MONTREAL, QC - The Coaching Association of Canada announced this year's prestigious sport leadership award recipients on November 2nd, and Danièle Sauvageau, of Deux-Montagnes (QC) has won in the female high performance category. The CAC also announced that the recipient of the National Sport Administrator Award is Shelley Williams, of the Middleton (NS) District Minor Hockey Association.

Sauvageau was head coach of Canada's Olympic champion women's national hockey team. She joined the squad the previous season, taking a sabbatical from her job as a Montreal police officer. She is a NCCP Level 4 hockey coach. Sauvageau was recently appointed as CAC's Official Spokesperson.

Determined to make a difference and to bring about change, Williams became the volunteer president of the Middleton District Minor Hockey Association. She also handled the secretary's job, was the ice coordinator, and became coach of the one female team then in Middleton, taking NCCP Level 1 in order to do the job effectively. Today, the community boasts strong female Pee Wee, Bantam, and Midget divisions, growth that shows no signs of slowing down.

She also serves as the South Shore Valley regional representative on the Nova Scotia Female Hockey Council and was the treasurer of the Nova Scotia Bantam/Midget Developmental Female Hockey League in 19. She was an organizer of the 2001 Midget Provincial Championships and is heavily involved in regional and national initiatives on female hockey development. In 1997 her valuable contribution was recognized when she was chosen as her hockey association's Volunteer of the Year.