Former Bison Sports Athletic Director and women's basketball head coach Coleen Dufresne was inducted into the 2017 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Dufresne is part of group of five athletes, three builders and one team that will be inducted on November 4, 2017 at the 38th Annual Induction Ceremony at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg.
The 2017 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees are: Sandra Carroll - Basketball, Athlete; Jaimie Dawson - Badminton, Athlete; Coleen Dufresne - All Round, Builder; Wayne HIildahl - Sport Medicine/Special Olympics, Builder; Arthur (Art) Johnston* - Golf, Builder *Posthumous; Jamie (HANCHARYK) Jones - All Round, Athlete; Cindy Klassen - Speed Skating, Athlete; Bob Kraemer - All Round, Athlete; 1995 Kelly MacKenzie Team - Curling, Team.
Dufresne retired in August 2016, after serving as athletic director for the Manitoba Bisons since 2001. Dufresne has overseen the addition of Bison women's soccer program to the list of U SPORTS varsity sports offered at the U of M. She was also at the helm while four Bison teams won CIS championships and nine conference championships. Prior to her executive role, she was head coach of the women's basketball team at Manitoba (1984-2001) and UNB (1980-84), winning three U SPORTS championships with the Bisons in 1988, 1996 and 1997 and earning national Coach of the Year honours in 1983, 1988 and 1998. Dufresne has also attended six Universiades, a pair of World University Championships and has served on the FISU Executive Committee as well as the U SPORTS Board of Directors. In addition, Dufresne was named as U SPORTS 2017 Austin-Matthews Award winner, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to interuniversity sport.
"These eight individuals and one team join an exclusive club of Manitoba's finest in sport," says Jamie Kraemer, Chair of the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors. "We strive to collect, preserve, celebrate and showcase the history and heritage of sport excellence and achievement and these eight recipients and one team have earned their place in Manitoba's sport history. Collectively with those we honoured back in April at Sport Manitoba's Night of Champions in our Veteran Induction, 2017 is an exceptional slate!"
