Bartlett & Pacheco honoured with 2023 Coaching Awards

London, ON – As part of the 2023 Mustangs Honours Breakfast, the Sports & Recreation Department announce the winners of our Assistant Coach of the Year Award & our Head Coach of the Year award.

The Jack Fairs Award for excellence as a Head Coach is named after the legendary Mustangs coach who was part of the Mustangs community for over a half-century and his teams won 31 team titles and 21 singles titles in OUA.

This year’s recipient is Jeff Pacheco of the Mustangs Field Hockey team. Pacheco has been with the Mustangs for over 20 years, having consistently led his teams to success with a unique coaching style which is a blend of high performance and team belief. 

“To be associated with anything that bears the name of Jack Fairs means a lot. As a born and raised Londoner, knowing that Jack had so much success as a Western coach and saw the values and attributes he instilled in his athletes. To know that I’m getting on a war that has his name on it means the world to me” said Pacheco “To me it means that I’m trending in the right direction as far as delivering that content down to athletes.”

Pacheco is passionate about guiding his team and educating the wider population about the sport he has dedicated much of his life to. Pacheco has been recognized as an OUA & U SPORTS Coach of the Year and now adds the Jack Fairs Award for excellence as a Head Coach to his resume.

” Jeff is an incredible coach who is extremely dedicated with his time and commitment to helping us develop skills on and off the field.” said Payten Lang, Mustangs Forward “Jeff created a team atmosphere of being a family which has led us to great success during our seasons.”

The Fran Eberhard Assistant Coaching Award, named in honour of the legendary trailblazer was first introduced in 2018, this years recipient is Randy Bartlett of the Mustangs Women’s Volleyball team.

“I am humbled to receive an award dedicated to the legacy of Fran Eberhard.  Her achievements in sport as a player, coach and advocate are indeed legendary.” Said Bartlett “We are today, as coaches, blessed with the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing student athletes in the country.  The dedication these young people have to their sport, while keeping academics their priority, is something that I respect at the highest level.”

A former Mustangs student athlete himself in the late 1970’s, Bartlett has with the Women’s Volleyball program since 2013, alongside his daughter, Head Coach Melissa Bartlett.

Within the program, Randy plays many roles. Two of the roles that have the greatest impact are taking the reigns as the setters dedicated positional coach as well as serving as a mentor for all members of our coaching staff. 

“Randy’s wealth of experience and deep understanding of the game are invaluable assets when it comes to helping us setters coordinate our offense,” said Hannah Joo, 4th Year Setter “Genuinely, he is one of the most approachable and insightful coaches I have had, and being able to go to him to vent frustrations or to pick his mind for ideas has been crucial to our success as a team.”

Congratulations to both Jeff & Randy on their well deserved honours.