Guelph, Ont. – After 16 seasons of leading the University of Guelph Gryphons women's hockey program, Rachel Flanagan will be taking a one-year leave of absence from the program to pursue a coaching opportunity in the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) with the Toronto franchise as an assistant coach.
 
Flanagan's time with the Gryphons included three OUA championship titles (2015-16, 2016-17, and 2018-19) as well as a U SPORTS title in 2018-19, the first national title in program history for the U of G women's hockey team.
 
"I am grateful for the incredible opportunity to have coached and represented the Gryphons," said Flanagan. "It has been a long time coming for women's hockey to have a pro league that I feel is sustainable with all the resources women's hockey players need to be professionals. I am very excited and proud to be a part of this new league."

 

Current associate coach, Katie Mora, will be the acting head coach of the Gryphons women's hockey team for the 2023-24 season. Mora, a Guelph native, has been with the Gryphons for eight seasons as a coach (2016-present) after having played fives season as a Gryphon student-athlete (2010-2015). Mora is a recent assistant coach of the FISU gold medal winning Canadian women's hockey team and was a Quest for Gold coaching recipient. She is embedded in the City of Guelph hockey community working closely with the Guelph Girls Hockey Association (GGHA) the last number of years on skills, training and development.
 
Describing the decision to leave her Gryphon squad as challenging, Flanagan said.
 
"It is hard to leave a team knowing that they are such a great group of women with a strong culture. I think they are going to do well this year. The team is in good hands with Katie at the helm. It's a great opportunity for her to take the next step in her coaching journey and I'm excited for this group to reach the heights that I know they are capable of."
 
Flanagan has been named the OUA women's hockey coach of the year five times and was twice named the OUA women's coach of the year (from across all OUA sports) in 2017 and 2019. The Pontypool native played for Guelph for five seasons as a student-athlete and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2003.
 
On the International stage, Flanagan has worked with both the Canadian National Development Team (2010, 2011, 2021, 2022, 2023) and the Senior National Team (2022, 2023). Most recently, she was on the bench with Hockey Canada's Development team for a three-game series against the U.S. in Lake Placid and will join the Senior National Team this winter for another USA/Canada Rivalry Series event. At the World University Games she won silver as head coach in 2017 and also earned a gold as an assistant coach in 2013.
 
"We are grateful for Rachel and everything she has done for Gryphon hockey and our student-athletes," said University of Guelph, Director of Athletics Scott McRoberts. "Wins and losses aside, Rachel embodies the very best of what Gryphon Athletics is all about. She has our full support to pursue this exciting opportunity."
 
Gryphon associate coach Katie Mora will serve as the acting head coach during the one-year period, while assistant coach Scott Driscoll and goalie coach Katie Greenway will remain with the team. Former Gryphon hockey player, Meagan Lee, has been added to the coaching roster as an assistant coach and Flanagan remains with the team in an advisory role.
 
The newly formed PWHL features three teams in Canada and three teams in the U.S. The Canadian teams are located in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa while the American franchises are in Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and New York. The season schedule will be announced in the coming months. It is expected to run from early January through late May. For more information on the PWHL visit their league page online.