Rikki Bowles Academy of Sport Biography

Rikki Bowles was announced as the full-time head coach of the McGill University women's basketball team on May 25, 2021 after serving the previous year in the role of interim bench boss for the 2020-21 campaign that ended up being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic..

She replaced Ryan Thorne, who took over the men's program.

Originally from East Farnham, Que., Bowles had served eight seasons over two terms as an assistant with the team, including the last two years as a full-time associate coach. During that period, the Martlets won six Quebec conference crowns and the 2017 Bronze Baby national championship, while posting a formidable 93-35 regular season record and a 173-96 mark overall.

Bowles, who also served as head coach at College Brébeuf in 2010-11 and at Vanier College in 2017-18, in addition to a stint as an assistant with the Quebec provincial under-15 program in 2013-14.

A McGill graduate who earned a physical education degree in 2010, Bowles spent five seasons as a guard with the Martlets and was a team captain in her senior year.

After graduating from McGill, Bowles became a full-time physical education teacher and head coach at The Study, a private high school in the Greater Montreal Athletic Association. She returned to McGill as an assistant coach from 2011 to 2017 before taking the coaching role at Vanier. The following season, she was appointed as a full-time associate coach at McGill.

Prior to studying at McGill she played CEGEP ball at John Abbott College, graduating in 2005.

The full-time appointment of Bowles as an associate coach with the Martlets basketball program was part of McGill's Women in Sport initiative, established in 2018 after a transformative gift from long-time benefactors, David Kerr (BSc '65) and Sheryl Kerr (BCom'67), designed to support the advancement of women as athletes, coaches and decision-makers.

Bowles is the sixth full-time women's coach in McGill varsity sports history and the second one for the basketball program. That select group includes Rachele Beliveau (volleyball, 1991-present) and Lisen Moore (basketball, 1996 to 2003), in addition to assistant coaches Chelsea Grills (hockey, 2013-14), Alyssa Cecere (hockey, 2014-present) and Kelsey Wilson (soccer, 2018-present).

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