OTTAWA – Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) unveiled Thursday the members of its mission staff for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Pune, India from October 12-18, 2008.
As announced last October, Shawnee Scatliff of Winnipeg, Man., will lead the mission team of 11 highly qualified individuals to the games as they strive to create the optimal competitive environment for Canadian athletes.
“We are a small mission staff but each individual member brings a wealth of experience and expertise to these games,” said Scatliff. “As a result, our athletes and coaches will be able to focus on bringing home medals for Team Canada.”
For the first time in history, Canada will send a full-delegation of 63 athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 to the Commonwealth Youth Games. Over 1300 athletes from 71 Commonwealth member nations and territories will compete in nine sports during the seven day event: Athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
The games will serve as a training ground for many of the athletes and coaches who will compete at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India and the 2012
Olympics in London, England
The following is a list of mission staff members as well as brief biographies:
Games Management Team
Shawnee Scatliff (Winnipeg, Man.) - Chef de Mission
Scott Stevenson (Orleans, Ont.) - Director of Sport, CGC
Communications Team
John Bower (Gatineau, Que.) - Manager of Communications, CGC
Operations Team
Krista Benoit (Gatineau, Que.) - Operations
Jim Bradley (Toronto, Ont.) - Operations
Hannah Juneau (Ottawa, Ont.) - Operations
Michael Smith (Nepean, Ont.) - Operations
Anna Spina (Ottawa, Ont.) - Travel / Operations
Medical Team
Dr. Navin Prasad (Vancouver, BC) - Chief Medical Officer
Raymonde Fortin (Brossard, Que.) - Therapist
Angela Greco (Toronto, Ont.) - Therapist
Mission Team Biographies
Shawnee Scatliff – Chef de Mission
Shawnee Scatliff brings a wealth of international multi-sports games experience to the post, having most recently served as the Assistant Chef de Mission for Team Canada at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. She was also a member of the 2002 games mission staff in Manchester, England in addition to managing the doping control centre at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg.
A two-time bronze medalist at the Canada Winter Games, the Winnipeg native has served as a coach, manager and administrator on Canada Games mission staff for Manitoba since 1981.
The former chair of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport (CAAWS), Shawnee is currently on contract with Sport Manitoba where she is responsible for interprovincial games and women in sport.
Scott Stevenson – Director of Sport
A St. John’s, N.L. native who currently resides in Orleans, Ont., Scott Stevenson is CGC’s Director of Sport. He is responsible for strengthening CGC’s role in the Canadian sport community by working closely with national sports organizations and partners such as Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) to ensure that Canadian athletes reach their fullest potential.
Over the past 15-years, Scott has served as Chief Executive Officer with Synchro Canada, Executive Director and Manager of Athlete and Coach Development at Diving Plongeon Canada in addition to serving as Sport Coordinator for the Victoria Commonwealth Games Society.
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
John Bower – Manager of Communications, CGC
John Bower is the Manager of Communications for Commonwealth Games Canada and will serve as Team Canada’s point of contact for domestic and foreign media during the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.
The Gatineau, Que., resident has more than a decade of media and public relations experience including a four-year stint on the Plymouth Whalers (Ontario Hockey League) radio and television broadcast crews prior to moving full-time into media relations and public affairs.
He has previously held marketing and communications positions at the University of Ottawa, Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and the University of Windsor in addition to serving as Media Relations Director for several regional, national and international championships in the sports of track and field and hockey including the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships and the 2007 CIS women’s ice hockey championship.
OPERATIONS TEAM
Jim Bradley – Operations
Over the past 20-years, Toronto’s Jim Bradley has been to a trio of Commonwealth Games as a member of the mission staff, most recently at the 2002 Games in Manchester, England. Jim has dedicated his 35-year career to working with Canada’s high performance amateur athletes and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Sport Alliance of Ontario.
He has attended 11 Canada Games with Team Ontario, having twice served as the Chef de Mission for the trillium team. His first international multi-sport games experience came as a member of the Canadian special games technical staff at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Jim will coordinate all on-site transportation at the Games in addition to being the direct liaison between the mission staff and athletes and coaches.
Michael Smith – Operations
The Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune will be the third for former national wrestling team member Michael Smith who will attend the Games in the role of Athlete, Legal and Technical liaison. Michael graduated with an Honours B.A. from The University of Western Ontario before earning his law degree from the University of Manitoba. The Nepean, Ont., resident is a partner in the Ottawa law firm Langevin Morris Smith, LLP, and is the former President of Athletes CAN (2003-2006).
His previous international multi-sport games experience as an athlete includes the 1996 Summer Olympics as an alternate team member and the 1999 Pan American Games. He has twice served on Canada’s Commonwealth Games mission staff (2002, 2006) in addition to being a member of the Canadian delegation to the 2003 Pan American Games, 2004 Olympic Summer Games and 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie.
Krista Benoit – Operations
Gatineau, Que., resident Krista Benoit joins the operations unit of the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games mission staff to oversee the distribution of team uniforms and VIP hospitality in addition to coordinating the community out-reach program between Team Canada and the local organizing committee while in India.
A Graduate of the Sports Administration program at Laurentian University and French program at Carleton University, the Truro, N.S., native has previously served on the 2000 summer and 2002 winter Paralymic Games mission staff.
Over the past 20-years, Krista has worked in marketing, communications and events planning for organizations such as the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), Canadian Ski Marathon, Institute for Sport Marketing, Synchro Canada and the now defunct Ottawa Rough Riders.
Currently the Director of Corporate development for the Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada, Krista recently completed her fifth year as the Event Director for the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s annual Sports Event Congress.
Hannah Juneau - Operations
Oxford Mills, Ont. native Hannah Juneau joins the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games mission staff in an administrative role, coordinating Team Canada’s schedule of events and lodging while in India. The Ottawa resident is a full-time employee of CGC, overseeing its Canadian Sport Leadership Corps (CSLC) internship program that places Canadian university graduates in the Caribbean and Africa to assist international development partners with the implementation of sport for social development programs.
A graduate of the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary in 2002, Hannah attended the Olympic Academy of Canada in Hamilton and the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece.
She has previous assisted Team Canada in its pre-departure preparation and events prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has worked for Speed Skating Canada where she was responsible for the domestic competition calendar, officials, competitions and risk management committees in addition to record keeping of events.
Anna Spina – International Travel Coordinator
Anna Spina is the International Travel Coordinator for Team Canada at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. Hailing from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Anna is the General Manager with Executive Worldwide Travel in Ottawa and specializes in international group travel.
The Ottawa resident has more than a decade of experience in major games travel bookings, beginning with the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She oversaw travel arrangements for Team Canada at the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games and the 2004 Paralympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece.
A graduate of Lake State University in Sault. Ste. Marie, Mich., Anna will coordinate athletes travel to and from the games and will be responsible for securing visas, customs clearances as well as baggage for Team Canada.
MEDICAL TEAM
Dr. Navin Prasad – Chief Medical Officer
A veteran of five (5) major international games including three Pan Am Games and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, Dr. Navin Prasad is Canada’s Chief Medical Officer for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Prasad is responsible for coordinating the Canadian medical team’s around the clock coverage in the village prior to and during the games. Spanning the better part of the past 20-years, the Vancouver native’s career in sports medicine has seen him work with Canada’s elite amateur athletes in field hockey, soccer, figure skating and athletics while acting as the primary care sports medicine physician for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the past 13 seasons.
A graduate of the University of Alberta, Dr. Prasad is a member of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine and the Canadian Medical Association in addition to holding the post of Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Raymonde Fortin
Raymonde Fortin of Brossard, Que., has been named to the Canadian medical team and will serve as a therapist at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.
A physical therapist and certified athletic therapist, Raymonde has been the co-owner of the Clinique Action Sport / Physio Parc Olympique in Montreal since 1996.
A graduate of both the Université de Montréal (Physiotherapy) and University of Ottawa (Kinanthropology), Raymonde was recently named to the medical mission staff for Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
She has previously served as the chief therapist at the Jeux de la Francophonie in 2001 and 2005 FISU Universiade, also known as the FISU World University Games Games in Ismir, Turkey and was the assistant chief therapist for Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy. Other international multi-sport games include the 1998 Winter Olympics, 1996 and 2000 Paralymic Summer Games and the 1999 and 2005 FISU Summer Games.
Raymonde has also provided therapy at domestic and international sporting events in the sports of boxing, taekwon-do, short track speed skating, hockey, marathons and football. She lectures on physiotherapy at Université de Montréal and is an examiner for Sports Physiotherapy Canada.
Angela Greco
Toronto native Angela Greco brings to the Commonwealth Youth Games mission staff a wealth of therapy experience in both sport and the arts.
A veteran of six multi-sport games, she has provided therapy coverage to Canada’s top athletes at FISU Universiades on three occasions (2001, 2005, 2007), the
Maccabi Games in Israel two others (2001, 2005) and was the therapist for Canada’s artistic and rhythmic gymnastics teams at the 1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg as well as other international events over the past 21-years.
The certified athletic therapist, physiotherapist and osteopathic thesis writer also provided sports therapy to the performers of Cirque du Soleil in three different productions between 1994 and 1999. Angela was the Head Physical Therapist of the Saltimbanco European tour from 1994-1997, in addition to serving in a similar role for the Quidam and La Nouba shows (1997-99) where she helped to establish new physiotherapy clinics and emergency coverage / action plans for the shows while touring throughout Europe and North America. She also worked extensively with the National Ballet School of Canada and continues to work with all forms of performing artists.
She is the owner of the Integrative Physical Therapy clinics in Toronto and Florida and is a guest lecturer for the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Toronto. A yoga and meditation instructor, Angela has done extensive travel and training and brings an eclectic mix of traditional sports therapy with healing methods from various cultures.
About Commonwealth Games Canada
Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is a not-for-profit multi-sport organization that is the franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games. Since 1930, CGC has been strengthening sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a tool for development.
For further information about Team Canada, the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games or our International Development through Sport programs, please visit our web site at www.commonwealthgames.ca
For more information, please contact:
John Bower
Manager of Communications
Commonwealth Games Association of Canada
613 244-6868 Ext. 230
819 921-8149 (Cell)
[email protected]
