Badminton's Matt Plachta named OCAA Coach of the Year

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Matt Plachta, head coach of Fanshawe's badminton team, was named OCAA Coach of the Year.

Head coach of Fanshawe’s badminton team, Matt Plachta was named Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA)’s Coach of the Year after taking his team all the way to the OCAA West Regional Championships.

“I was very surprised, not that I am not happy to win it, it’s just there are so many good coaches in Ontario, it is a nice surprise to be recognized by everyone else in my position across all the schools,” Plachta said.

At the championships, Plachta managed to coach the team to second place overall, the best finish that the team has seen since the 2006–2007 season.

“I am very happy for the team, a lot of them played really well throughout the season and had a great regional championship,” Plachta said. “They were all pushing each other to play really well, I am glad I get a little recognition for all of their hard work.”

As for the team’s success story this past season, Plachta credits the fact that they had a lot of returning players.

“We were able to step up their training… we had a lot of athletes returning who already knew what it took to compete at this level.”

Plachta also had a specific focus on conditioning for the team, bringing in outside help to with the external training.

“We brought in Theresa Carriere to do external badminton training, just working on different body movements. The outside training outside of what our normal badminton training was the big difference this year.”

But Plachta wants to make sure that he doesn’t get all the congratulations for the award.

“It’s a team effort for the coaching staff itself, we sit down before the season starts and pick what we want to do as a staff and then make adjustments through out the year, I do want to pass on some of the congratulations to them as well because it’s not just me, I get the recognition, but it is the whole coaching stuff.”

According to Plachta, it is an award that symbolizes both how hard the coaching staff worked and how hard the team worked.

He also hopes that players who are interested in joining the team see this past year as evidence of what level the team can compete.

“Just knowing that [players] can come here and compete and win against what is considered a powerhouse area [in Toronto]; through our staff, training and facilities, we have the ability to compete.”