Canadian Sport Leaders Set to Go Global
Canadian Sport Leaders Set to Go Global
OTTAWA (ON) — March 11, 2013 — To help mark International Commonwealth Day today, Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is demonstrating its commitment to building the Commonwealth through sport by announcing the names of seven outstanding Canadian sport leaders who will share their expertise overseas through CGC’s SportWORKS program.
CGC’s SportWORKS program sends Canadian sport leaders to assist their counterparts in other Commonwealth countries. The intent is to utilize the skill sets of Canadian sport personnel—from coaches and officials to experts in marketing and sport administration—to benefit sport organizations abroad. At the same time, the program seeks to enhance the Canadian sport system by providing our sport leaders with international opportunities and inter-cultural experiences.
“We are thrilled to have such a diverse and experienced group of sport leaders taking part this year,” adds Brian MacPherson, CEO of Commonwealth Games Canada. “The knowledge and expertise they can offer will be invaluable to the host organizations, and the positive effects will continue to resonate long after their placements have ended.”
Among the leaders going on placements of up to 10 days in April 2013 are:
· Florence Rousseau (Cardinal, ON) an innovative Marketing professional who previously launched a successful 3-year multi-product, multi-channel Vancouver 2010 Olympic marketing and product development program for the Royal Canadian Mint. Rousseau will be working with Kicking Aids Out in Cape Town South Africa on developing a Marketing/Brand Development and web communication strategy.
- Andrew Barrett (Toronto, ON), a marketing, sponsorship and branding executive whose experience includes top jobs at Samsung Canada, LG Electronics and Molson, where he led the award-winning “I AM Canadian” campaign. Barrett will travel to Johannesburg, South Africa, to work with Abdoulie Touray, Regional Vice-President - Africa for the Commonwealth Games Federation, on grassroots marketing initiatives for African Commonwealth Games Associations
· Graham Barton (Ottawa, ON), High-Performance Advisor at Own the Podium, who has almost three decades of experience working at various levels within the Canadian sport system—including 11 years as High-Performance Director at CanoeKayak Canada, where he led Canada’s national teams to almost 30 Olympic and World Championship Medals. Barton will travel to Botswana to work with Africa’s Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) Zone VI to revise and enhance the Zone’s High Performance Program, including their Academy.
· Peter Metuzals (Ottawa, ON), who previously served as Director of Marketing, Communications and Business Development at Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and as Director of Marketing and Communications at Rowing Canada. Metuzals will assist the
St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Olympic Committee with marketing, sponsorship and fundraising.
· Philip Hochman (Guysborough, NS), a member of the Canadian Sport For Life (CS4L) Community Connections Team, a board member of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association as well as a Certified Coaching Instructor. Hochman will work with Sport in Action in Zambia on organizational development.
· Meg Fracke (Uxbridge, ON), a coach with the Greater Ottawa (GO) Kingfish Swim Team and former assistant Coach and Captain of the University of Ottawa Varsity Swim Team. Fracke will be travelling to the Falkland Islands to share her expertise as a swim coach.
· Matthew Guinness-King (Toronto, ON), former Captain of both the Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club in the U.K. and of the Canadian rugby team, which he joined as a player in 2001. Guinness-King will travel to Turks and Caicos where he will assist the island’s Rugby Football Union in developing the sport.
“This is a unique opportunity to give back to an industry I’ve been very much the beneficiary of,” says Barrett. “I’ve had the chance to work globally on some of the largest sports properties around the world, and I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with Commonwealth Games organizations in Africa as they work to build awareness of their brand. I’ll be able to identify ways to help them and also look for opportunities to get others involved.”
These SportWORKS placements are co-funded by Commonwealth Games Canada (through Sport Canada) and the host organizations, which apply to the program and are subject to a detailed needs assessment in order to match participants’ expertise with hosts’ requirements. The sport leaders themselves donate their time. In addition to being on-site for a placement of up to 10 days, participants agree to provide ongoing support for an additional six months once they arrive back in Canada.
About SportWORKS
Commonwealth Games Canada’s SportWORKS initiative is a collection of programs that send Canadian sport leaders (called Canadian SportWORKS Officers, or “CSOs”) to Commonwealth countries in regions such as Africa, the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia, Europe and the Americas for placements that range from one week to one year. During their placements, CSOs design and deliver sustainable sport programs and assist each country in building sport system capacity. Launched in 2001, to date over 120 CSOs have made a sustainable, positive impact to 270 sport programs / projects in 30 developing Commonwealth countries reaching 1.6 million people.
About Commonwealth Games Canada
Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is the international franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth movement in Canada, and an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community. The mission of Commonwealth Games Canada is to strengthen sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth, by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a development tool.
For more information, please contact:
Brian MacPherson
CEO, Commonwealth Games Canada
(613) 244-6868
March 11 is International Commonwealth Day! Share your stories with us on Commonwealth Games Canada’s Facebook page or tweet us @cgc_jcc. You can follow stories from our SportWORKS Officers at:http://sportcafe.ca/commonwealth/sportworks-officer/
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