Trinity Western University

Cheryl Jean-Paul joined the Spartans as the women’s basketball head coach in 2010.

Since coming to TWU, Jean-Paul has built the Spartans program into a perennial playoff contender, highlighted by the 2017-18 season when the Spartans posted a 16-4 record and finished fourth overall in the Canada West playoffs. She has led the Spartans into the Canada West playoffs in five of the last six seasons.

Internationally, Jean-Paul was most recently the head coach of Canada’s FIBA U16 Women’s America’s Championship team in 2019, winning a silver medal.

Aside from TWU, Jean-Paul has been a key coach within Basketball BC, as head coach of the U14 girls’ red team in 2011, the U15 girls’ red team in 2012 and the U16 girls’ team in 2015. She was also the assistant coach for the U17 girls’ team that won silver at the 2013 Canada Games.

Jean-Paul was also the co-facilitator for basketball portion of the Special Olympics: Canada Summer Games 2014.

Prior to joining the Spartans, Jean-Paul had over 10 years of coaching experience and a wealth of playing experience.

She spent three years as head coach at Red River College where she won a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference title in 2009. Prior to that, as head coach of the River East Collegiate junior varsity team, she won three consecutive conference championships and a provincial bronze medal. She was also an assistant coach with the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s basketball team for two years.

Jean-Paul was the head coach for Manitoba’s 2009 Canada Games U17 girls’ team and was the women’s head coach for the Manitoba Region of Canada Basketball’s Centre for Performance program.

As a five-year player with the University of Manitoba, Jean-Paul earned all-star and MVP honours (1999-2000) with the Bisons, a U SPORTS silver medal and a GPAC conference championship in 1998. Jean-Paul scored over 1000 points in her five-year career and was consistently among the conference leaders in free throw percentage and steals. In 1999, she was involved in an Athletes in Action European tour team that travelled to Switzerland & Slovakia.

Jean-Paul, who graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree, is also a level two basketball official who has over eight years of officiating experience, including refereeing in U SPORTS, the Manitoba provincial championships and at the midget girls’ nationals.

Jean-Paul is a Level III NCCP certified coach as well as a Master Learning Facilitator for the NCCP Intro to Competition basketball coaching course. She has been recognized for her coaching abilities by being awarded the Jim Bulloch award by the Manitoba Basketball Coaches Association as well as being a Finalist for the Coaching Manitoba High Performance Coach of the Year award.