Sports

UBC Okanagan head men's basketball coach Darren Semeniuk has stepped down.

Photo: Contributed - UBC Okanagan

After seven seasons Heat men’s basketball coach Darren Semeniuk steps down from his position to stay closer to his family. (Photo: Rob Brown)

The announcement was made Tuesday by UBCO Director of Athletics and Recreation, Rob Johnson.

Semeniuk, citing family reasons, decided to hand over the reins after completing his seventh year at the helm.

“My wife and I have three young kids and they are getting to the age where they are  very active and I just don’t want to spend that much time away from them on the weekends – the time that they are the busiest,” says Semeniuk.

“I felt my passion being redirected and I need to do both right, which is why I made the choice to step down.”

Johnson says he's not surprised by the decision.

“Anyone who knows the Semeniuks, knows value they place on “family” – it is one of the reasons they are such good coaches," says Johnson.

However, Johnson regrets losing the most successful men’s basketball coach in the campus’s  history.

In the British Columbia Collegiate Athletic Association for six years, Darren’s teams earned four provincial medals (1 gold, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze) and three straight trips to the national championships while compiling a league record of 63 wins and 38 losses.

In his first year of Canada West competition, Semeniuk’s team exceeded expectations winning three games with a squad comprised completely of CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) first year players.

“When Darren started, we competed in the Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA) and he took our men’s basketball program to national prominence in just two years,” explains Johnson.  “Throughout the CIS application process and through our first season of competition at that level, I was very happy with how he was building his program."

According to Johnson, a national search for a successor to Semeniuk will be conducted with the expectation of having a new head coach named as soon as possible.