Isaak first female athletic director at University of Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2024 (766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cara Isaak had a career as a scientist before she found her true calling.

The 36-year-old Winnipegger, who earned a PhD in Physiology and Pathophysiology at the University of Manitoba, has been hired as the new athletic director at the University of Winnipeg.

Isaak, the first woman to hold the position at the downtown school’s campus, starts her new gig Aug. 12 after four years as the athletic director at Canadian Mennonite University. She replaces Dave Crook, who is retiring after nine years on the job.

“Coming out of high school I loved science and I wanted to do research and I want to work in a lab — this was my path,” explained Isaak earlier this week. “And so I did a degree in genetics, which is one of the most fascinating subjects and then entered the master’s program and was loving it. It is so great. And then got a couple years into research and it was like, ‘I don’t think I’m cut out for that.’”

Isaak, who worked in the U of W’s recreation department for several years before joining CMU, found her comfort zone in athletics.

After playing varsity soccer at the U of M and twice earning academic all-Canadian status, she went on to serve as an assistant coach of the Bisons and added various youth soccer and futsal experience to her coaching resume.

She was also head soccer coach at CMU, which is a member of the Manitoba College Athletic Conference.

Guiding a U of W program with five Canada West teams participating in U Sports competition should be a natural progression.

“It’s definitely going to be a learning curve,” said Isaak. “I think that having full-time coaches is going to be a little bit of a switch for me. There’s going to be a lot more need to have really good communication strategies about our games and everything like that.

“You’re obviously on a bigger stage and it’s going to be a little bit more work in terms of advocating for your program and making sure resources are used well.”

Isaak expects to lean on the expertise of veteran coaches such as Alyssa Cox (women’s basketball), Mike Raimbault (men’s basketball) and Phil Hudson (women’s volleyball).

“I think you’ve got to ask people with experience the questions and take as much as you can from them and learn as much as you can,” said Isaak. “So I really hope that I can have that as a resource. And then part of it I think will be testing it out and maybe trying out some new ideas. I’m sure, with folks like (associate AD) Tom Nicholson around, they’ll be quick to tell me what are good ideas and which aren’t gonna fly.”

Nicholson is expecting great things.

“With all her knowledge and experience working at CMU and actually working at U of W, I think she has a good knowledge of how we do things here,” said Nicholson. “But I think with her experience at CMU and just her overall other experiences, I think she’ll be a great fit for us in terms of just bringing a different energy and outside perspective on our department.”

One avenue of improvement is already underway: Cox recently resurrected the Junior Wesmen female basketball program, which should enhance the profile of her program.

“There are so many stories there, right?” said Isaak. “You’ve got coaches doing amazing things. We’ve got student athletes that are excelling on the court, getting straight As, that are giving back to their communities. And I’d really like to be hitting on those and making sure that that everyone in Winnipeg is hearing about them is going to be big. But I think the success is there, you’ve just got to showcase it.”

Nicholson, who has served in his current post since 2009 and has worked with four previous athletic directors, all promoted from within, said Isaak will bring new energy.

“We as a university athletic department kind of have to be the spearhead of changes in society and reflecting change in society, and making sure people kind of see the value in athletics as well…” he said. “Her role is going to (involve) incorporating inclusivity in our department with truth and reconciliation as a large part of it. Diversity is another large part of it, but also to show people that athletics does have a value in university setting.”

CMU will be hosting women’s national college championship in 2026 and Isaak sees an opportunity at the U of W to host major events, albeit on a larger scale.

Generating excitement for Wesmen programs, helped by a renewal of the cross-town rivalry with the U of M, would be just fine with the Bisons grad.

“The reason I went to U of M was purely based on program, it wasn’t that I thought that they were the better option or something like that,” said Isaak. “They had the genetics program that I was really interested in and playing soccer there was an added bonus. So yeah, I think (the rivalry) will be interesting. I can cheer against them. That’s fine. I’ll be OK.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca