Years at Hawaii 1.3 years as of January 1, 2002

‘88 MPE Coaching Science University of British Columbia (Canada)

‘84 BPE Phys. Ed / Math University of British Columbia (Canada)

Track is back! … After a 16-year hiatus, the University of Hawaii has re-entered the NCAA sport battleground. To launch the new mission, a fresh new commander was recruited with a multi-year mission of sport excellence ... Carmyn James now leads the Rainbow Wahine out from the lush green rainbow valley of Manoa and on to the beaches of Waikiki to "catch the wave" into the 21^st Century.

The internationally seasoned James inherited the brand new women’s track program in October of 2000 and also assumed the helm of the school’s cross country program from a retiring Johnny Faerber who had led the Wahine since the 70’s. Carmyn brings a wealth of knowledge at the international and national sport levels and blends this with a thorough understanding of the academic challenges facing today’s student athlete. Coach James’ life-long involvement in sport and education will now serve as the platform from which to launch the Wahine towards a truly great sport program.

James comes to Hawaii as an accomplished Head Coach from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), where for 12 years, her squads consistently placed amongst the top 10 schools in the country. She also served on the Board of Directors for Athletics Canada and as the president of the Canadian University Coaches Association. As the Head Coach and later President of the Vancouver based Kajaks Track &Field Club, Carmyn gained valuable skills leading one of Canada’s finest sport Clubs and a strong core of outstanding international coaches and athletes. This club traditionally contributes many members to Canada’s national teams.

Besides coaching at the varsity and club levels in Canada Carmyn was appointed to many provincial and national team-coaching staffs. And, as a result of her outstanding leadership skills Carmyn became the FIRST FEMALE to be named Head Coach of a Canadian National team which she served three times. Twice she was in command of the Espoir Team (the 23 & under team in 1992 and the under 25 team in 2000) and in 1995 she led the National Senior team to the World Championships in Goeteburg Sweden where Canada had it’s best ever performance.

Off the track and away from the board rooms Carmyn spent much of her "free" time coaching coaches at the local, national and international levels. As a sessional instructor at the University of British Columbia she taught Introductory Track & Field to the students in Human Kinetics. Within the National Coaching Certification Program of Canada and the International Amateur Athletics Federation Carmyn served as both a course conductor and master coach to coaches in Advanced Track & Field. As a result of her sport science knowledge, unique coaching experiences and public speaking ability, Carmyn was often asked to give talks at conferences throughout North America and the Caribbean.

From a very modest beginning in the Spring of 2001, the team immediately produced 6 school records and several diverse WAC Conference finalists at 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 3k Steeple Chase, Shot Put, Heptathlon and 2 in the High Jump. In addition, 3 WAC medals were won (5k, 10k and HJ) and its 1^st Conference Champion was crowned in Cheryl Smith at the 10,000m. Cheryl went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships, ranked 16^th and finishing 12^th in Oregon.

Carrying this momentum into the recent 2001 Cross-Country Season, the women chiseled out their finest season EVER in the program’s long history. The Rainbow Wahines won several team titles in the regular season with big results coming in a 4^th place finish at the Stanford Invitational as they bowed to host Stanford and nationally ranked Arkansas and Wisconsin. The team went on to win the Division 1 Team Title at Oregon’s historic Willamette Invitational. A narrow miss at the 3^rd place team award at the WAC Championship (1 pt. from 3^rd / 22 pts. From 1^st), the Wahine went on to finish 10^th at the very tough NCAA West Regional Championships. Cheryl Smith (8^th) and Casey McGuire-Turcotte (20^th ) were awarded "All NCAA West" status. Casey just missed an individual berth to the NCAA Championships by one position and Cheryl Smith went on to rewrite UH history. She became Hawaii’s first ever NCAA X-C representative and the first ever NCAA Cross-Country All-American with her 15^th place effort out of 255 women that went to the start line.

Please stay tuned … this is only chapter one. With a brilliant new track & field facility scheduled for completion at UH in the summer of 2002, Coach James now invites all to consider joining a tremendous new program as the sun rises again on Hawaii’s sandy shores. Come catch the wave!

• Level 4/5 Coach in the National Coaching Certification Program of Canada (1993)
• Master of Physical Education Degree in Coaching Science (U of British Columbia, 1988)
• Bachelor of Physical Education Degree with a Math Concentration (UBC, 1984)

• International Athletes Coached

• University Athletes Coached

• Provincial Athletes Coached

• Other Sports

• Head Coach, Canadian National Teams:

• Assistant Head Coach, Canadian National Team:

• Jumps, Throws &/or Relays Coach, Canadian National Teams:

• Head Coach, BC Provincial Teams at National Games:

• Head Coach & Power/Speed Coach, BC Provincial Teams at National Junior & Senior Championships (1985-2000)
• Head Coach, University of British Columbia Track & Field Team (1988-2000)

• Head Coach, Kajaks Track & Field Club (1988-1993)
• Jumps Coach, Kajaks Track & Field Club (1985-2000)

• Newly elected to the Board of Directors of the North American, Central American & Caribbean Coaches Association (October, 2001)
• Member of the Board of Directors, Athletics Canada (1999-2000)

• President, Canadian University T&F Coaches Association (1997-2000)
• President, Canada West T&F Coaches Association (1996-1997)
• National Development Chairman, Horizontal Jumps (1997-2000)
• National Jumps Coordinator (1992-1996)
• President, Kajaks Track & Field Club (1997-2000)

• Canadian University Coach of the Year (1994)

• Canadian 3M Coaching Award of Excellence (1993)
• BC Athletics Juvenile-Junior-Senior Committee Member (1986-2000)

• International Strength & Conditioning Conference, Vancouver BC

• Pemco All Sports Conference, Seattle WA (1999)

• BC Vollleyball Association Coaches Symposium, Vancouver BC

• IAAF Seminar for Women in Athletics, Puerto Rico (1998)

• CariSport International Coaching Conference, St Kitts (1998)

• Yukon Women in Sport/Recreation Conference, Whitehorse (1997)

• Sports Medicine Council of British Columbia Running Symposium (1997)

• Esteem Team Motivational Speaker (1995-2000)

• Contributor to British Columbia’s Premier’s Sports Awards Program (1996)
• Contributor to Athletics Canada’s Run Jump Throw Instructor’s Manual (1995)
• "Technical Training & Content Selection" Track & Field Journal (1989)

Hawaii is heaven … we’ve got ideal weather for training outdoor year round as well as great community and administrative support. Being a part of the NCAA provides our team with outstanding intercollegiate competition and being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean provides our team with international competitive opportunities too. Academically our school offers a wide variety of programs to choose from and culturally we have a great mixture of students from around the world.

You bet … my friends now call me "Big Wave James" and on Friday nights I can be found sailing at sunset along the beaches of Waikiki. I love it here!!

Other Questions still to come:

Who has influenced your approach to coaching?

What do you look for in an athlete who joins your program?

What do you want to see from a student athlete over a 4-5 year period?

What are the biggest challenges facing today’s student athlete?