York's Neilson leads Ontario girls volleyball team at 2025 Canada Summer Games

York University Lions women's volleyball head coach Jen Neilson is shaping the next generation of the sport's stars in Canada, and will look to cap it off with a gold medal around her neck.

Neilson, who is entering her eighth season as Lions women's volleyball head coach in 2025-26, is serving as head coach of the Team Ontario girls' volleyball team at the 2025 Canada Summer Games in St. John's, Nfld.

The Games, though, are not the beginning, but the culmination of a nearly three-year chapter as the program's head coach. Neilson – no stranger to the provincial and national youth volleyball scene – was named the program's head coach for these games back in December 2022, with the goal of building and growing the Team Ontario contingent with an eye toward this very event.

The former Toronto Varsity Blue (2011-15), who coached Team Ontario's U16 girls team at the 2018 Canada Cup, is honoured to have been given this opportunity over the last 2+ years.

"To be chosen for this opportunity is incredible," said Neilson, Port Coquitlam, B.C., native. "To be amongst incredible previous coaches and teams is an honour and to lead this current group has been one of the greatest privileges of my coaching career. I just feel so grateful for this incredible experience. I never had the chance to compete as an athlete in the Canada Games, so to have the opportunity to be at the largest sporting event in Canada is such a unique opportunity."

Over her time with this group, Neilson has seen the team develop exponentially, using the experience at the provincial and national levels to prepare for the task ahead.

"The program has changed a ton," she said. "We have had the privilege to work with a lot of incredible athletes and coaches along the way. The program we have selected is ready for this challenge because of their experiences within Team Ontario and our National team programming over the past seasons.

"I am so proud of the many athletes that impacted our journey- so many are heading into university programs across the country and will make incredible impacts on our sport system. Our coaching staff has grown together and are ready to take to the court," she continued. "Truly this experience has been a once in a lifetime and we're excited for the opportunity that lies ahead on the quest for Canada Games gold."

The Lions women's bench boss, who helped coordinate the women's program at the 2017 Canada Summer Games, also looks at the bigger picture after spending the better part of a decade with the provincial team.

"It feels like completing a book," she said of competing at the Summer Games. "Spending most of the last 10 years with the Team Ontario program being part of the Canada Games feels like an amazing rise and a testament to their belief in my development as a coach."

Neilson and Team Ontario will begin play on Aug. 19, with the gold medal matches slated for Aug. 24.