Experienced. Demanding. Respected.

That's how Matt White, head coach of the women's basketball team, describes Charlene Camillo.

It's these qualities — plus a stellar application — that netted Camillo, associate coach of the women's basketball team, a spot in the Canadian College Athletic Association Female Apprentice Coach Program, which comes with a grant for the athletics department.

“I was really honoured to be part of the coaching staff last year and it was great to come back again this year,” said Camillo. “It's even better (because) we've been awarded this grant.”

The grant is given to 20 female associate coaches across Canada. “It's an opportunity to be compensated for coaching, which few positions in our country allow,” said White.

The program aims to promote female coaches in Canada's schools, with the ultimate goal of having at least one female staff member on the coaching team of all women's sport programs. The grant is used for professional development opportunities in coaching education and for the apprentice coach's operational costs.

Camillo said she plans to use the grant to attend some coaching clinics and to travel to do some recruiting for the basketball team.

This is the third time an associate coach from Fanshawe has been given the grant in the past 10 years.

“This is fabulous,” said Mike Lindsay, manager of athletics. “Certainly, Canada's weakness is not enough female coaches. We've been very fortunate to take advantage of the grant, and it's wonderful to have the money to support the development of female coaching.”

Camillo has extensive experience as a coach and as a player, which White said helped her earn respect from the Fanshawe team. She volunteered as a coach in high school and university, coaching tennis and badminton in addition to basketball. As a player, she burned up the courts with the UWO Women's Mustang team from 2003 to 2005, then with Team Ontario in 2006.

As associate coach, Camillo works under the tutelage of White. “I know Charlene has a great mentor in Matt White, and she's going to learn a lot — and has learned a lot,” said Lindsay. White was voted the Ontario College Athletic Association coach of the year for the past two years.

“We're certainly looking for more of the good she did last year,” said White. “I think this opportunity with the grant is one that will expand her role ... to include some recruiting, skill development and more practice playing in game preparations.”