NAME: Mike Burchuk
UNIVERSITY: Winnipeg
CATEGORY: Coach
SPORT: Women’s Volleyball
YEARS ACTIVE: 1980-1989
HIGHLIGHTS:
Six straight CIAU championships (1983-1988
Four-time CIAU Coach of the Year (1981, 1982, 1983, 1987)
Inaugural member of the Wesmen Ring of Honour
BIOGRAPHY:
The architect of one of the greatest teams Canadian university sports history, Mike Burchuk built a women’s volleyball dynasty at the University of Winnipeg.
Burchuk coached the Wesmen for a decade in the 1980s, overseeing six consecutive women’s volleyball national championships from 1983 to 1988 - a record streak that has yet to be bettered. Between 1987 and 1989 the Wesmen won 123 straight matches, a mark unmatched in Canadian university volleyball.
During his nine seasons at the U of W, Burchuk was named CIAU Coach of the Year four times, including three years in a row from 1981 to 1983.
Beginning as an assistant coach in 1980 on the junior national team, Burchuk coached extensively with Volleyball Canada's women’s programs. He was an assistant at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and headed the team at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. He also coached at numerous other international competitions, including the NORCECA Championships, World Cup, and Pan Am Games.
Prior to his tenure with the Wesmen, Burchuk coached junior high, juvenile, and high school volleyball in Selkirk, Manitoba, guiding multiple teams to provincial titles.
In January 2019, Burchuk was one of four venerable figures included in the inaugural Wesmen Ring of Honour class. He had previously been inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame, Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, Manitoba Volleyball Hall of Fame, and Manitoba High School Sports Hall of Fame. An award named in his honour is presented annually to Manitoba’s top female high school volleyball player.