the Year and was a Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award winner, both in 2017. Kiefer, who has degrees in education and physical and health education from U of T, swam for the Blues as a backstroker. A native of Newmarket, Ont., she is also an expert in open water swimming. Kiefer enjoys the psychological aspect of coaching and watching her athletes develop from immature teenagers to adults.
