McCullough Named OCAA Administrator of the Year

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is proud to announce that Gillian McCullough of Seneca Polytechnic has been named its 2023-24 Athletic Administrator of the Year.

McCullough has been Seneca's Director of Athletics and Recreation since 2018 and has led the department with integrity and dedication throughout this period. The OCAA relies on the steadfast support of its volunteers, and under McCullough's direction, Seneca continually sets a positive example for the association.

During the 2023-24 season, Seneca played host to the OCAA Men's Baseball Championship, the OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, the OCAA Indoor Soccer Championships and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Badminton National Championships. It takes a great amount of planning, organization and teamwork by a host school in making each championship a success.

Administratively, McCullough serves as a member of the OCAA Eligibility Committee, and is supportive of Seneca employees taking on volunteer roles on committees and as convenors within the OCAA. Shannon Wright serves as the Women's Soccer and Indoor Soccer Convenor; John Sharpe is the Women's Softball Convenor in addition to serving on several committees; Ryan Phipps is on the Marketing Committee; Steve Kopas is the Lead Therapist on the Therapy and Performance Advisory Committee; and Jay McNeilly is part of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

McCullough leads an ongoing academic success program at Seneca which helps student-athletes stay on their academic track to graduation; a varsity study area provides a place and computers for athletes to study. More than 87 per cent of Seneca's student athletes progress from semester to semester, while a quarter of its student-athletes earn academic honours and receive additional financial awards in recognition of their achievements. One-on-one varsity support from athletic staff assists student-athletes in navigating their Seneca journey.

On the field of play, the Seneca Sting became the first-ever women's soccer program in the OCAA to win a CCAA championship spanning 32 seasons. Seneca also captured a pair of national bronze badminton medals in women's singles and men's doubles. Overall, Seneca captured seven OCAA medals including provincial titles in women's soccer, women's indoor soccer and badminton women's singles.

During the last few months, Seneca has relocated its athletic operations from the Newnham Campus in North York to the King Campus in King City, as the polytechnic has undertaken the initiative to build a new athletic facility at Newnham. McCullough has taken on the additional responsibility of overseeing the design and building process for the new facility.

McCullough demonstrated exceptional leadership in supporting the inclusion of transgender varsity student-athletes at Seneca. McCullough created, guided and nurtured a community of care and belonging in support of staff, student-athletes and coaches and set an example of perseverance through a tumultuous period.

McCullough previously worked at York University, first as Manager, Inter-university Sport, then Associate Director, Athletics. McCullough is currently working on a master's degree.

Source: OCAA Communications