Lee Anna Osei assumes X-Women basketball head coaching duties

ANTIGONISH, NS – StFX Athletics has announced that Lee Anna Osei has been hired as the new head coach of the women's basketball program.

StFX Director of Athletics & Recreation Leo MacPherson comments, "We are very excited to welcome Lee Anna Osei to the StFX family, she is a very compelling individual with a bright future.  We feel that she will be an excellent fit and do a great job leading our X-Women basketball program to new heights." 

The current women's basketball head coach of the The RISE Centre (TRC) Academy in Brantford, Ont. which offers peak programming for elite athletes, Osei has guided the women's program for the past year. She was recently awarded the 2018 Prep School Coach of the Year award, concluding the season as one of the youngest and most successful coaches in Canadian prep school basketball, amassing an 18-3 record in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association, Canada's first prep school program.

With 12 years of coaching experience under her belt, Osei founded the Canletes Basketball program in Toronto, providing services ranging from general sport specific fitness training, recruitment consulting, and showcase events. She is a former basketball skills trainer for Universal Hoops Canada and has several years of coaching experience at the Ontario provincial level for various girls and boys teams, most recently as an assistant coach with the Team Ontario U17 girls team who won silver at the 2017 Canada Games. In honour of Canada's 150th anniversary, Osei was selected as 1 of 150 women nationally who excel in their field, push for greater diversity and who help build vibrant communities in the 'HERSTORY in Black' series as televised by CBC News in February, 2017.

A graduate and former varsity athlete at Wilfrid Laurier University, Osei has also been a motivational speaker, in addition to her coaching duties and skill development training. She has been involved with the JUEL League of Ontario as a player evaluator and has extensive volunteer experience within the basketball circles of the Greater Toronto Area as a coach and mentor. While at Wilfrid Laurier, Osei was named an 'Outstanding Woman of Laurier', was an OUA all-star and was recognized as a four-time academic All-Canadian. She also competed for the University of Miami in the NCAA Division 1 level and at Trinity Valley C.C in Athens, Texas where her experiences have helped shape her coaching style and ability to mentor athletes.

Osei is very much looking forward to her latest coaching challenge as the head coach of the StFX X-Women, commenting "I am very humbled and excited to be joining the X family. This is an amazing opportunity and I believe StFX represents the same values that I have been raised on:  faith, teamwork, leadership, accountability, work ethic and excellence."

"I look forward to the challenge of building our women's basketball program to mirror the StFX Athletics motto of 'Leaders & Champions Live Here'. I am ecstatic to join a program that provides a premier experience for all of our students and has set a gold level standard across our varsity sports."

Osei will officially begin her StFX coaching duties on June 1, 2018.

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