CHARLOTTETOWN, PE - The University of Prince Edward Island has hired Carly Clarke as the new coach for its varsity women's basketball team. Clarke will take over as coach of the program, replacing Dave MacNeill, who retired earlier this year.

"We are thrilled to have Carly joining the athletics department at UPEI," says athletics director Ron Annear. "Her experience in coaching and as a Canadian Interuniversity Sport student-athlete, and her education will be a great asset to the ongoing development of women's basketball at UPEI."

Clarke said she is excited to have the opportunity to lead UPEI's women's basketball team.

"I am looking forward to working with the athletic department, university and community to build a competitive program in the Atlantic University Sport and CIS."

Clarke comes to UPEI with 18 years of playing and coaching experience at the provincial, interuniversity, national and international levels.

She is currently an apprentice women's coach with Canada Basketball's national elite development academy in Hamilton, Ont. From 2006 to 2008, she was lead assistant coach of Dalhousie University's women's team, which made the 2008 AUS semifinals. And as head coach, she led Canada Basketball's Centre for Performance in Nova Scotia from September 2007 to August 2008. Clarke has also coached boys' and girls' teams at the provincial level for the past five summers.

She was head coach of the Nova Scotia 15-and-under girls provincial team, leading them to a fourth-place finish in the 2008 national championships.

A year earlier, Clarke served as lead assistant coach for the Nova Scotia 17-and-under boys, and in 2006 was assistant coach for the Nova Scotia 17-and-under girls. She was head coach for the Nova Scotia 15-and-under girls development team from 2004 to 2006.

Clarke is also an experienced player, having participated in high school and university-level basketball. In 2006, she was team captain and team player of the year for the Bishop's University women's team. She graduated from Bishop's University with a bachelor of science degree and is now working on her master of business administration degree fr