{{short description|Canadian volleyball coach}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Doug Reimer | image = | current_title = Head coach | current_team = UBC Thunderbirds | current_conference = Canada West | current_record = {{Winning percentage|359|97|record=y}} | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1961}}<ref name="47 in 2008">{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-province/20080601/282235186405133 |title=Great Wall, greater season |publisher=The Province |last=Tsumura |first=Howard |date=June 1, 2008 |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> | birth_place = Kelowna, British Columbia | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = University of Victoria | coach_years1 = 1985–1987 | coach_team1 = Victoria Vikettes (HC) | coach_years2 = {{Abbr|1992–1994|Reimer may have coached more years at Winnipeg, but these two seasons have been confirmed}} | coach_team2 = Winnipeg Wesmen (HC) | coach_years3 = 1994–1997 | coach_team3 = UBC Thunderbirds (HC) | coach_years4 = 1996–2000 | coach_team4 = Team Canada (HC) | coach_years5 = 2000–present | coach_team5 = UBC Thunderbirds (HC) | overall_record = | tournament_record = | championships = 11x National Champion (1993, 2008–2013, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024)<br> 8x Canada West Champion (1986, 1987, 2006, 2009–2011, 2013, 2014)<br> Canada Games Gold Medal winner (1989) | awards = 5x U Sports Coach of the Year (1986, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2010) }}
'''Doug Reimer''' (born 1961) is the head coach for the UBC Thunderbirds' women's volleyball team and is a former volleyball player. As a head coach, he has won the U Sports women's volleyball championship 11 times (once with the Winnipeg Wesmen and ten with the Thunderbirds) and has been named the U Sports women's volleyball coach of the year five times.<ref name="UBCbio">{{cite web|url=https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/doug-reimer/542 |title=Doug Reimer |publisher=UBC Thunderbirds |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref><ref name="COTY">{{cite web|url=https://usports.ca/uploads/cis/Awards/sports_awards/2019_-_2020/WVB/WVB_-_COTY.pdf |title=Marilyn Pomfret Award (Fox 40 coach of the year) |publisher=U Sports |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref>
==Playing career== Reimer played CIAU men's volleyball for the Victoria Vikes where he was named an All-Canadian setter twice and won the school's top student-athlete award.<ref name="coach profile">{{cite web|url=https://volleyball.ca/en/news/coach-profile-doug-reimer |title=Coach profile: Doug Reimer |work=Volleyball Canada |publisher=volleyball.ca |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref>
==Coaching career== Reimer began his coaching career as the head coach for the Vikettes for the 1985–86 season where he led the team to a 15–0 regular season record, a Canada West title, and was named the CIAU coach of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canadawest_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/Volleyball-Women/YIR/vbw_1985-86.pdf |title=Volleyball 1985-86 |publisher=Canada West |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> In the 1986–87 season, the Vikettes again won the Canada West title and finished in fourth place in the 1987 Women's Volleyball Championship tournament.<ref name="Championship results">{{cite web|url=https://usports.ca/uploads/cis/Championships/WVB/WVB_Championship_Results.pdf |title=WVB championship results |publisher=U Sports |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> He then went on to coach Saskatchewan's women's team in the 1989 Canada Games to a gold medal win.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saskvolleyball.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Hall-of-Fame-1989-Team-SK-Womens-Canada-Games.pdf |title=1989 Women's Team SK Canada Games |publisher=saskvolleyball.ca |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> After his time in Saskatchewan, Reimer joined the Winnipeg Wesmen volleyball team as the head coach where he led them to a gold medal finish in the CIAU Women's Volleyball Championship tournament and his first national championship in 1993.<ref name="UBCbio"/><ref name="coach profile"/> He was also named coach of the year in 1993 and 1994.<ref name="COTY"/>
Reimer joined the UBC Thunderbirds program for the 1994–1995 season where he had an immediate impact as he led the team to their first national tournament appearance since 1991, but lost in the opening match to his former team, the Winnipeg Wesmen.<ref name="Championship results"/> The Thunderbirds won the Bronze medal over the Wesmen in 1996 and then won the silver medal in 1997 after losing to the Alberta Pandas in the championship match.<ref name="UBCbio"/><ref name="Championship results"/> He left UBC after that season to become the full-time head coach of Canada women's national volleyball team, but returned to UBC for the 2000–01 season.<ref name="UBCbio"/> Upon Reimer's return, the Thunderbirds regularly appeared in national championship tournaments, appearing every year in his first six years back where he won two silver medals and two bronze medals in that time span, including his fourth coach of the year win in 2006.<ref name="COTY"/><ref name="Championship results"/>
After an absence from nationals in 2007, Reimer and the Thunderbirds ended a 30-year drought by winning their first national championship since 1978 by winning the gold medal over the Montreal Carabins at the 2008 tournament.<ref name="Championship results"/> The Thunderbirds won the Canada West title and the national title again in 2009, becoming the first repeat champions since the 2001–02 Manitoba Bisons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://presto-en.usports.ca/sports/wvball/2008-09/releases/20090228-champ |title=CIS final: No. 2 UBC repeats as national champion |publisher=U Sports |date=February 28, 2009}}</ref> For the 2009–10 season, the Thunderbirds finished with a perfect 27–0 record against CIS opponents en route to their third consecutive national championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://presto-en.usports.ca/championships/wvball/2009-10/releases/20100307-final |title=FINAL: CIS championship: UBC 3-peats, ties all-time record |publisher=U Sports |date=March 7, 2010}}</ref> Reimer was named the coach of the year for the fifth time in his career, which is a U Sports record.<ref name="COTY"/> The Thunderbirds continued their dominance as Reimer led the team to three more titles as the six consecutive championships tied the U Sports volleyball record for the most title wins in a row.<ref name="Champs">{{cite web|url=https://presto-en.usports.ca/championships/wvball/2013/releases/final |title=FINAL: T-Birds make it a six-pack, tie national record |date=March 2, 2013 |access-date=April 4, 2021 |publisher=U Sports}}</ref> The Thunderbirds lost the gold medal match in the 2014 CIS Women's Volleyball Championship, which ended their streak at six.<ref name="Championship results"/> This period was also notable as Reimer had one of his players win the league's player of the year award for five straight seasons from 2010 to 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://usports.ca/uploads/cis/Awards/sports_awards/2019_-_2020/WVB/WVB_-_POTY.pdf |title=Mary Lyons Award (Play of the Year) |publisher=U Sports |access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref>
After finishing without a national medal in 2015 and 2016, Reimer once again led the Thunderbirds to a gold medal victory in the 2017 U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship which was his fourth championship win over the Alberta Pandas (Three with UBC and one with Winnipeg) and his eighth overall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://presto-en.usports.ca/championships/wvball/2017/releases/final |title=Thunderbirds claim 11th championship in program history with 3–1 triumph over rival Pandas |publisher=U Sports |date=March 19, 2017}}</ref> He won a bronze medal in 2018 and then made history as the 2018–19 Thunderbirds became the first eighth-seeded team to win a national championship with their 2019 gold medal win.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://usports.ca/en/championships/volleyball/f/news/2019/03/2230475171/final |title=Gold Medal Game: T-Birds flying again as national champions |work=U SPORTS |publisher=U Sports |date=March 18, 2019}}</ref> Reimer won his ninth national championship with this win. However, in the 2019–20 season, the Thunderbirds slumped to a 13–11 record where they lost to the Mount Royal Cougars in the Canada West Quarterfinals and failed to qualify for the national tournament for the first time since 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gothunderbirds.ca/news/2020/2/24/ubc-womens-volleyball-eliminated-from-canada-west-playoffs-with-game-3-loss.aspx |title=UBC women's volleyball eliminated from Canada West playoffs with Game 3 loss |publisher=UBC Thunderbirds |date=February 23, 2020}}</ref> Reimer did not coach in 2020–21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/university-athletics-high-school-scholarships-covid-1.5800837 |title=High school athletes struggle to score scholarships in COVID times |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=November 22, 2020}}</ref> In the 2022–23 season, the Thunderbirds lost in the conference quarter-finals, but qualified for the 2023 national tournament since they were the host team. Reimer led his team to another national championship as he won his tenth as a head coach.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://universitysport.prestosports.com/sports/wvball/2022-23c/boxscores/20230319_j0jk.xml |title=Women's volleyball |access-date=March 19, 2023 |website=usports.ca |publisher=U Sports}}</ref> In 2023–24, the Thunderbirds finished first in the Canada West regular season with a 22–2 record, but lost the conference title game to the Manitoba Bisons. In the 2024 championship tournament, Reimer and the Thunderbirds repeated as champions for the first time since 2013.<ref name=2024Champs>{{cite web|url=https://usports.ca/en/sports/volleyball/f/news/2024/03/1208846607/ubc-captures-fourteenth-national-title-crowned-u-sports-champions-for-second-straight-year |title=UBC captures fourteenth national title, crowned U Sports Champions for second-straight year |date=March 17, 2024 |website=usports.ca |publisher=U Sports}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/doug-reimer/542 UBC Thunderbirds profile]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reimer, Doug}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian men's volleyball players Category:Canadian volleyball coaches Category:Sportspeople from Kelowna Category:UBC Thunderbirds coaches Category:University of Victoria alumni Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen Category:U Sports coaches