Nouvelles

Vanier Basketball's Andy Hertzog Retires

Montreal, December 4, 2020. Vanier College is pleased to congratulate Andy Hertzog coach of the Vanier Cheetahs Division 1 Men Basketball Team who is retiring after 32 years of service to Vanier and the athletes he has coached. Not only is Vanier immensely proud of his coaching achievements over the years, but it also revels in the fact that Andy Hertzog is a graduate of Vanier College.

Andy Hertzog started working at Vanier 1988 as a Men's Division 2 Coach, and then was the Men's Division 1 coach in 2000. Under his leadership, the Vanier Cheetahs won six Provincial championships and one National championship. He won his first CCAA Coach of the year in 2018-2019, when he went undefeated.

Wins and losses go into books and we remember championship wins by the banners hung all around the Vanier gymnasium, but the lasting legacy that Andy Hertzog has left is the influence he had on students.

While his impressive record may be what the public sees, when you talk with current and former Cheetah athletes, it is Andy's care about the players themselves that they praise.

Gavin Musgrave who now works in education and philanthropy recounts how Andy Hertzog influenced him. ??oeAt Vanier I was inspired by my basketball coach Andy Hertzog. He's a lawyer and he coaches. It's not something he has to do but he does it to give back. It's not just about the sport, the coach is also coaching you as a person. Watching Andy prepared me for working with kids. He taught me how to speak to other people, how to look them in the eye and how to form ideas. Having Andy as a mentor then as a friend shaped the person I was to become.”

Andy's holistic approach to coaching made its mark. When the Men's Basketball Team won the National Championship in 2011, Andy was proud of more than just what happened on the court.  ??oeNot only did our players perform exceptionally well  on the court,” he said at the time, ??oebut they comported themselves at all times with class and dignity, and were tremendous ambassadors for Vanier College. I received so many compliments about them, from other coaches, officials, opposing players and tournament organizers. I cannot even begin to express how proud I am of all of them.”

Vanier Student Life Advisor in athletics, Mai Anh Nguyen, sums up Andy's work saying, ??oeEven with all the provincial wins and success he has had, Coach Andy has always put the student first in everything he has done. His priority throughout his years as a coach was to ensure that all his players were well taken care of and had all the tools necessary for the next level whatever that may have been. We are grateful that Coach Andy will continue to work with our 3 basketball programs moving forward, and look forward to his next chapter as Basketball Liaison.”

You cannot win every game, and you cannot always carry home a trophy, but you can learn from every game and take something of that with you for the rest of your life. Clearly, that is what Andy wanted for all of his players.

Congratulations and best of luck to Andy Hertzog on his retirement and a great thanks to him for his years of commitment to Vanier College and its basketball players.

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For information please contact: Marguerite Corriveau, Vanier Communications, 514-744-7500 ext. 7596
marguerite.corriveau@vaniercollege.qc.ca