Hall of Fame
In a coaching career spanning 20 years from 1990-2010, Angela Orton was a pillar of the Gryphon women's basketball program. Her achievements include OUA west division coach of the year on four occasions, in addition to being selected OUA Coach of the Year in 2005. Orton's coaching prowess led the Gryphon team to finish with the best record in the OUA in 2004-05 and went on to win the first OUA women's basketball championship for the University of Guelph in 25 years. During her time as Head Coach, Orton helped 18 student athletes develop into OUA All-stars, two into CIS All-Canadians and 23 into Academic All-Canadians.
Orton came to the University of Guelph in 1988 with considerable experience in OUA and CIS basketball. A four-time OUA All-Star, and three-time CIS All Canadian, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science degree and captained the 1985-86 University of Toronto Blues to a CIS National Championship. In addition, she represented Canada on the Junior National and Canadian National Team from 1983-1988. In May 1999 she was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame based on her athletic accomplishments. In 2004, she was inducted for a second time, but on this occasion, as a member of the 1985-86 Varsity Blues Basketball team that captured the OUA and CIS titles. That year, Orton was selected team MVP.
Making the transition to coaching in 1986, Coach Orton started her coaching career at Seneca College, before arriving at the University of Guelph. She was a member of the Ontario Junior Women's Provincial Team Coaching Staff from 1991-97 and the Head Coach of the National Junior Championships Gold Medalists, Team Ontario, in 1994, 1995 and 1996. In 1997, she coached Team Ontario to a Silver Medal at the Canada Summer Games. During the summer of 1999, Orton was the Head Coach of the Canadian National Student Team, which placed seventh at the World University Games in Spain and fourth at the Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament in Taiwan.
In addition to her coaching duties, Orton was an instrumental figure in the development and growth of Gryphon Athletics. She held the position of Manager of Intercollegiate Programs in the for over 20 years. In this capacity, she was responsible for managing all day-to-day operations of the Intercollegiate program, overseeing the budgets and scheduling of 30 intercollegiate programs, serving as a mentor and resource for other varsity coaches, ensuring that teams met league compliance requirements and oversaw the department's Student Athlete Code of Conduct. She also represented the University of Guelph at OUA (Ontario University Athletics) and CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) meetings and served on committees to discuss sport policies and procedures, rule changes, regulations, and eligibility requirements for student athletes. Upon her retirement in 2018 she was highly respected as a mentor and trusted colleague within the OUA and U Sports and a trailblazer for Women in Sport within the Canadian sport landscape.
