• Coach of the Pandas field hockey team for 21 years, winning two Canada West Championships, as well as one silver and five bronze medals at the CIAU Championships.
• Five-time Canada West Coach of the Year, two-time CIAU Coach of the Year, and 3M Canada Coach of the Year.
• National program assistant coach (1996-92) and head coach (1996-2002), winning the bronze medal at the Pan American Games and reaching the finals in the 2001 Americas Cup.
• Named by the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women in Sports as one of the top 10 most influential women in sport and physical activity in Canada.
• Received the University of Alberta Alumni Honour Award in 2003 and Global TV's Women of Vision award in 2004.

Women’s field hockey programs in Canada were destined for major changes the day that Dr. Dru Marshall decided that this was a sport to which she wanted to devote her professional coaching career. A review of her illustrious career reveals a steady progression from the provincial and university ranks to senior national positions including those of assistant coach (1986-’92) and subsequently Head Coach (1996-’01) of the Canadian National Women’s field hockey team. Under her leadership Canada’s National teams won the Pan Am bronze in 1999 and were America’s Cup finalists in 2001. Yet these achievements, significant though they are, form only a small part of the impact she has made on her sport.

Dr. Marshall became involved in the coaching of field hockey at an early age and by 1979 she was selected to coach the Manitoba Junior Women’s team. She filled this role until 1981 when she came to the University of Alberta as a graduate student and was quickly appointed as the head coach of the Panda’s field hockey team. For 21 years (1981 to 2002) Dru dedicated thousands of hours to helping young U of A student athletes hone their skills in this challenging sport. Dru had a profound impact upon the Panda field hockey team. Under her steady guiding hand the Pandas won a silver and five bronze medals at the national level and two Canada West gold medals. On five occasions Dru was named the Canada West Coach of the Year and in 1992 and 1996 she was selected CIAU Coach of the Year. However, her leadership was not restricted to the field of play.

Very early in her career at the University of Alberta Dru’s horizons broadened. By 1982 she was named director of the U of A’s Summer Field Hockey Camps and Head Coach of the Prairie’s Regional field hockey team (1982-’86). In quick succession (and all of the time remaining as the U of A Head Coach) Dru became Head Coach of numerous U-21 and U -18 Alberta Women’s field hockey teams; Assistant Coach of Canada’s national team (1986 - 1992); Head Coach of the Canadian National Junior Women’s team (1987; 1992-’96); Coach of the Jamaica Women’s National team (1987); and later (1998) the Coach of the Alberta North Indoor Women’s Championship field hockey team. And she managed these major commitments while simultaneously leading the Panda’s field hockey team to increasing levels of competitive excellence.

From early in her career as an administrator, Dr. Marshall encouraged the development of high quality coaching programs. She was one of the architects of the U of A’s Master of Arts (Specialization in Coaching), a founding leader of the Green and Gold Athletic Society, and served on numerous CIAU Sport Policy and Planning Committees. Not surprisingly, Dr. Marshall also served on a number of local and national committees whose agendas focused upon coaching development and evaluation and for many years she was a member of the Canadian Professional Coaching Association and the Federal Government’s Committee on Coaching Excellence. She has left an important mark as a long term member of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport.

Dru’s years of dedicated service to the world of sport have gained her many important awards of recognition. These include Field Hockey Canada’s “Elite Coach of the Year” Award (1992); Alberta’s Coaching & Officiating Recognition Award (1992); the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Outstanding Coach Award (1993); and the 3M Canada Coach of the Year - Women’s Team Sport (1994). Her outstanding reputation resulted, on two occasions (2004 and 2010), on her being named by the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women in Sports as one of the top ten “Most Influential Women in Sport and Physical Activity” in Canada.

Three awards based on her wide ranging and outstanding contributions have Dr. Marshall’s name on them: the University of Alberta Alumni Honour Award (2003); Global TV’s Women of Vision Awards (2004); the Marion Lay Herstorial “Women in Sport Breakthrough” Award; and, for a lifetime of contribution to coach education, the Coaching Association of Canada’s Geoff Gowan Award (2010). Truly a remarkable career recognition portfolio!

Since leaving her numerous roles in the world of coaching, Dr. Marshall has been recruited to fill a number of senior University administration positions. She has served the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation as Associate and Vice-Dean; the University of Alberta as Deputy Provost (Academic); and in 2011 Dru was appointed to the University of Calgary as Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

In every role that Dr. Marshall has filled, this inductee has left a mark of excellence. When the University of Alberta honours this exemplary leader by adding her name to the Sports Wall of Fame it brings a very special honour to itself.