As year two of a global pandemic continued to test and challenge the Ryerson Rams season, head coach Carly Clarke chose to lean into – and lead with – joy.

From the six-week shutdown in January that kept the team away from the basketball court, to the blowout 70-48 U SPORTS championship win against the Winnipeg Wesmen, Clarke’s team didn’t take a moment for granted. After losing out on the entire 2020-21 season due to the pandemic, everyone knew how much each game, practice and warm-up mattered.

“From day one, we just approached this season with a tremendous level of gratitude and joy for being back and being together,” Clarke said. “I think I'm certainly at my best when I'm aware of those things and appreciating those things as well.”

Saying that Clarke was at her best this season would be ever so slightly understating things. In her 10th year with the program, Clarke coached the Rams to an undefeated record en route to the first national championship in program history. She was rewarded for her excellence with the Peter Ennis Award as U SPORTS Coach of the Year.

Happier to be speaking about her players rather than drawing attention to herself, Clarke reflected on the journey she has been on with the program over this past decade with the Rams, rather than discussing her own individual success this season.

“I think it is just a recognition of how far our programs have come and the level that our program is at,” she said. You don’t win Coach of the Year if you don't have a great team with great players and a great staff and great support. I think for 10 years we've had that and we have continued to have that at our university. It’s just truly a team reward and recognition of a great season by a great team.”

After holding opponents to a Canada-best 50.1 points per game this season, that defence continued to shine in the championship game. The Rams never trailed while holding the Wesman to just 48 points.

A triumphant season for the Rams, 2021-22 wasn’t without a unique set of challenges. In addition to the aforementioned six-week shutdown during this championship season, the Rams also had to work around an eight-month separation from mid-November 2020 until mid-July 2021. Clarke and her staff kept the team together through optional zoom sessions, along with group texts and checking in on players individually as well.

“There was certainly no outline to manage a team during a pandemic, but we really take pride in the well-being of our student athletes as people first,” Clarke said. “We really focused on prioritizing that.”

The Rams brought in a dedicated mental performance coach to join their staff and made it a priority to work on the mental side of the game as much as the physical. The performance coach was also available for players to talk with to work through their feelings and emotions surrounding the past two years.

“We were really honest and unpacked some feelings and emotions too,” Clarke said. “We had a bunch of seniors that came back this year for this experience, and there was a real fear that the season might not come back. We weren't afraid to talk about some of those things and also to try and just stay optimistic and hopeful. And obviously, things came back and in a great way.”

When Clarke talks about the success the team has had this year, she always wants to give credit to all of the players who have been part of the Rams organization in the years leading up to this year’s national championship. She mentioned the 2016 team that won the OUA Championships before losing at nationals, as well as the lasting impact of that loss on those in the program. Clarke doesn’t forget those players who helped lay the foundation for the success of this year’s program to go all the way.

Clarke pointed to former point guard Hayley Robertson who graduated in 2020, following a season that ended with the Rams losing in the U SPORTS national quarterfinal, as an example of past players influencing the team’s present success.

“She left a Post-it note for [Mikaela Dodig], our incoming transfer point guard this year, and that Post-it note was in [Dodig's] locker all year,” Clarke said. “[Dodig] brought it with her to the national tournament and [Robertson] was at our final. To see them share that moment together, even though the old point guard wasn't on the team to win, she was [still] a massive part of it.”

When Clarke looks back on this championship in the future, it won’t be the undefeated record that stands out, but the players who accomplished it.

“I think individually, on our team, there's just so many special stories of resilience and perseverance this year,” she said. “We had a bunch of players who either came back or stuck it out through a pandemic in order to be on this stage and have this opportunity. Just how they came together as a team, I think those are the moments that have stood out so far.

One of those players, Tournament MVP Jama Bin-Edward, is a fifth year senior who recovered from ACL surgery during the pandemic. Marin Scotten tore her ACL six weeks before the championship game, but rehabbed enough to be able to be in uniform with her teammates.

“To see [players] who have been true builders of our program to take it to another level, the leadership, the culture that they've built, to see them rewarded with this moment is incredibly meaningful,” Clarke said.

Clarke’s own basketball journey began back in the third grade, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Though she cannot pinpoint the moment where she knew she wanted to be a coach, she also can’t remember not wanting to become one either.

While other kids were asking for a basketball or hoop, Clarke was the one asking for a whiteboard so that she could sketch out the plays she was spending her spare time thinking about. She began coaching in high school and in university over her summer vacations and after finishing a playing career at Bishop’s University, Clarke returned to Halifax where she served as an assistant coach at Dalhousie University.

In addition to serving as the head coach of the Rams, Clarke has also spent 11 seasons with Team Canada, including four years as an assistant coach with the Senior Women’s National Team.

Juggling two high-profile gigs is time-consuming, but Clarke wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It's just incredible to work with the best players from our country and compete against the best in the world,” she said. “The learnings that you can take from that environment are never ending and I'm really just passionate about growth and development myself and everyone around me. Getting to do that on a regular basis is amazing.”

Clarke began working with Canada Basketball’s age group teams. Some of the players she now coaches on the senior women’s national team have gone through those age group teams. Getting to continue to coach those players as they’ve grown and developed has been extra special for Clarke.

“It's really rewarding to see them on their journey and kind of be on a similar path with them,” Clarke said. “I think there's no better thing for a coach and no better way to develop than to be in that environment and take what you learn and you see and try and apply it in your own environment and vice versa. I view it as the best professional development and I'm lucky that Canada Basketball and Ryerson are both really supportive of it and see the value in both sides.”

The value Clarke adds to whatever program she’s working with is undeniable. Just ask the undefeated 2022 National Champion Ryerson Rams.