Media releases

• Badgers basketball fired up for big home playoff games

  Thursday, February 23, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 21 February 2017 – R00038

  Brock Badgers women’s basketball coach Ashley MacSporran is tired of hearing people say this was a rebuilding year for her team.

  The proof that isn’t the case will come Wednesday night when the Badgers host the first women’s basketball playoff game at Bob Davis Gymnasium in three years.

  “When you have girls who buy in and believe, some great things happen. I believed in them all along. We’re very talented,” MacSporran said Tuesday after her team’s final practice before hosting the Lakehead Thunderwolves Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

  The first-round matchup is the first in a pair of Ontario University Athletics playoff home games for Brock Sports this week. The Badgers men earned a first-round bye, but will host a quarter-final contest against a yet-to-be-determined opponent Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.

  MacSporran is hoping for a loud home crowd when Lakehead rolls into town.
  Both games come during Brock’s reading week, when most students are off campus, but minor basketball players from across Niagara have been invited to watch the games.

  Both Brock and Lakehead posted 8-11 records this season. They also split their two head-to-head matchups, Brock winning 92-84 on Jan. 13 and Lakehead winning the next night 71-47.

  “Our first game against them up there we played really well,” MacSporran said. “The second night their zone was a big problem for us. We struggled to score and became very stationary. (But) we needed a loss like that for us to come back and refocus. We became tougher in that moment and we’re excited to redeem that game, especially against Lakehead.”

  Wednesday’s winner will advance to the OUA quarter-finals Saturday night. The Critelli Cup women’s basketball championship tournament, named after Brock Sports Assistant Director Chris Critelli, will be held March 3-4.

  The men’s OUA final four championship will also be held that weekend. To get there, the Brock Badgers must win their quarter-final game at home this Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.

  The Badgers men, ranked fourth in the country with a 15-4 record, earned a first-round bye and will host the winner of the first-round matchup between fifth-ranked Toronto (11-8) and 12th-ranked Lakehead (6-13).

  Saturday will be Brock’s first quarter-final at home since 2008, which was the last time they won the national crown.

  Coach Charles Kissi said his team has been preparing for either opponent.

  “We’re still continuing to focus on us. We have a lot to improve without having to worry about someone else right now,” said Kissi, whose team beat Toronto and split its two-game series against Lakehead this season.

  Because of the reading week break, the Badgers are able to spend more time practising than usual.

  “We’re encouraging our guys to stay caught up (with school) and not completely shut down, but it helps in terms of practice. If anything, reading week helps them be more dialed in,” Kissi said.

  Carleton, Ottawa and Ryerson — the first-, third- and fifth-ranked teams in the country — are hosting the other quarter-final playoff games Saturday. The 2017 men’s national championships will be held March 9-12 in Halifax, where the Brock Badgers won their first national title 25 years ago.

  Tickets for both Badgers basketball home playoff games are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and non-Brock students. Tickets are free for Brock students and can be picked up at the Walker Complex welcome desk in advance.

  Free parking will be provided at Brock University for both games in Parking Lots B and S.
   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
   
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock profs win two of 10 prestigious national 3M teaching awards

  Thursday, February 16, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 15 February 2017  – R00036

  Brock University professors have won two of this year’s 3M National Teaching Fellowships. Considered Canada’s most prestigious prize for teaching excellence at the university level, only 10 are given out nation-wide each year.

  Tim O’Connell is a Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Nicola Simmons is an Assistant Professor of Education.
   
  O’Connell was humbled by the honour, but quickly acknowledged the work of his students, colleagues and Brock’s administration for their contributions to his classroom success.
   
  “It really is a group effort,” he said. “I don’t think you can be a good educator without having great people to work with. There are a lot of people behind this.”
   
  O’Connell, who joined Brock in 2006, has received significant praise for co-founding the BaseCamp leadership program, where novice students with little experience in outdoor recreation are teamed with senior students for five days of hiking, canoeing and rock climbing that help foster student success and confidence. It’s a model that has been adopted as a best practice by other Canadian universities.
   
  Simmons, in the Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education, has also made her mark on the country’s educational landscape. She established Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Canada, chaired the Educational Developers’ Caucus, and served as vice-president for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
   
  Simmons, who began her post-secondary teaching career in 1986, continues to use innovative methods to engage students. Her approach may lead students to rewrite a course reading as a free verse poem, build with Lego in order to consider the connection between theory and practice, or examine the learner experience by participating in a martial arts class.
   
  While both winners like to take unconventional approaches in the classroom, they said it’s their campus support systems that allow those innovative methods to succeed.
   
  “You can’t teach or lead if there aren’t people willing to come along with you,” Simmons said. She feels the 3M Award also celebrates the trust shown to educators in the classroom.
   
  Anna Lathrop, Brock’s Vice-Provost, Teaching, Learning & Student Success praised Simmons and O’Connell for their outstanding contributions to the University.
   
  “It’s clearly a reflection of not only their dedication within the classroom, but also how they have enriched the culture of teaching across the Brock campus, thereby contributed to the scholarship of teaching and learning both provincially and nationally,” she said.
  “I can’t think of two more eminently deserving faculty members.”
   
  The selection of two of Brock’s faculty to win this award in a single year clearly demonstrates Brock’s emphasis on teaching excellence and student-centred learning, Lathrop said.
   
  “Ensuring a fantastic student experience is a key goal at Brock and great teaching is central to that end,” said Tom Dunk, Interim Provost and Vice-President, Academic.
   
  O’Connell and Simmons are “keeping Brock’s tradition of pedagogical excellence alive and well,” he said. “We are all extremely proud of them and grateful for their dedication and commitment to their craft.”
   
  Since 1989, Brock faculty members have won 11 of the 3M Awards, ranking in the top 5 among all Ontario universities.

  The 3M National Teaching Fellowship awards will be presented at the June STLHE conference in Halifax. The recipients will gather again for five days in Quebec in November to discuss teaching strategies and to potentially champion a project together.
   
  “This is just such a gift,” Simmons said, excited to work with her fellow recipients. “It’s a gift rather than an award.”
   
  Brock University 3M Fellows
  2017: Tim O’Connell, Recreation; Nicola Simmons, Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education
  2010: Zopito Marini, Child and Youth Studies
  2007: David DiBattista, Psychology
  2004: Lorne Adams, Physical Education and Kinesiology; John Mitterer, Psychology
  2003: Maureen Connolly, Sport Management
  2001: Anna Lathrop, Physical Education
  2000: Barry Joe, Communications, Popular Culture and Film; Germanic and Slavic Studies
  1991: Donald Ursino, Biological Studies
  1989: Clarke Thomson, Geography
   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
   
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases