Coach Cavanagh Whitely is a native of Prince George, BC and has just finished 10 years at the helm of the Douglas College Baseball program. Douglas College is the only two year college baseball program in the country that plays for a US Championship. In only his second season, Coach Whitely led the team to the NWAC Regional tournament for the first time in its short history and has since moved many players onto the four year level at both NCAA and NAIA institutions. In 2015, the Royals won their first Super-Regional tournament and became the first Canadian team to ever play at the NWAC World Series. Over his 15 years as a college and national level coach he has developed numerous players that have gone onto professional baseball and the Major Leagues. Cavanagh is also a full time faculty member at the College and acts as the Academic Coach to support all varsity athletes at Douglas.

Before Douglas, Coach Whitely spent 10 years as a part of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds baseball program. From 2004-2010, Whitely served as the full-time assistant to head coach Terry McKaig and was a integral part of UBC’s impressive run to a semi final finish at the NAIA World Series in 2006. It was the first time a Canadian team ever competed at a World Series for a US National Championship. He was also the head of recruiting for the T-Birds, the facility coordinator and head instructor of the Mizuno School of Baseball at UBC, and the organizer for the UBC summer camp program. In 2010, Coach Whitely decided to take his talents to Douglas College to help establish a quality junior college baseball opportunity for Canadian athletes to play against strong US competition.  

Coach Whitely is also highly involved in both community and high performance baseball programs. Baseball Canada named him National Coach of the Year in 2018 and the Coaching Association of Canada awarded him a position as a High Performance Consultant with Baseball BC in 2005 and he currently coached with both Team BC and the National University team programs that compete during the summer months. He has coached with Team Canada from 2003- 2010 at both international baseball tournaments and the 2008 and 2010 World University Championships. From 2013-2015, he helped lead Team BC to three consecutive national championships and a gold medal at the Canada Summer Games. Cavanagh is also an active Baseball BC NCCP level four clinician, coaching facilitator and evaluator. 

As a player, Whitely was recruited by the National Baseball Institute and started his college career at Douglas under legendary Coach John Haar. After two solid seasons there, he transferred and spent three successful years on the UBC squad from 1999-2002, playing every infield position while holding down a career batting average of over .300. Whitely has also spent time in the Australia pro league, playing for the Padres organization in Queensland from 2002 to 2003 while concurrently serving as a Director of Coaching and Development Officer for Baseball Australia.

Cavanagh currently lives in New Westminster, BC with his wife Cristy, twins Emery and Davis and youngest Robson. He holds his Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia (2009).