AthletesCAN Names its 2012 Award Recipients

AthletesCAN Names its 2012 Award Recipients

October, 05, 2012 - Courtesy of AthletesCan

AthletesCAN staged its 20th Annual Athletes’ Forum in Toronto this past weekend, Sept. 28-30, 2012 with over 100 athletes participating in a series of workshops and events over the three day period. The annual AthletesCAN Forum is the largest and most inclusive gathering of Canada’s national team athlete representatives outside of competition. It brings together Canada’s high performance athletes and sport leaders to learn about the sport system, develop leadership skills, share ideas and network through interactive workshops, seminars and presentations.

 

The 2012 Forum kicked off Friday, September 28th with its 7th annual KidsCAN School Day event at Bill Crothers Secondary School. Over 50 athletes met with more than 700 students from the Toronto region for a day of sporting activities and fun. The day was an overwhelming success with the event featured in CBC’s coverage of Sports Day in Canada. Thanks to Derrick Stryker, Bill Crothers’ Manager of Athletics and his team of amazing volunteers.

 

The Forum workshop sessions ran from Friday night through Sunday with guest speakers and interactive discussions on a variety of topics including: “Social Media and Sharing the Athletic Journey”, “Building the Athlete Leadership Foundation”, “Athletes as Thought Leaders, Sport Canada and Own the Podium – Strategies for the future of Canadian Sport”, “You are the Key to Athlete-Centered Sport: Closing the gap between need and reality”, and “Leaders Making an Impact on Sport and in the Community: How you can begin to make a difference today.”

 

Rosey Edeh hosted the AthletesCAN 20th Anniversary Gala Saturday evening. A writer, author, veteran journalist, and three-time Olympian, Rosey Edeh, is currently anchor and host of Global’s News at Noon. Rosey is also a world-class athlete, and was a four-time All American. She represented Canada in the Summer Olympics three times in 1988, 1992, and 1996, and also won medals in the Commonwealth Games and the World University Games. She is also the current Canadian record holder in the 400m hurdles.

 

One of the major highlights of the Gala was the presentation of awards. AthletesCAN presented Olympic Swimmer Mark Tewksbury with the eighth annual AthletesCAN Leadership Award and Olympic Fencer Philippe Beaudry with the fourth annual AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award. AthletesCAN also paid tribute to the late sportswriter Randy Starkman through the creation of a new award in his honour, an annual leadership award for outstanding sport journalism.

 

Sponsored by Purolator Inc., the AthletesCAN Leadership Award, created in 2005, recognizes an athlete or former athlete who has made a significant contribution to sport through their involvement as an effective athlete leader, advocate, or as a builder of bridges within their sport community.

 

Mark Tewksbury has an incredible list of sport achievements: He is a three-time Olympic medalist, 21-time national champion, two-time World Championship silver medalist, was named Canadian Male athlete of the year in 1992, and has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic, Sports and Aquatic Halls of Fame in addition to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

 

His achievements outside of the pool however, have made the biggest impact. Tewksbury has been the master of ceremonies for the Dalai Lama, addressed human rights at the United Nations, and touched millions of people as a speaker, author and television personality. He is the Co-founder of Great Traits Inc. and OATH, co-president of the 2006 World Out Games in Montreal, Board member of Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation, and a strong advocate for gay rights and causes around the world. In 2009, he was inducted into Canada’s LGBT Human Rights Hall of Fame for his contributions. Most recently, his leadership was recognized when he was named Chef de Mission of the London 2012 Canadian Olympic Team where he led Canada’s athletes to a successful Olympic Games.

 

“I was extremely honoured to be asked to present the 2012 AthletesCAN Leadership Award to not only an incredible athlete, but one of the most inspiring people I have ever met,” stated 2008 Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympian Alexandra Orlando who was a COC Athlete Ambassador at the 2012 Olympic Games. “I had the great privilege of working with him as he took on the role of Chef de Mission in London for the 2012 Olympics and I have never seen anyone lead a team and lead this country with such genuine, awe-inspiring emotion. He was the heart and soul of our team in London and has been in the hearts of Canadians for decades. Everything he touches and every person he comes into contact with is better for it. He truly embodies what it means to be a leader in sport, in the community, in this country and every part of the world.”. To view Mark’s acceptance speech, click here

 

The AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award (ASR) sponsored by Chimp Fund recognizes an athlete who has demonstrated leadership in the area of social responsibility, a term first coined by past AthletesCAN board of director, national team cyclist and researcher, Erin Carter. The ASR Award celebrates the importance of athletes giving back; honours the impact athletes have achieved through their volunteer work as role models in their community; and encourages former athletes to stay connected to the sport community.

 

Philippe Beaudry, a two time Olympian in Fencing, most recently in London, and a 17-time national champion, has shared his sporting experiences within his community whenever and wherever possible. He has delivered over 68 lectures at elementary and secondary schools across Quebec for the Jouez Gagnant team reaching more than 10,000 students over 5 years.

 

In addition, he has participated in the « Adopt an Athlete » program corresponding weekly for a whole year with two classes from Barthélémy-Vimont School to share his life as an athlete – the wins, and losses, dreams, travel and more. He is also a passionate Clean Air Champion, educating Canadian youth about sustainable living and healthy lifestyle choices, something that has always been at the forefront of his life. Since 2008, he has done more than 100 conferences in schools encouraging and motivating youth ages 6 to 17.

 

“It is a great honor to receive the AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award. The community has always supported me during my athletic development. It is my turn, as a high performance athlete to give back to the community and to have an influence on young people throughout Canada,” stated Beaudry. “That is why I started to get involved in the community five years ago. Today, I encourage other Canadian athletes to find a cause which is important to them and to share their story and the Olympic values such as perseverance, determination and hard work that are part of the experience. Thank you so much AthletesCAN for this recognition.”

 

The final award for the evening was a special tribute by Nathaniel Miller, water polo and Deidre Dionne, freestyle skiing, recognizing the extraordinary career and unparalleled contributions of the late Randy Starkman, Toronto Star sport journalist, in telling the stories of Canadian athletes and sport over the past 30 years. The award was accepted by 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in canoe, Thomas Hall on behalf of the Starkman family.

 

“Receiving the Randy Starkman award for journalism on behalf of his family was an honour I’ll never forget,” states Hall. “The journalistic void left by the passing of Randy is vast and I personally missed the Starkside version of the Olympics more than I could have ever anticipated. Randy gave amateur athletes a voice in the journalistic world that lasted longer than the few months around every winter and summer games. He thought our journeys, successful or not, were as newsworthy as any NHL lockout, and he told them with a passion that resonated with a love of athletes’ dreams and stories. He was a champion of amateur athletes and his contribution to the status of amateur sport in the media will be well remembered every year by AthletesCAN as it honours journalists who pick up Randy’s torch and relay our stories to future audiences.”

 

To convey the impact that Randy Starkman had on Canadian athletes, AthletesCAN has created an annual leadership award for outstanding sport journalism from an athlete’s perspective. In memory of Randy, this award will serve as a form of ongoing recognition of his legacy, and will be a call to action to inspire current and future Canadian sport journalists to strive for the kind of sport journalism that he demonstrated throughout his career.

 

AthletesCAN was also happy to share a special announcement at the Gala from its partners at Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC). As part of Sports Day in Canada, CGC shared the selection of past AthletesCAN Board Member Chantal Petitclerc as the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission for Team Canada. AthletesCAN congratulates Chantal on her selection. She is an outstanding example of an athlete leader both on and off the field of play and will surely lead the 2014 Commonwealth athletes to success. It was a tremendous highlight of the evening to announce her selection for this position.

 

On Sunday AthletesCAN held its Annual General Meeting and the following members were elected to the Board of Directors: Thomas Hall, Canoe/Kayak (re-elected) and Josh Vander Vies, Boccia. They join current members: President – Erik Petursson, Diving; Vice President- Ahren Cadieux, Beach Volleyball; Treasurer- Philippe Gagnon, Swimming; Craig Buntin, Figure Skating; Jeane Lassen, Weightlifting; Alec Denys, Archery – Canadian Paralympic Committee; Jeff Pain, Skeleton – Canadian Olympic Committee; Suzanne Weckend-Dill, Triathlon – Commonwealth Games Canada.

 

AthletesCAN would also like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance in making the 2012 AthletesCAN Forum a resounding success:

 

Forum Program Committee: Lori Johnstone, Alexandra Orlando, Ryan Ferguson, Nathaniel Miller, and Jeane Lassen

 

AthletesCAN Staff & Volunteers: Ashley LaBrie, Danny O’Shea, Anh Nguyen, Aimee Maggiacomo, Christine Robertson, Kelly Michael, Taylor Kotuba and AthletesCAN Board of Directors

 

Presenters/Speakers: Ryan Blais-GoSocial, Sport Café, Lori Johnstone, Mike Smith, Nathaniel Miller, Charmaine Crooks, Kathleen Tayler, Scott Sandison, Erin Carter, Benoit Huot, Nicole Forrester, Alex Orlando, Ian Troop-TO2015, Claire Carver-Dias, Matthew Diamond-Hunter Straker, Bob Price-Sport Canada, Anne Merklinger-OTP, Julia Rivard-Pursuit, Steve Davis-Chimp Fund, Chris Harris-Dale Carnegie, Jane Roos-CAN Fund Gala Host-Rosey Edeh-Global News at Noon, Musician-Rosanna Tomiuk, Waterpolo, Founding Chair of AthletesCAN – Ann Peel, Chantal Petitclerc-CGC Chef de Mission, Jeremy Luke-CCES, Sport Solution, Jonathan Goodman

 

Partners/Exhibitors: Sport Canada, Investors Group, Dale Carnegie, National Car Rental & Enterprise Rent-A-Car Program, Sport Dispute Resolution Centre (SDRCC), Pursuit, Skinetex, Clean Air Champions, RCCSS( C ), ParticipACTION, True Sport, CSCs
Sponsors: Purolator, Chimp Fund

 

Contributors: Canadian Paralympic Committee, Subway, Boston Pizza, Tourism Toronto, Rona, Brookstreet, Sheraton Centre Toronto, Edmonton Tourism, Gadar, Lululemon