TORONTO—The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's basketball team is thrilled to announce the appointment of former lead assistant coach Stefanija Mrvaljevic as interim head coach for the 2026-27 season. 

"I feel really grateful to be in this position," said Mrvaljevic. "It's a dream for a lot of people to be able to coach where they've played, so the opportunity for me to be a Bold as an athlete and now still be here today as the interim head coach is just an opportunity of a lifetime."

Mrvaljevic will be filling the role previously held by Carly Clarke, a head coach who transformed the women's basketball program at TMU into one of the top in U SPORTS. 

"The departure of Coach Clarke leaves us with a considerable challenge of stewarding and building upon the success of our women's basketball program that Carly led for over a decade," said TMU Director of Athletics Nick Asquini. 

From 2012 to 2026, Clarke led the Bold women's basketball program to four major titles, capturing OUA championships in 2016, 2022 and 2026, along with a U SPORTS national championship title in 2022.  

Taking the next step in her coaching career, Clarke now serves as an assistant coach with Toronto's new WNBA franchise, the Toronto Tempo. 

Asquini is confident that Mrvaljevic will continue to foster Clarke's legacy while they conduct the process of finding an official new head coach, "[Mrvaljevic] brings a strong technical and tactical knowledge to the position and the continuity of culture and expectations in addition to her rapport with our players will serve us well as we set off to defend our 2026 Critelli Cup championship in a very competitive OUA league." 

Mrvaljevic brings deep roots with the Bold program, having spent the past four years on the coaching staff following an accomplished playing career with TMU. After serving two seasons as an assistant coach, she has stepped into a full-time lead assistant coaching role over the past two years. 

As a student-athlete, Mrvaljevic spent four seasons playing for the Bold, appearing in three U SPORTS national championship tournaments and helping the 2022 TMU team capture both the OUA championship and U SPORTS national title.

Mrvaljevic believes that having played with the Bold herself, it gives her a unique coaching perspective: "Something I hope to never lose as a coach is just being able to relate to the players and have empathy for all the things that they're going through as athletes."

Beyond coaching for the Bold, she has continued to build her coaching resume. Mrvaljevic has worked as an assistant coach with Kia Nurse Elite of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) and was a member of the girls selection committee for the 2026 All-Canadian Games.

During the 2025-26 season, Mrvaljevic had the opportunity to step into the head coach position while Clarke was absent from TMU's bench. She led the Bold to a 62-53 victory over the York University Lions. Alongside Clarke, Mrvaljevic also played a key role in helping lead the Bold to their 2025-26 Critelli Cup title.

Mrvalijevic will look to build on the program's recent success and roster to carry TMU's momentum into 2026-27.

"I think the goal for our program is always to be competing for championships and that's not changing," said Mrvaljevic.