Andy Sparks

Andy Sparks has been most recently the head coach of the Gee-Gees women’s basketball team since 2008-09, amassing a regular season record of 188-67 (0.737) and a playoff record of 27-23 (.540) (As of March 15, 2020). Those totals are all program records as the Gee-Gees have enjoyed the most successful period in program history during Sparks' leadership.

The Ottawa native has led the program to six national championship appearances and five OUA Championship appearances, collecting two U SPORTS bronze, one OUA gold, four OUA silver, and one OUA bronze medal (in addition to two more conference semifinal appearances with no bronze medal game played).

In 2018-19, Sparks was named the OUA Coach of the Year for the fifth time and the team was ranked no. 1 in the national top ten poll for the first time.

At thirteen seasons, Sparks is the longest-serving head coach in team history. The Gee-Gees qualified for the OUA playoffs in every season with Sparks as head coach. The team claimed first place in its division during the regular season six times under Sparks, including first overall in the OUA in 2018-19 with a program-best 21-2 record.

The other first place seasons came in the championship season of 2011-12, and again in 2012-13 en route to a nationals appearance. In 2014-15, Ottawa claimed first in the newly created OUA North Division with a 14-5 regular season record. In 2015-16 the Gee-Gees went 17-2 to place first overall in the OUA, and in 2019-20 the Gee-Gees were first in the OUA East at 18-4.

Sparks brought Ottawa to the CIS national championship tournament in his first season after inheriting a team which went 3-19 in 2007-08 and posting a 15-7 record in the regular season before a successful OUA playoff run. That was followed up with a second straight appearance at nationals, setting the tone for the Gee-Gees under Sparks.

By the 2011-12 season, Sparks had the program in position to record its best season to date. The Gee-Gees went 19-3 in the OUA regular season and captured their second-ever OUA Championship title. Ottawa followed this with its program-best CIS national championship finish, placing third to take home the first CIS medal in the program’s 41-year history. The Gee-Gees were ranked 11 times in the CIS Top 10 poll and also went on to sweep the OUA East major awards.

In 2012-13, Sparks brought in the largest recruiting class yet in his tenure at uOttawa and coached the young team to his second OUA East regular season title and a sixth place finish at the CIS Final 8.

In March 2012, he was named head coach of Canada Basketball’s Junior Women’s National Team. At the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women in Puerto Rico, Sparks guided his national squad to a 2-3 finish and a semi-final appearance, qualifying them for the 2013 FIBA World U-19 World Championship.

A University of Ottawa graduate in physical education and education, Sparks coached girls and boys championship teams at Ashbury College, Nepean H.S., and Cornwall Collegiate for over twenty years, earning the OFSAA Leadership in School Sport Award in 1997. He was also an assistant coach with the national championship-winning Carleton Ravens men’s team in 2004-05. He recieved the United Way Community Builder Award in 2018 for his work to advocate for mental health in sport.

Sparks' career .737 regular season winning percentage ranks second highest among current OUA women's basketball coaches.