Dalhousie University’s Executive Director of Athletics & Recreation Tim Maloney is pleased to announce Tanya McKay as the new head coach of the Dalhousie Tigers women’s basketball team.
McKay comes to the Tigers with a long history of success at university, provincial and national levels.
The head coach of the Winnipeg Wesmen women’s basketball team from 1996-2022, she recently guided her to team silver medal finish at the 2022 U SPORTS Final 8 Women’s Basketball Championship in Kingston, Ontario. In her 26 years as head coach, she has led the Wesmen to two silver (2002-03 & 2004-05) and two bronze (2001-2002 & 2003-04) medals at the national championship. She was also an assistant coach with the team in the 1992-93 season when they won national gold. McKay comes to the Tigers with a U SPORTS career coaching record of 526-305.
The 2016-17 Canada West Coach of the Year, McKay has accrued four second and two third place finishes at the Canada West conference championships.
A 10-time Basketball Manitoba provincial team coach, she led the U17 team to a national championship win in 2014 and the U21 team to a silver medal at the 1999 Canada Basketball national championship.
The 2014 Basketball Manitoba Coach of the Year, she guided Team Manitoba’s Western Canada Summer Games basketball team to a silver medal in 1995 and a bronze in 2003.
An NCCP Level 4 coach with an NCI diploma, McKay has experience coaching at the national level, serving as an assistant coach for Canada’s World Universiade team in 1999 and in 2000 as an assistant coach with Canada Basketball’s junior national team at the World Francophone Games.
“We are thrilled to have Tanya come back home to lead our women’s basketball program,” says Maloney. “Her wealth of experience combined with her ability to build a high-performance culture and remain student-athlete centered is a combination we are excited about.”
Originally from Sackville, Nova Scotia, McKay (nee MacKenzie) played for the Wesmen from 1986 to 1991 while completing a Bachelor of Arts. During her five seasons, she was a three-time CIS All-Canadian and GPAC all-star. The 1988-89 GPAC Player of the Year, she was the rookie of the year in 1986-87. She was inducted to the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2003.
“I am very excited and honoured to have the opportunity to be the next head coach of the Dalhousie Tigers women’s basketball program. Returning home to Nova Scotia and coaching on the courts I grew up on is an unbelievable feeling. I am beyond thankful for the many years at the University of Winnipeg as a player, as a Mom and as a coach for the past 36 years.
As I look ahead to a new chapter in my coaching career at such a prestigious academic intuition as Dalhousie University, I am eager to get going with the team and work alongside Tim’s incredible high performance athletic department. The work starts right away but I also know I am joining something very special. Words cannot describe how I am feeling. Go Tigers!”
She also earned a Bachelor of Education in 1996 from the University of Winnipeg and taught from 2004 to 2019 at University of Winnipeg Collegiate and within the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Winnipeg.
McKay will begin her stint with the Tigers May 1, 2022.