The past 10 years have been a remarkable stretch for Humber Athletics, filled with underdog champions, ever-lasting dynasties and late drama in championship games. According to their website, the Hawks have been the most successful program in the country this past decade. Since 2010, Humber has captured 69 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) medals, including a national-best 30 CCAA titles. Provincially, the Hawks have dominated in Ontario Collegiate Athletic Association (OCAA) action as well, winning 222 medals, including 127 provincial titles.
Yet what may be most impressive about this unmatched success and ever-lasting reputation is Humber’s breadth of excellence across its varsity programs. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, golf and cross country are just a few varsity programs that reflect the sheer dominance the Humber Hawks have had in the past decade.
The 2010-11 men’s golf team was one for the ages. A time that former golf coach and current Director of Athletics, Ray Chateau, calls one of the greatest squads ever assembled.
Men’s soccer had unprecedented success in the 2010s, putting together the most dominant run in Humber varsity team history. The Hawks began 2010 with two national titles and concluded the decade with seven, the most in CCAA men’s soccer history.
On two separate occasions (2016 and 2018) the women’s basketball team capped off their season with OCAA and CCAA gold, while also managing to roll across the nation’s competition and achieve an undefeated record in both seasons. Ceejay Nofuente graduated as the most accomplished female team-sport athlete in Humber history. With that, she’s also broken two OCAA records in one game when she dropped 55 points and made 13 three-point shots.
Humber badminton reached new heights during the decade, capturing 26 CCAA medals since 2010. During that span, the Hawks won a national-best, 12 CCAA championships. Olivia Lei, Adam Dong and Chloe Rowe combined to capture nine of those titles for Humber.
Women’s volleyball dominated the OCAA during the decade, as the Hawks ran off a string of nine straight provincial titles and received six CCAA All-Canadian selections. They were also able to establish an OCAA record that will never be touched, as the Hawks achieved 155 consecutive OCAA victories, including 26 OCAA postseason matches.
With all the success Humber Athletics has achieved and with so many moments for fans to appreciate, recapping the decade in one post would be almost impossible.
But when Emerge was given the task of creating a list of top Humber Varsity moments of the decade, we responded with a “Hawk yeah!”
By examining each of the past 10 seasons (2010-2019), we have picked the most significant accomplishments from each year. Here are the top 10 defining moments from Humber Varsity in the last decade:
10. Bright year for men’s cross country
After narrowly missing out on the program’s first national title the year before, the Hawks went to Calgary looking to prove what they already knew: that they were the best squad in the country.
9. First to ever do it
Ramnish Kumar wins first men’s singles national title in badminton, becoming the first to accomplish this in Humber History.
8. Best in the nation: men’s volleyball
In his 17th season at the helm, head coach Wayne Wilkins and the Hawks went on to win the program’s first CCAA national championship.
7. Nine versus 11? No problem
In one of the wildest title games in CCAA history, the men’s soccer team overcame the impossible to win the 2015 national title. Humber’s daunting defense was put to work in the finals, as the Hawks played almost the entire match shorthanded after having two players ejected for red cards.
6. Perfect 10
For over a decade, the women’s volleyball program put together a run of OCAA dominance that will never be matched. A streak that began in 2008, Humber volleyball won 10 straight provincial titles, eight of which were straight-set sweeps.
5. Ajay Sharma named head coach of the women’s basketball program
Coach Sharma has directed the Hawks to a period of unprecedented prosperity in the form of four CCAA tournament appearances, including two national banners and four OCAA provincial titles. Sharma currently owns a 171-26 (.868 winning percentage) career record through more than nine seasons at the helm.
4. Ray Chateau takes over for Doug Fox as Humber’s director of athletics
During Chateau’s tenure, Humber has produced 19 national championships, 66 provincial titles and 54 CCAA Academic All-Canadian awards.
3. Golf dominates nationals
Humber golf’s 2010 squad was special, one that former head coach and current director of athletics Ray Chateau calls, “one of the greatest, if not the greatest, golf squads ever assembled by any college or university.”
2. Seventh heaven
The men’s soccer team won its seventh CCAA national title, fifth since 2012. It was Humber’s 50th national title as an institution and made the men’s soccer program the most decorated program in the country.
1. The shot heard around the CCAA
Ruth Holland sinks a late three-pointer to win the women’s basketball teams first national title. The Hawks finished with a perfect 24-0 record and became the first OCAA women’s team sport to ever win the CCAA national championship.