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BC Athlete Voice Board of Directors
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Bruce Deacon, Chairperson
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Bruce comes to the BC Athlete Voice Board of Directors with a wealth experience and knowledge. Bruce is a former two time Olympic marathoner and is currently the Education and Community Relations Manager with the Canadian Olympic Committee. Bruce is the past athlete's representative of Athletics Canada, past presenter at multiple AthletesCAN Athlete Forums, former Manager within the BC Government and past chair of appeal tribunals for the Centre for Sport and Law and Athletics Canada. With a strong background in education, Bruce provides a great perspective specifically in leadership, a subject in which he holds a Masters degree. Bruce is also still an active athlete and competes at the masters level and is involved in coaching.
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Naomi Walser, Secretary
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Naomi Walser, Beausoleil First Nation athlete and former Canadian Women’s National World Cup Lacrosse team member is passionate about provincial athletes having a voice. Growing up Naomi had the fortune to represent Canada in Lacrosse at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, the first Junior Canadian National Team in 1995 and then moved on to the Canadian Senior National Team in 1997. Currently Naomi has come out of retirement and is currently training for the first ever All-Native Women's National Lacrosse Team and if successful will travel to Prague for the 2009 World Cup. Naomi is especially passionate about Aboriginal Communities and ensuring access to the benefit of sport at all levels - from grassroots to high performance. Naomi is the Inclusion Initiatives Coordinator with 2010 Legacies Now and is involved as a volunteer with the First Nation Snowboard Team. |
| Ajay Patel, Treasurer
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Ajay Patel has been involved in sport all of his life. He is currently a Faculty Member and Chair of the Department of Human Kinetics at Langara College. He obtained his Bachelor of Human Kinetics (Kinesiology) from the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining Langara College Ajay was the CEO at Gymnastics BC and the Executive Director for Badminton BC. During his time with both organizations, Ajay was the lead on significant projects which have left a number of impacting legacies within the community. Ajay’s professional work (as well as a majority of his volunteer time) is dedicated to sport, provincially, nationally and internationally, and he has had the opportunity to work closely with individuals at all competitive levels and abilities. He has coached at all levels in soccer and his multi-sport games experiences are quite extensive. He is currently the Chef de Mission of Team BC for the 2009 Canada Summer Games and was the Chef de Mission for the previous two Canada Games Programs. Ajay is also a member of the BC Education Team with Canadian Sport for Life. He has been focusing on developing awareness, planning and implementation strategies, primarily with the education and organized sport sector.
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Marni Abbott-Peter
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Marni retired in 2004 from the National Women's Wheelchair Basketball Team, as a three-time Paralympic Gold medalist and as one of the world's premier wheelchair basketball athletes. Her skills as a coach and mentor have encouraged many athletes to explore wheelchair sports. Marni currently coaches BC's Canada Winter Games basketball program and has coached at four Canada Winter Games. Marni is also the assistant coach for the Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Team. Her success and dedication to her sport and her ability to face challenges have helped Marni earn BC Wheelchair Sports' "Female Athlete of the Millennium". Marni has also been involved in BC Athlete Voice since it's inception in 2005, has held the Interim Board Chairperson position and has a huge range of experiences within the sport system not only as an athlete but also as a coach and administrator.
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Callum Ng
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Callum has enjoyed a lifelong involvement with sport including a competitive swimming career lasting 18 years. In this time he achieved both national and international success. A 17-time Canadian Inter-university Sport National Champion, Callum also competed for Canada at World Championships, numerous World Cups as well as three World University Games. During his swimming career, Callum was also a dedicated student-athlete. A graduate of the University of British Columbia’s Robert H Lee Graduate School of Business, Callum combines scholastic business knowledge with practical marketing skills developed while starting and operating a successful home maintenance company. Callum’s entrepreneurial drive is part of what powers the creative edge at NG Farrell. An eye for opportunity and the smarts to capitalize on these opportunities is further value that Callum brings to the organizations working with NG Farrell. As a founding partner of NG Farrell, Callum is again creating a new synergy, by pairing his dynamic business acumen and extensive sports background, to the benefit of sport and recreation organizations in Canada. |
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Jennifer Joyce
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Jennifer attended the University of California, Berkeley where she majored in American Studies and French. She was a two-time All-American and coached for 4 years at UCal, Berkeley during her stay. Jen was Canadian National Record Holder (2002-2006), three-time Canadian National Champion and 2006 Commonwealth Games Silver Medalist. She was injured in 2007 and did not compete. Jen moved to Kamloops in September 2007 to train full time with Dr. Bondarchuk. Outside of her sport, she likes to play volleyball and ski and she also enjoys fishing with my dad or my cousin or uncle. |
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| Former BC Athlete Voice Board Members... | |
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Chris Werrell
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Chris began skiing at the age of seven in Burns Lake, BC and has kept going ever since. At 23 years old, Chris has his eyes firmly set on skiing towards his goal of reaching the podium in 2010. Chris has experienced his first taste of Gold at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse in 2007 and is hungry for more. While Chris regularly dominates in national competitions, he has also competed internationally as a member of the Junior National Team at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Stryn, Norway. Chris is dedicated to athlete advocacy and leadership and has demonstrated this with his roles as an Athlete and Coach Mentor, in his experiences at both BC and Canada Games and as a participant in BC Athlete Voice's first Athlete Forum in 2006.
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Stephanie McCann
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Stephanie has recently retired from athletics with a long list of sporting achievements including being the eight time Canadian Pole Vault record holder and a Commonwealth Bronze Medalist. Since retiring Stephanie has returned to her home province and has a strong desire to give back to the sports community. After competing at the International level for seven years has had the opportunity to be involved in nearly every multi-sport games experience (BC Games, Francophone Games, Western Canada Games, Canada Games, Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games). With this experience and understanding of an athlete perspective of the sport system, Stephanie is dedicated to be a voice to support the needs of our high performance athletes in BC.
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