FALL 2012 / Vol. 15, No. 2
University of Toronto
Kinesiology & Physical Education
CANADA’s
goldEN GIRL
CREATING CAPACITY Fresh hires, new labs enable expanded teaching and research endeavours
GOLDRING CENTRE CHAMPION Kevin Reed picks up the banner as the new Goldring campaign chair
EXPERIENCE REQUIRED What the Faculty is doing to foster a stronger generation of learners
Š 2012/2013 Marriott International, Inc.
FALL 2012 / Vol. 15, No. 2 EDITOR Althea Blackburn-Evans
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR Valerie Iancovich CONTRIBUTORS Althea Blackburn-Evans, Mary Beth Challoner, Jill Clark, Valerie Iancovich, Reina Shishikura, Masha Kennedy PHOTOGRAPHY Dan Epstein, James Heaslip (courtesy of Springfree Trampoline), Elena Iourtaeva, JingLing Kao-Beserve, Luke Pauw ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Luke Pauw PURSUIT is published twice a year by U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. www.pursuit.utoronto.ca Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Pursuit 55 Harbord Street Toronto, ON M5S 2W6
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Editorial comments P: 416.978.1663 F: 416.978.4384 a.blackburn.evans@utoronto.ca
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Address changes P: 416.946.5126 F: 416.978.4384 masha.kennedy@utoronto.ca The University of Toronto respects your privacy. We do not rent, trade or sell our mailing lists. If you do not wish to receive future editions of Pursuit, please call 416.946.5126 or email masha.kennedy@ utoronto.ca. Printed in Canada Publication Agreement Number: 40065214 Pursuit is committed to preserving the environment. All paper used in Pursuit is FSC® certified, which ensures all paper comes from well managed forests and other controlled sources. www.fsc.org
Contents 3
Faculty Notes
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Blues News
16 18
Fit Tips
Strengthening ties with CSCO
Student-athlete celebrated
Marcel Charland stays balanced
Canada’s Golden Girl What’s up next for Rosie MacLennan
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Getting Behind Goldring
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Active Academics
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Alumni Updates
40
Time Out
Kevin Reed jumps in as campaign chair
The evolution of experiential education
Karin Helmstaedt’s unlikely career path
When free weights were wooden
Dean's Message
C4 = Creating capacity,
cultivating change
What a terrific time to be part of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education! This year brings a series of exciting events, opportunities and challenges, all of which reinforce the importance of what we are all about – to both the University of Toronto community and our society. In parallel with the growing demand for university degrees in our field, this fall we ushered in our largest class of students to date – nearly 260 first-year undergraduate students and a 69-strong cadre of graduate students for master’s and doctoral degrees in exercise sciences. With that comes new infrastructure and people to provide our students with more courses to choose from and more cutting-edge research to transfer and apply. In addition to the new faculty members announced in the last issue – Catherine Sabiston and Kelly Arbor-Nicitopoulos – we welcome more staff and faculty this fall, alongside newly-built teaching and research spaces (see page 7). Part of a great education also includes a healthy dose of activity outside the lecture hall; find out more about how we enrich the learning experience for our students in the first of a two-part series on experiential education, found on page 24. The thrill of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is behind us, but the pride in celebrating student Rosie MacLennan’s goldmedal victory is still fresh in our minds. Read what Rosie has to say as she embarks upon her graduate studies here in the Faculty (page 18). On page 13 you will also find a summary of how our Blues athletes fared in London. As Olympic excitement gears down for now, the anticipation continues to build for the second-largest high performance sport event after the summer Olympics – the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games will happen in Toronto in three years. Both the Scarborough and St. George campuses will be Games venues. Construction for the eagerlyawaited Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport – which
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will host some of the Games’ events – is on schedule. On page 22, the new Goldring Centre volunteer campaign chair, Kevin Reed, shares his thoughts on the importance of athletics and why a devoted Ottawa Gee Gees alum turned his support to Toronto. Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find inspirational stories about staying fit (page 16), finding an unexpected career path (page 28) and the latest crop of athletes to go down in U of T hall of fame history (page 30). I hope you enjoy this issue of Pursuit. As always, we welcome your feedback! Ira Jacobs, Dean
Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education
Faculty Notes
Solidified partnership
with CSCO supports students, athletes
The Faculty entered a formal partnership with the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario (CSCO) on June 27 to enhance support for Ontario’s top athletes while augmenting learning and research opportunities for U of T students, faculty and staff across a broad range of sport science projects. The five-year agreement solidifies a long-standing history of collaboration to offer high performance athletes the best resources in testing, training and evaluation, and access to new knowledge. “We believe it’s the merging of a worldclass sport institute with a world-class academic institute,” says Debbie Low, CSCO’s chief executive officer. “This will open up doors to endless opportunities for athletes, coaches and sport scientists.” The CSCO is part of a national network of sport centres that provide personal and professional services to high performance athletes and coaches, including access to experts in a variety of areas, from trainers and physiologists to chiropractors and sport psychologists. A key aspect of the partnership is the sport science assistant program, already in its second year, which sees undergraduate kinesiology students heading to the CSCO for the summer to gain hands-on experience in the world of applied sport science. Working alongside leading scientists and researchers, the students perform tests
Dean Ira Jacobs and CSCO's Debbie Low are joined by (from left) summer students Lindsay Musalem, Tharmegan Tharmaratnam and Lydia Schultz
ranging from biomechanical analysis with underwater cameras to aerobic endurance tests on top athletes such as hockey standout Hayley Wickenheiser and swimmer Tobias Oriwol, who competed in London this summer. Dean Ira Jacobs sees the partnership as a natural extension of U of T’s commitment to generating and
disseminating knowledge across the entire physical activity spectrum, including high performance sport. “We are helping train the next generation of scientists while bringing our unique perspectives, experiences and research skills to bear on the challenge of helping the region’s best athletes succeed on the international stage.” –Reina Shishikura
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Faculty Notes
Symposium
explores what it takes to compete at Olympics
With every movement, pain jetted from my feet, up my legs, to the pit of my stomach, but pain is pain and it was the Olympics
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Olympian Alexandre Bilodeau stood at the top of the moguls course at the Vancouver Olympics, confronted by a sea of rowdy Canadians, glaring lights and hundreds of cameras. Professor Greg Wells, who was a CTV commentator during the Games, watched Bilodeau focus his eyes and whisper three words: “forward and soft” – a ‘note to self’ to focus forward down the hill and soft in the air. According to Wells, it was that simple, nerve-settling mantra that took Bilodeau to the top of the podium. Wells shared that anecdote on April 4 to a crowd of over 300 at the Faculty ’s third public symposium, “The Olympic Athlete: What it Takes to Get to The Games.” Wells emphasized that beyond physical prowess, high performance athletes need mental strength and go-to techniques such as “three deep breaths” to deal with the enormous pressure of competing on the world stage. That emphasis on holistic development was echoed by Wells’s fellow speakers that evening: Professor Gretchen Kerr, track and field coach Carl Georgevski, Olympian Alexandra Orlando and award-winning CBC sports journalist Teddy Katz. “Coaching is not about the event itself,” Georgevski told the crowd. “A coach doesn’t coach an event. A coach coaches people.” Having mentored several Olympians and now at the helm of the Blues track and field team, Georgevski shared examples from his early days when he focused too heavily on physical endurance and learned the hard way
that rest, mental preparedness and listening to athletes are equally key to fostering a champion. Kerr, an expert in sports psychology and a former elite gymnast and coach herself, called for developing the whole person and creating better collaborations between coaches, nutritionists and sport psychology consultants. Orlando agreed, insisting that this kind of holistic preparation proved essential for her leading up to, and at, the 2008 Games. The world-class rhythmic gymnast opened her presentation with footage of her routine in Beijing. Her athleticism and grace made it easy to miss that both ankles were heavily taped to support three torn ligaments in her left ankle and a serious sprain in her right. “With every movement, pain jetted from my feet, up my legs, to the pit of my stomach, but pain is pain and it was the Olympics,” Orlando said. While her passion and talent for sport helped her get to Beijing, it was her personal development leading up to 2008 – learning to accept failure, manage stress and selfdoubt, and see herself as more than just a high performance athlete – that helped Orlando join Team Canada. “Who I wanted to be was not just Alex the gymnast. I wanted to be Alex the person.” The next symposium, on December 5, will share research insights into how Toronto kids are getting to school, and how we could do a better job of encouraging active transportation in this city. For more details, visit physical. utoronto.ca. –Valerie Iancovich
PHOTO/ Dan epstein
Faculty Notes
Getting U of T
students moving
The University of Toronto has partnered with ParticipACTION to launch a campaign to educate students about the benefits of being active. Led by the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, the on-campus partnership also includes Hart House and Student Life – Health and Wellness, as well as recreation and peer health education teams from UTSC and UTM. The campaign, called MoveU, launched in late August with special events, posters, ads and promotional items distributed across the University of Toronto’s St. George, Scarborough and Mississauga campuses. The campaign also includes a strong social media presence. The four-year pilot initiative will bring Sheridan College on board next year. Professor Guy Faulkner has provided insight on the direction of the campaign and will continue to advise on its development while evaluating its success. While much of the work behind the scenes has been led by U of T and ParticipACTION staff, teams of peer ambassadors are spearheading efforts on the ground, helping students understand how physical activity can improve the way they perform in the classroom by lowering stress levels, improving sleep patterns and boosting concentration. “The goal of this campaign is to inspire students from all corners of our diverse community to find activities that really suit them and help them to be well, productive and feel connected to campus,” says Michelle Brownrigg, director of physical activity and equity at the Faculty, who initiated plans for the campaign. “We’re tremendously excited to have ParticipACTION’s support and we can’t wait to see this campaign come to life at the University of Toronto and beyond.” –VI
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Faculty Notes
New turf
extends playing time for U of T students
Downtown campus is set to get two highly-anticipated double artificial turf fields as part of its commitment to the 2015 Pan American and Para Pan American Games. The project creates a lasting legacy for U of T students, extending a world-class facility to tens of thousands recreational athletes on campus. The turf, which received formal University approval on April 11, will replace the grass playing fields immediately north of University College and south of Hoskin Avenue. The space will become the only double-turfed field hockey ground in Ontario; other sports can be played recreationally. The Faculty will cover 44 per cent of the capital cost of the project, which will greatly extend use of the fields for a wide
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range of sports and activities. “We have never had, and likely will never have, an opportunity to pay 44 cents on the dollar for a capital construction project,” says Anita Comella, assistant dean of co-curricular physical activity and sport. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the Games while fulfilling our need to offer U of T students a broad range of recreational and learning opportunities.” Replacing natural grass with turf will nearly triple the playing time for scores of students who enjoy intramural sports, create opportunities for future high performance training and competition, and enhance the recreational space available to students and community members. –Althea Blackburn-Evans
PHOTO/ Caz Zyvatkauskas
Faculty Notes
Research, teaching
get boost with new hires and facilities
The Faculty augmented its teaching and research capacity this summer, recruiting new staff and faculty, and creating significant new lab spaces.
New teaching and research labs offer state-of-the-art spaces for other recently-recruited faculty members, including Tyson Beach, Greg Wells and Catherine Sabiston.
New hires included Ashley Stirling, who joined the Faculty in July as a lecturer and experiential education specialist (see more on page 25) and Jeremy Knight, who is the Faculty’s first research services officer. Cathie Kessler also came on board in August in the newly-created teaching lab coordinator position.
“This capacity-building comes at a crucial time for the Faculty,” says Dean Ira Jacobs, who will share space with Wells in the newly-developed human physiology lab. “We have a record number of students this year and we aim to provide them with the best educational experience while continuing to strengthen our research programs.” –ABE
PICTURED/ Students Jessica Caterini (l) and Fiona Callender test equipment in the new human physiology lab
PHOTO/ Elena Iourtaeva
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Faculty Notes
Expanding his outlook
PhD candidate Darragh McGee reveals the complexity of athlete development in Africa
How does an adolescent West African boy become a professional football player in Europe? It’s a question that PhD candidate Darragh McGee travelled all the way to Ghana, France and Belgium to answer. McGee returned to Toronto this August after spending six months abroad looking to gain a better understanding of the journeys that these successful athletes take, and to explore the much more common realities of those who fall short of landing in the spotlight. “It’s an impossible dream really,” explains McGee. “The chances of a boy making it to that level are about one in a million. Essentially, my research tries to unravel the process through which West African boys pass, and I question the extent to which they are exposed to corrupt and exploitative practices.” During his time in West Africa, McGee immersed himself in day-to-day life at training camps and football academies, working alongside local and European coaches and scouts. What he discovered
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was a vast spectrum of athlete experiences. “Many journalists have sensationalized claims about these kids being exploited by European agents,” he explains. “That can sometimes be the case, but by no means always.” McGee acknowledges that exploitation and corruption is rampant in the recruitment of young African footballers, but he also found cases where agents, scouts and talent recruiters fulfilled their commitment, either helping the young athletes develop abroad or ensuring that unsuccessful athletes were returned home safely. “The agent may or may not be trustworthy, but the reality is that the industry is entirely unregulated and includes those who have integrity and unfortunately, those who are just there to exploit what is a very powerful dream.” McGee saw a similar spectrum when he visited soccer training academies in Ghana. “These institutions have reputations for being neocolonial, western-owned talent nurseries, but that’s not the case across the board,”
he explains. McGee taught English and coached at the Ghana-based organization Right to Dream, where he observed a strong curriculum that ensured the holistic development of the young athletes. “In the space of 10 years, they’ve had over 30 boys get full scholarships to American universities and five or six went on to play professionally in Europe. Some of these boys are basically living my life, combining their love of football with their schooling,” says the current Blues soccer captain. McGee wrapped up his research trip in Brussels. There he collaborated with police and politicians to learn about how Belgium is working to overcome the athlete trafficking crisis that peaked in the 1990s. He hopes that work like his will pressure the rest of Europe to follow Belgium’s lead. “Regulation is so far behind. Belgium is the only country in the world where a footballer or athlete can be designated as a trafficked person. I think it’s time we changed that.” –VI
Faculty Notes
Going the distance overseas
Undergrad student makes history during summer placement Jordan Frost made headlines this summer during his Faculty-sponsored placement with the Physically Active Youth (PAY) program in Windhoek, Namibia. Frost was one of two students selected by the Faculty to participate in the 10-week internship, which requires students to develop afterschool academic and physical activity programming for local children. But the fourth-year CTEP student went above and beyond, taking the reigns as coach to a small team of PAY cyclists and making a bit of history in the process.
His team of cyclists, some of whom Calling on his education and his own had never had their photos taken, were experience as a competitive soccer player, suddenly seeing themselves in the Frost shared tips on nutrition, condinewspaper and getting recognized in tioning and teamwork, which helped the the street. Frost was along for the ride, young men significantly improve their doing interviews and even helping to riding. The team began qualifying for – produce a segment for the national and winning – races across the region. news channel. Inspired by these results, Frost took to fundraising for his athletes, eventually The athletic victories and media support organizing a duathlon in Katutura, a inspired the cyclists to share with Frost community still reeling from racism their ultimate ambition: to compete of the apartheid era. “We learn so at the Olympics. Frost thought that much about making significant change sending them to the Summer Games through sport [at the Faculty],” says in London would be a great way to Frost. “So my main goal was to organize help prepare them. “Research shows a race that would make a difference, that many teams [from developing and in that area that meant a race that countries] that go to the Olympics for would include white and black athletes; the first time fail to meet their goals it would be a first.” With the support of because they’re just so amazed at the a local sponsor, Frost achieved his goal experience and the privileges that and made headlines across the continent. comes with qualifying for the Games,”
he says. “And these athletes had never been on a plane, or travelled outside their village.” Frost’s goal was considered too ambitious by many, but with support of his PAY colleagues and sponsors, he successfully raised the money they needed to make the athletes’ dream a reality. The trip to London provided the cyclists with exposure to travel and a new culture. They were introduced to Dan Craven, Namibia’s only cyclist at the Games, and realized the amount of commitment and training required at that level of competition. “When they got back they were really prepared to step it up even more,” says Frost. “Before I’d have to take initiative and work to motivate them. After London, it was totally different.” For Frost, the PAY experience provided more than just an opportunity to improve his leadership, coaching and teaching skills; it showed him how much he was capable of. “PAY is a great program. Every kid comes to that organization with a goal and the centre does everything it can to make it happen. No dream is considered foolish. And to me, that’s really inspiring.” –VI
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Blues News
Academic
Accolades
For the second year in a row, a U of T student-athlete took top marks with Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Darragh McGee, a doctoral student and captain of the Blues men’s soccer team, was recognized as one of the CIS top eight academic allCanadians for 2011-12, following up U of T wrestler Shujon Mazumder's win last year. A 2011 CIS first-team all-Canadian and OUA East MVP and first-team all-star, McGee ranked among the top 30 players in the country and helped his team to the third best goals against record in the CIS last season. He is currently completing his PhD in the sociology of sport and recently returned from Ghana, where he spent the summer researching the nexus between the phenomenon of trafficking, child labour and sport (read more about this work on page 8).
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The top eight recipients are chosen each year from over 2,000 academic all-Canadians who have maintained an A average while competing in varsity sport. To create the shortlist, CIS chooses one male and one female student-athlete from each of the four regional associations. “We believe very strongly in developing the whole studentathlete, and Darragh is a strong reflection of this,” says Beth Ali, U of T’s director of intercollegiate and high performance sport. “He has been recognized academically on many occasions and his performance on the field is incontestable. That our student-athletes have achieved this highly sought-after honour two years in a row demonstrates our approach is working.” –ABE
PHOTO/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve
Barrett
bleeds blue John Barrett shed his interim title this summer, becoming the head coach of the Varsity Blues men’s volleyball program on August 1. The former CIS all-Canadian, CIS national champion and national team member held the top coaching position this past season, after serving as an assistant coach with the Blues since 2006. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work with such a great group of student-athletes and help U of T rebuild the men’s volleyball program to the prominence it once had,” says Barrett. “It’s an especially exciting time, with the construction of the new Goldring Centre underway, which will undoubtedly help attract some of the best athletes in the country.” The team will find its new home at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport when construction is complete in 2015. Barrett’s coaching resume includes a long-time association with the national beach program, where he was named head coach of Canada’s team for the 2003 Pan American Games. His playing career includes 15 years with Canada’s men’s indoor team – capped off by his participation in the 1984 Olympic Games – and a 12-year professional career in Italy, which boasts the number one professional league in the world. –Jill Clark
Home turf advantage
The University of Toronto is set to host three championships this year – 2012 CIS field hockey, November 1-4 at Varsity Centre; 2013 OUA swimming, February 7-9 in the Athletic Centre’s Varsity Pool; and 2013 CIS women’s hockey, March 7-10 at Varsity Arena. “We’re thrilled to have a hat trick this year,” says Beth Ali. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase our facilities and to inspire our teams to be the best.”
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Blues News
Celebrating
Grey Cup history
Over 4,000 fans gathered at Rosedale Field on December 9, 1909 to cheer on the Varsity Blues as they made football history – capturing the first Grey Cup and setting the stage to take the following two consecutive titles and then a fourth in 1920. This year, U of T – also host to a record 29 Grey Cup games – has taken centre stage in the celebrations to mark the 100th playing of the Grey Cup* scheduled for November 25. Festivities kicked off on May 30, when U of T football players returned to Rosedale Field, joining members of the Toronto Argonauts and Canadian Football League alumni, including past Grey Cup champions and CFL of Hall of Famers to celebrate 100 years of the Cup. On August 13, Canada Post used Varsity Centre as the venue to launch its commemorative Grey Cup stamp collection, which was unveiled by Deepak Chopra, president and CEO of Canada Post; Mark Cohon, the commissioner of the CFL; and Chris Rudge, executive chairman and CEO, Toronto Argonauts and the chairman of the 100th Grey Cup Festival.
Paying homage to the 1909-winning Grey Cup team and officials during the Rosedale Field celebration on May 30.
Rudge also presented Dean Ira Jacobs with a commemorative Grey Cup banner on September 8 at the Argos vs. Hamilton game at the Rogers Centre. U of T stands alone in receiving two of the prestigious banners – one as host and one as winner of a Grey Cup. The Blues strengthened their relationship with the Argos this year, playing host to the 11th annual Huddle Up Bullying Prevention Program. Blues football players Aaron Milton and Christopher Johnson, and basketball players Alex Hill, Dakota Laurin and Adam Plummer joined Toronto Argonauts players and cheerleaders as ambassadors to over 250 students and teachers who shared ideas to keep their schools safe from bullying behaviour. –ABE
Commemorative stamp.
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*There were no Grey Cup games played between 1916 and 1918 during World War 1 and no 1919 game due to a rules dispute.
PHOTO/ Johnny Guatto
Blues News
Blues in red
Olympic wrap-up In addition to the standout performance by Canada’s only Olympic gold medalist, Rosie MacLennan (see page 18), several Blues donned Canada’s colours – and in two cases, those of their home countries – to compete in London. Here is how they fared:
Staffers head to FISU
Two members of the intercollegiate sport information and promotion team will play key roles next year at both the winter and summer FISU world university games. Mary Beth Challoner (pictured right), manager of events and marketing for the Blues, will act as manager of communications at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy. Jill Clark (pictured left), coordinator of sport information, will be a communications officer at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. “We are thrilled with the mission staffs we have assembled for the 2013 Universiades,” said Mary Macdonald, manager of sport and international programs for Canadian Interuniversity Sport, who will also be assistant chef de mission at both events. “Thanks to their support and expertise, we are confident that Canadian student-athletes will enjoy a memorable experience and will achieve great success in Kazan and Trentino.”
Zsofi Balazs Open Water Swimming 18th
Elodie Li Yuk Lo (Mauritius) Beach Volleyball 19th
Josh Binstock Beach Volleyball 17th
Colin Russell Swimming 4x100 freestyle relay 10th 4x200 freestyle relay 14th
Michael Brathwaite Rowing – Men’s Double Sculls 12th Crispin Duenas Archery 33rd Grace Gao Badminton – Mixed Doubles 13th
Donna Vakalis Modern Pentathlon 11th Sarah Wells Athletics – 400m hurdles 24th
Luke Hall (Swaziland) Swimming – 50m freestyle 36th Michelle Li Badminton – Women’s Doubles 4th
PHOTO/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve
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Blues News
Teams to watch Field Hockey
Men’s Soccer
The defending OUA champs will take to the field October 27-28 to vie for their 29th provincial title since 1971. The team, set to host the 2012 CIS championship, last reigned nationally in 2010 and took top spot on their home turf in 2007, boasting a total of 11 national titles. The team opened their 2012 campaign with a perfect 7-0 September, recording three shut-out wins. At press time, they had outscored their opponents 31-4, ranking first in goals for and tying for first with fewest goals allowed. The Blues have four players ranked among the top 10 scorers in the OUA, more than any other team.
Having lost a core group to graduation, the defending OUA silver medalists are off to a slower start in 2012 with a 5-5-0 record at press time. The Blues upset the No. 10 Carleton Ravens 2-1 at home on September 30 and were looking to ride that win into October and playoffs November 2–4. The Blues have made the Final Four for the past four seasons, and have appeared in the championship final since 2009, last winning it in 2010. They also look for their fourth consecutive national championship berth.
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s Soccer
Tamara Jewett, the 2011 OUA female individual champion, won her first two 5K races of the season, placing first at the Western International (17:36) and Sean Earl Lakefront Invitatoinal (17:17). Jewett is the defending OUA champion and CIS silver medalist and looks to defend her title as York hosts the provincial championship on October 27.
Women’s soccer was 7-3-2 at press time, and fighting for playoff positioning. The team has made the playoffs in each of the last 12 seasons, and on November 2–4 will look for their first OUA Final Four appearance since 2004.
Men’s & Women’s Water Polo The team had a jam-packed October schedule in preparation for the OUA championship in November (the men compete November 16-18; the women November 23–25). The women are defending champions, while the men look to claim their fourth title in five years after a silver-medal finish last season.
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For up-to-the-minute information on how the Blues are faring, visit www.varsityblues.ca. –JC
Blues News
Wrapping up an impressive career at U of T, Varsity Blues head men’s basketball coach Mike Katz retired October 1, 2012. Katz spent seven seasons on the sidelines for his alma mater, where he garnered both OUA and CIS coach of the year honours in 2007-08. That season Katz led the squad to a third consecutive third-place finish in the competitive OUA East. Under his leadership, the team posted a 158-96 overall record, three playoff victories and several top 10 rankings.
On the national stage, Katz was assistant coach of the Canadian basketball squad and took part in the 2000 Olympic Games and the 1994 and 2002 world championships. In 1997, he guided Canada’s team to a silver medal at the World University Games in Sicily. Katz was also the head coach of the Ontario provincial team from 1986 to 1989, capturing one gold and one silver medal.
“Mike has a great basketball mind and is a highly regarded coach in this country at every level,” says Beth Ali, director of Prior to joining the Varsity Blues, Katz intercollegiate and high performance led the Humber College men’s basketsport. “Mike had a significant impact ball team for 19 seasons, amassing an on our program and the student overall record of 503-175. During that athletes within it. He has left his mark time, he led the Hawks to the Final Four and we will continue his legacy of excelevery year, winning seven provincial lence as we move forward into the next championships and five national titles phase of Varsity Blues basketball. We while producing seven all-Canadian wish him the very best.” –ABE players. The four-time OCAA coach of the year and three-time CCAA coach of the year was inducted into the Humber Varsity Hall of Fame in 2004.
Mike Katz
passes the ball
Upcoming action Men’s and women’s basketball are set for their home opening weekend, scheduled for November 9 (Guelph) and 10 (Lakehead). Games for women and men are 6:00PM and 8:00PM respectively. Blues track and field will host three invitationals early in 2013, including: Sharon Anderson Memorial January 5
Fred Foot Track Classic January 19 & 20
Hal Brown Last Chance February 15
The sixth annual Cheer Blue, Think Pink week, in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, is scheduled to take place in late January. Women’s hockey faces off against Ryerson at 4:00PM on January 20, volleyball meets Waterloo at 2:00PM on January 26, and later that day women’s basketball goes head-to-head with Queen’s at 6:00PM. For more details on this and other Varsity Blues events, visit www.varsityblues.ca.
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Fit Tips
Building Balance
Marcel Charland embraces all things active If you’ve ever been to the sport medicine clinic in the basement of the Athletic Centre, chances are you’ve seen Marcel Charland hard at work, with his trademark smile and energetic personality keeping his patients going. Charland got his start as an athletic therapist with the Toronto Blizzard soccer team in 1993 and hasn’t looked back since. Outside of the clinic he works with the national women’s basketball team, which recently competed at the London Olympics. Charland spoke to Reina Shishikura about his commitment to physical activity in various forms, despite sustaining a hip and back injury four years ago. Douglas Rosa, the Athletic Centre’s personal training and nutrition coordinator, offers tips on what Charland can do to stay injury-free and maintain his activity levels.
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PHOTO/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve at Breathe Yoga Studio
NAME: Marcel Charland OCCUPATION: Athletic therapist at the David L.
Macintosh Sport Medicine Clinic and with the women’s national basketball team AGE: 51 SPORTS BACKGROUND: Long-distance running and
outdoor sports such as kayaking, mountain biking and canoeing
CARDIO AND FITNESS ROUTINE: Charland runs three
times a week, cycles to and from work every day, practices yoga, plays squash and occasionally rock climbs. “I just love being active! I even go winter camping to take advantage of winter sports.” STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING ROUTINE: Mobility
and body weight work a few times a week, including push-ups and squats
CHALLENGES: In 2008 Charland sustained a hip and
lower back injury in a bicycle accident. “It could’ve been a lot worse, but I’m finding that as I age, it takes a lot longer to heal.”
DIET: Mostly a vegetarian, Charland aims to eat healthy 80 per cent of the time and allows some indulgences 20 per cent of the time. TEMPTATIONS: “Chips, late-night snacks and wine!”
Charland admits that late-night snacking is a lifelong habit he just can’t seem to break.
ACCOMPLISHMENT: Running 220km of the East Coast
trail in Newfoundland in three days, right before his cycling accident. “I’ve run marathons, but I enjoy this kind of running the most. I train, run and finish on my own, and it’s a different mentality because you’re going at your own pace.” GOAL: To wake up in the morning and not be in pain,
be consistently active and healthy, and run more trails in Ontario. “There are lots of great, beautiful trails here. I want to get fit enough again to run or hike all of them.”
Douglas Recommends LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
“It’s great that Marcel does a variety of activities,” says Rosa. “That way it’ll encourage him to keep active. But he should make sure he’s not stressing his body out too much and that he has clearance from his physiologist.” Exercise should always be pain-free and you should listen to your body, he adds.
Switch up your routine While running three times a week is a good cardio routine, Rosa says that Charland should combine it with a strength and conditioning routine for better results. “For example, one week he could run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, condition his upper body on Tuesday, his lower body on Thursday, do yoga on Saturday and rest on Sunday,” says Rosa. “Then the week after, he could switch up the days but make sure to take one rest day.”
Body weight + resistance workouts = best results Rosa says that body weight-based mobility workouts are great, but that adding resistance workouts would benefit Charland even more. “Chances are, after three to four weeks of the same workout, your body gets used to it and it hits a plateau.” He also suggests Charland include workouts such as side lunges, squats, lifting and bending to engage his hips, core and back.
Maintain a balanced diet Because Charland follows a mostly vegetarian diet, Rosa recommends a balanced diet that consists of 50 per cent carbohydrates, 30 per cent protein and 20 per cent fat. “The carbs should come mostly from vegetables, protein from lean meat and grains and good fat from things like avocados and peanuts.”
Nutrient-based fruits are best for late-night snacks “Charland’s not alone when it comes to chips being a temptation,” laughs Rosa. “Once you open a bag, it’s hard to stop!” So he recommends buying healthier chips or small, individual-sized bags to prevent over-eating. For late-night snacking, Rosa says Charland should eat nutrient-rich, low-calorie fruits, such as blueberries, grapes and strawberries. “But as long as you have enough protein for dinner, you should be able to avoid late-night snacks.”
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Everything’s
ROSIE
Riding an Olympic high, Rosie MacLennan takes on her next big challenge By Althea Blackburn-Evans
When Rosie MacLennan returned from London in midAugust, one of her first stops was her training ground, Skyriders Trampoline in Richmond Hill, where a group of young athletes eagerly waited to watch Canada’s only 2012 Olympic gold medalist show off her skills. All eyes were on their idol as MacLennan took to the trampoline. But it took just one jump to remind the world-leading gymnast what a week off can do. “I fell on a single backflip; it was very humbling!” laughs MacLennan, describing the incredulous look on the novices’ faces. “You lose your spatial awareness very quickly.” The challenge of taking even a short break is proof of MacLennan’s dogged dedication to her sport, despite a
PHOTO (and cover)/ James Heaslip courtesy of Springfree Trampoline
busy schedule as a top student at the University of Toronto. Graduating with high honours from the physical education program in 2011 – just weeks after taking gold at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico – MacLennan returned to U of T this fall to begin her master’s in exercise sciences. Despite rumours that she might postpone her graduate work to ride the high of the Games, MacLennan is staying the course. “Education is something my parents always really valued themselves and that value was instilled in me. In my undergrad I found an area I was really interested in, so I enjoy learning more about it.” >
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That area is athlete social responsibility, the study of how athletes use their experience and prominence to further socially-important causes or organizations. Working with Professor Marg MacNeill, MacLennan completed her fourth-year research project on the topic; the two will regroup for her master’s work. “Rosie brings great energy and experience to her work,” says MacNeill. “As an Olympic champion and graduate researcher, she is well placed to engage elite athletes in participatory action research to examine their evolving roles as ambassadors for health and as citizens engaged in social causes.” The path to U of T started with gymnastics, MacLennan says. “My former teammate Sarah [Charles, now Gairdner] has had a huge influence on me. She was in the program for a year while I was still a high school student. Hearing Sarah talk about the broad range of classes and the tight-knit community was why I applied for the program in the first place. With my passion in sport and health, it just seemed right. And the whole way through she’s kind of guided me and given me advice.” Rotating roles as training partner, school mate, mentor and fellow champion for the Goldring Centre campaign (see next page), Gairdner – a former world champion herself – was one of the first to congratulate MacLennan after her gold-medal win in London. Despite calls from prominent folks including Prime Minister Harper, she says Gairdner’s call topped the list. “I wasn’t able to answer my phone for a long time [after leaving the podium] and there were something like 14 missed calls from her. Hearing the excitement in her voice and being able to talk to somebody who I’ve shared so much of the experience with; it was the most meaningful call.” With no immediate plans for the next competition, MacLennan is focusing on her new role as graduate student, and feeling fortunate to have found a school and a sport that allow her to be excellent at both. “The Faculty was very supportive of me and that really helps. If you find the right program and the right training regimen you can do both.” MacLennan says each pursuit has similar challenges, and in true no-nonsense form she breaks them down in the simplest of terms: “You have this amount of time, you have to get this amount done, and you have to find a way to do it. You don’t give yourself any excuses.”
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MacLennan’s Milestones 1995
++Life on the trampoline takes over, when
2005
++Ten years of training results in synchro silver at the
2007
++Gains momentum with four medals – individual
MacLennan tags along with her siblings to the gym for the first time.
world championships in Eindhoven
bronze, team silver and synchro gold at worlds in Quebec, plus individual silver at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro
++Heads to U of T to embark on a degree in physical health education
2008
++Heads to Beijing to compete in her first
2009
++Takes two – team bronze and synchro silver at
2010
++Brings home individual bronze at worlds in
2011
++Follows up team bronze, synchro silver and
Olympic Games
worlds in St. Petersburg
Metz, France
individual silver at worlds in Birmingham with individual gold at Pan Ams in Guadalajara.
++Graduates with high honours from U of T’s BPHE program
2012
++Takes individual gold in London ++Begins her master's degree at U of T ++Receives the Faculty’s Mavis E. Berridge Scholarship and the M.R. Wright and Family Fellowship in High Performance Sport
TOTAL
JUMPING TO THE CHALLENGE Student-athletes rally support for high performance sport hub Rosie MacLennan and Sarah Gairdner know how to deliver top performances, on and off the trampoline. The duo, who have competed together at the highest levels (see preceding story) and are both immersed in graduate studies in exercise sciences, have put their passion towards a new challenge: helping to raise funds to complete the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, the state-of-the-art facility that will foster excellence in sport science research and teaching, sport medicine, athlete training, coaching and world-class competition.
MacLennan and Gairdner at the Goldring gala
This year MacLennan and Gairdner co-chaired a successful fundraising gala and served as volunteers at an exclusive golf tournament on September 28. Combined, the events have raised over $200,000 to date. The golf tournament, organized by Goldring Centre campaign advisors including chair Kevin Reed (see page 22) ), Patrick O’Hanlon and Cailey Stollery in memory of the campaign’s previous chair, Gordon Stollery, brought together 32 golfers at the prestigious Goodwood Golf Club. MacLennan and Gairdner joined in to share their enthusiasm for the cause and made connections with fellow supporters of Canadian high performance sport. The gala, held at the Royal Conservatory of Music on May 11, featured live performances by athletes and a sports-related silent auction. It was attended by over 100 guests, including several Olympians. “Rosie and Sarah organized a memorable event,” says Judy Goldring (BA Vic 1987), vice-chair of U of T’s Governing Council, and the lead volunteer who worked with the pair on the gala. “Every detail was thought through – from the trampoline on Bloor Street to the silent auction items. Everybody who attended had a great time. Rosie’s and Sarah’s leadership in pulling this together, particularly in the midst of their busy schedules, shows just how talented they are.” Ms. Goldring and her family, including the late Warren Goldring (BA UC 4T9, LLD Hon 0T3) and her brother Blake (BA Vic 8T1), a member of the Boundless campaign executive, are
TOP PHOTO/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve
PICTURED/ L to R: Geoffrey Beattie, Kevin Sullivan, Gordon Nixon, Rosie MacLennan, Michael Siltala
among the Centre’s founding benefactors, whose number also includes Ron Kimel (BA UC 1966), the Kimel family, and the late Gordon Stollery (MSc 7T2). MacLennan, who is now a Goldring Centre campaign advisor, is quick to emphasize how important private fundraising is for initiatives like this. “There’s only so much you can do without the resources,” she says. “This Centre will make a huge difference in Ontario and Canada.” –with files from Allyson Rowley
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Getting Behind Goldring
Kevin Reed, chairman and CEO of Blue Goose Capital and campaign chair for the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, talks to Pursuit editor Althea Blackburn-Evans about the power of sport and why a proud Ottawa Gee Gee put his weight behind U of T
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Kevin Reed’s fondest memory in sport and in life took place on a wintry day in his seventh year, gliding over his backyard ice rink. “It’s etched in my mind – that feeling of being on the rink my dad made, the snow falling around me. I try to live my life like I’m always seven: when you’re on the rink you’re dreaming about anything you want to be; anything is possible.” That feeling carried Reed through careers in hockey and business, where he played competitively in Canada and Europe, and established a series of successful companies in fields as diverse as engineering, finance and organic cattle farming.
PHOTOS/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve
Reed insists that the lessons hockey taught him are integral to how he approaches business – and they’re the reason he is so committed to supporting sport. “In business I draw on those [hockey] experiences every day. Everyone has a role but you have to come together, check your egos, and make it happen. My proudest accomplishment is that I’ve found tremendous partners and people to work with. Every company I’ve built I’ve had best-of-class partners. It makes my job easy.” That team dynamic in business drives Reed to give back to sport in many ways. A corporate sponsor to more than a dozen Olympic athletes over the years, he has now set his sights on the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. A relatively recent Toronto resident, Reed sees this city as the ideal spot to groom the next generation of top athletes. “I firmly believe that Ontario needs more places to help the region’s elite-level athletes – and I think Toronto has an outstanding opportunity to put a serious Olympic bid on the table. The Goldring Centre, with its research infrastructure and focus on supporting high-level athletes, bodes well for the City of Toronto – and for Canada.” Reed’s fondness for Toronto began in his Ottawa Gee Gees days, when the view on Bay Street first inspired his career dreams and culminated in the creation of Grey Horse Corporation, now Equity Financial Holdings. “When I was playing for the University of Ottawa we came to Toronto for an afternoon game and I just happened to walk down to Bay Street. I was quite impressed with how tall the buildings were there and I thought, ‘These are big buildings; this must be a great business.’ On the bus ride back to U of O I said to my buddies, ‘By the time I’m 40 I’m going to build a bank.’ I built some companies before that – an engineering company [the now internationally-renowned Magellan Engineering] with my Ottawa roommate and a software company in the U.S. – and then I moved back to Canada and built my bank.” When asked to sum up his success and his drive to get behind sport-related causes like the Goldring Centre, Reed’s simple answer calls back to his early memories on that backyard rink. “I haven’t stopped being seven and dreaming big.”
Construction continues Nearly 60 feet below ground, the foundation for the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport is forming, laying the groundwork for the multi-storey hub for sport science, medicine, training and competition. This winter watch for the steel skeleton to make its way toward the sky as the Golding Centre begins to take shape. Completion is slated for 2015, in time for U of T to play host to the Pan American and Para Pan American Games.
To contribute to the campaign for the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, contact Robin Campbell at 416.978.3711 or robin.campbell@utoronto.ca
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Active Academics by Valerie Iancovich IllustrationS by Luke Pauw
When the University of Toronto’s School of Physical and Health Education instructors sent their first crop of students running through obstacle courses and climbing up ropes in the Athletic Centre sports gym, few would have known that they were embracing educational principles that almost 70 years later would be considered cutting edge. In 2012, as learning styles change, technology evolves and job markets grow increasingly competitive, curriculum developers are expanding their focus to provide more opportunities that take students out of the lecture hall and into the field to exemplify ‘experiential learning’ – an approach that has today’s post-secondary educators abuzz. This is the first in a two-part series about experiential education. See our Spring 2013 issue for the second installment.
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President David Naylor is among the advocates for expanding the experiential education opportunities offered to University of Toronto students. “The job of universities is to build what some call T-shaped individuals – a deep column of narrow expertise, capped by substantial breadth,” he said in a recent interview with The Globe and Mail. “That means more multi-disciplinary and experiential learning, and lots of opportunities for interactive problem-solving inside and outside the classroom.”
It’s a direction CCUPEKA (the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators) applauded last year when the organization assessed the Faculty’s curriculum during its reaccreditation process. “When other PHE/KIN programs across the country were dealing with budget cuts and changing direction, they reduced their physical activity curriculum,” says Kerr. “We’ve not only maintained it, but strengthened it by integrating the physical activity and academic theory courses.”
Though the Faculty has long been a leader in this approach to learning, over the last two years there has been a renewed commitment to enhance existing opportunities and to develop new, more sophisticated bridges between theory and practice. “It’s an exciting time at the Faculty right now,” says Gretchen Kerr, the Faculty’s associate dean of undergraduate education. “We are fortunate in that our students already have such a breadth of opportunities to work in the field. We’re now focused on being more rigorous and explicit about what students are learning from these experiences.”
To ensure this success continues, the Faculty this summer welcomed Ashley Stirling in a newly-created role as the experiential education specialist. Stirling, whose expertise centres around the best techniques and principles related to this learning theory, is also teaching third- and fourth-year placement courses. “These classes already offer students terrific placement opportunities in Toronto schools, at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto Rehab and various athlete development clinics, but my goal is to expand our relationships even further,” says Stirling. She is also looking to expand the in-class portion of the program, developing the students’ communication, listening and teamwork skills so
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that they can clearly articulate the links from the classroom to work in the field, which will help in accessing the curriculum’s success and the students’ success after graduation. “For example, if what a student has learned in her sport medicine class relates to her field care placement [working with medical staff and Blues athletes], she needs to have specific skills to effectively communicate that she understands and can apply these connections properly,” Stirling explains. This summer, three undergraduate students were given a unique opportunity to do just that thanks to the Faculty’s recently-strengthened relationship with Canadian Sport Centre Ontario (see page 3). For the last two years, this partnership has invited select undergraduate students to work in the field with high performance athletes, conducting tests and research in CSCO’s labs and sports facilities. Lindsay Musalem, Tharmegan Tharmaratnam and Lydia Schultz were the latest to benefit from the opportunity and worked directly with London-bound athletes and legends like hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser. “We were applying what we learned in class and in the labs to real-life settings,” says Schultz. “It’s not an abstract concept anymore.”
Labs, reinvented Enhancing the Faculty’s experiential education approach also means further developing access to research in our own facilities. For years undergraduate students have had the chance to work one-on-one with professors on research projects – an opportunity many students don’t have until graduate school. Two state-of-the-art labs were built this summer (see page 7), further expanding the breadth of lab work available to undergraduate students. “This will also continue to build on the research our undergraduates are able to share with their peers at our annual national research conference, which is getting stronger every year,” Kerr says. Professor Michael Atkinson, who teaches physical cultural studies, has reconsidered the very definition of a lab, sending his students into the field to act as “citizen journalists,” reporting their observations about food, movement and health through class blogs. “There’s this whole city out there that is a laboratory for physical cultural research and we need to take advantage of that,” Atkinson says. “Most of the students have reacted to the learning style like fish to water. This kind of curriculum really speaks to this generation.” Professor Greg Wells, often researching in remote areas, can’t always bring his students to the field with him, but has used video streaming and webcasts to provide as close to an in-person experience as possible when researching athletes in extreme conditions, for example. Most recently,
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on an expedition to the Andes mountains, Wells used a portable laboratory and video streaming to give his thirdyear students a better sense of his data-gathering process and the tests he performed on an ultra marathoner who was racing through the mountains, exemplifying the theories he teaches in the lecture setting. “Students want information on their iPods, on their iPhones; they want to be able to access information anywhere, anytime,” he explains. “They want to engage with it.” Building stronger bridges between theory and field work hasn’t been reserved for the Faculty’s upper-year courses. For the last two years, the Faculty has introduced classes that make better use of its integrated nature, transforming the University’s courts, fields and tracks into labs for learning, beginning in first year. For example, when first-year students learn about the theories behind range of motion in Doug Richards’s Fundamentals of Human Movement course, they are then required to look for ways that those theories are evidenced during the physical activity portion of the course: Human Movement and Fitness. For Kerr, this direction is a significant step forward. “Rather than having the physical activity courses and the theory courses exist on their own and just hope that it all meshes together, we are deliberately integrating theory and practice and making the connections explicit.”
New courses, new integration But the revised physical activity classes aren’t the only place where students are experiencing this theory-practice nexus. Now in its second year, the course, Speed and Power, led by instructor Tim Taha and head Blues track and field coach Carl Georgevski, requires students to split their time between the lecture hall and Varsity Centre. Taha lays the theoretical foundation in the lecture while Georgevksi leads the students through drills akin to those his athletes undertake in training. “We have them learn the basics, but then we also go through what a workout would be like for an athlete,” Taha explains. “So, they’re actually seeing and feeling classroom theories being applied on the track and in their muscles.” Similar fusions have been adopted in the Theory of Dance Performance, Teaching the Child Physical Activity, and Theory and Practice of Coaching Soccer courses in recent years.
Looking ahead Kerr is committed to keeping the Faculty’s undergraduate program at the forefront of providing enriching experiential education opportunities. Next on the agenda for enhancement: the outdoor projects (ODP), which are perhaps among those most fondly remembered by students and alumni. While the Faculty will continue to offer the northern adventures, Kerr says that tomorrow’s ODP course instructors will be more explicit with students about what they’re going to learn on these outings. “And when they return students will reflect on and analyze these experiences and link them with theoretical knowledge.” Kerr’s vision is to integrate experiential learning opportunities throughout the undergraduate curriculum, drawing explicit connections between theory and practice. Students will become active learners, not only in the physical sense, but in terms of being able to articulate what they are learning. Across the undergraduate program, the philosophy going forward, according to Kerr and Stirling, will be based on the theory that experience itself isn’t necessarily educational, in particular for today’s students. “These opportunities must be very purposeful,” says Stirling. “They must integrate with theory and include critical reflection in order to create the most optimal learning circumstance for students and prepare them for the road ahead.” So in another 70 years, it’s likely that an observer passing the Athletic Centre gym or a court in the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport will still see that familiar sight of undergraduates bounding and leaping about. The possibilities for where they may land, however, are boundless.
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Lights, camera, culture
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How former world-class swimmer Karin Helmstaedt found unexpected fame by Valerie Iancovich
It was a picture-perfect afternoon in late August and former Blues swimmer Karin Helmstaedt (BA 9T0) had been in the water every day for a week. “I just love being in the lake, swimming outside. I feel fantastic,” she said from her summer getaway near Kingston, Ontario.
teams in the 1970s and 1980s. In the process of satisfying her own pursuit for the truth, Helmstaedt became a go-to source for insight on the landmark doping trials of the late 1990s. In 1998, she co-wrote an award-winning documentary on the controversy, leading to more mainstream coverage of the issue.
Helmstaedt was back in Canada, taking a rare break from her role as co-host of Deutsche Welle TV’s flagship cultural magazine program, Euromaxx, which airs out of Berlin seven days a week. The English-language show highlights the best of European life – food, architecture, wine, dance, fashion, festivals and theatre. “I never get bored. European culture is endless. I learn something new every day.”
“Eventually the same people ended up getting interviewed and the same stories were being told again and again, so it was time for a change,” she says. Later that year, with the renown and confidence she gained from her film, Helmstaedt walked into Deutsche Welle and a short time later secured her first on-camera role as host of the news magazine Germany Today, later joining Euomaxx, where she has held the mic for almost 10 years.
While the cobblestoned streets of Berlin seem a world away from the chlorinated lanes of her university days, it was the time clocked in the pool that led the former national team member to her current role as one of Europe’s most recognized television personalities. “I was never swimming as fast as I wanted to and never achieving the same times as the East Germans, in particular. And yet we trained so hard and I felt like I had done everything I could – even cut down my studies. I just missed [qualifying for] the 1988 Olympic team. That was a really heavy blow for me, and I wanted to figure out why.” When Helmstaedt hung up her swim cap in 1990 she turned to journalism and she found herself digging behind the East German times in the pool. She moved to Europe, where her stories went behind the headlines and she was among the first to expose the rampant doping on the East German swim
PHOTO/ courtesy of Karin Helmstaedt
Clearly passionate about her current beat, Helmstaedt returns to the sports world when the story’s right, as was the case this summer when she cut her beloved Canadian vacation short to cover the Olympics for SwimNews.com. “That put a bit of a monkey wrench in my plans, but it’s such an exciting thing to experience. It’s been an intense summer,” she says, admitting she tends to be a bit of a workhorse. “That could come from my days at U of T. Some of my German colleagues tell me to slow down, calling me ‘die Sportlerin,’ which means ‘the athlete.’ I don’t get into the water as much as I’d like to, but I guess I still have some of that swimming endurance left in me after all!”
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Alumni Updates Getting together
Honouring Athletes
2012 Hall of Fame
“Once a Blue, always a Blue.” It’s a sentiment many former U of T athletes express in their years out of the varsity uniform. And a handful of the best felt like Blues all over again on June 7 at Hart House Theatre, where eight athletes, three builders and two teams were inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame. Team spirit infused the room – and it wasn’t just coming from the 1985–86 and 1986–87 field hockey teams, whose camaraderie led to more than one tearful embrace. Each former Blue credited their years as U of T athletes for helping them to develop lifelong skills and establish a community that, decades later, continues to make them proud. Inductee and badminton standout Adrian Ma’s connection to U of T was strong enough to inspire him to fly all the way from Hong Kong for the night’s ceremony. “The records and trophies were not my highest achievements,” he told the crowd. “The sportsmanship and team spirit at games, the laughter and tears shared with my teammates…that’s what sport is all about.” Ma closed his acceptance speech by pulling a 15-year-old T-card from his wallet in a demonstration of his long-standing pride.
Builder inductee Liz Hoffman was toasted by many throughout the evening as two of her former field hockey athletes, Wendy Baker and Lisa Lyn McRae, and two of her teams were also inducted at the ceremony. “Liz constantly went above the call of duty,” Baker told the crowd. U of T's former head of athletics was clearly moved by the affirmations, crediting the athletes, her family, colleagues, staff and coaches for her many successes. “What a run!” Hoffman told the crowd. “Without the support of this entire team, I would not be here tonight” Athlete inductees this year also included Olympic gold medalist and hockey legend Vicky Sunohora; OUA and CIS high jump record-holder Alex Zaliauskas; basketball standout Elizabeth Hart; football star Wayne Dunkley and swimmer Marco Cavazzoni, who was twice named U of T’s male athlete of the year. Robin Campbell, who coached some of Canada’s top swimmers, and football veteran Nick Volpe joined Hoffman in the builder category. The 1971–72 hockey team, who had a fan base that filled the Varsity Arena to capacity, rounded out the evening’s inductions. –VI
Pictured/ Left: Bernadette Casey Bowyer speaks on behalf of women’s field hockey Right: Adrian Ma (right) joins student-athlete Andrew Wilkinson at the reception
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PHOTOS/ Dan Epstein
All eyes on the Olympians Alumni who live in the London area got the rare opportunity “It was exciting to bring our alumni and friends together to meet some of this year's Olympic athletes in person, during with these very talented athletes,” says Ali, who anticipates a celebration hosted by Beth Ali, U of T’s director of intercol- the next such event could occur at the Goldring Centre for legiate and high performance sport. Over 80 attendees joined High Performance Sport (see page 22) during the next Pan gold medalist Rosie MacLennan and fellow Olympians Jason American Games. “I can hardly wait for 2015 – our longBurnett, Crispin Duenas, Sarah Wells and Elodie Li Yuk Lo anticipated new high performance centre and the Pan Ams, at the Gallery in the Crypt at Trafalgar Square. Former dean in the same year!” –ABE and Olympian Bruce Kidd and Dr. Julia Alleyne, a sport physician with the Macintosh Sport Medicine Clinic and PICTURED/ L to R: Wells, Li Yuk Lo, MacLennan, chief medical officer at the Games, also joined the festivities. Duenas, Burnett
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Alumni Updates
Getting Together PHE 4T7 Seven graduates from 1947 attended a reunion luncheon on June 2 at the Weston Golf Club. Proud to wear their 65th anniversary medals, the group – which included Dr. Bob McMillin, Bobby Belfry, Beth Ratcliffe, Bev Brightling, Claude Brundage, Mary Arntfield and Clare Deneberg – caught up and remembered the great times they had together U of T. Special thanks go to Mrs. Bobby Belfry for getting everyone together and keeping in touch with other members of the class who were unable to attend. The group is proud to maintain a healthy and physically-active lifestyle and still have a practicing physician, Bob McMillin, among their classmates.
PHE 6T2 The classmates from PHE 6T2 gathered for lunch at the home of Sally Jo Martin on June 1 during Spring Reunion weekend to celebrate the anniversary of their graduation. The group included Jean Kennedy, Sally Jo Martin, Ruth Waldman, Bev Hayes, Jo Ann Wilton, Helen Hobbs, Judy Jensen, Ruth Priddle, Sandra Shaw, Dellen Bullen, Lynda Jacob and Nancy Currell, Barry Brooker, Steve Tipold, Sonny Osborne, Zel Bocknek, Dave Chambers, Doug McKenzie, Jim Musselman, Don McKay, Barry Rowland, Dan Giecko and Dave Ouchterlony. Event attendees appearing on this page not identified in order
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Alumni Updates
PHE 5T2
Back Row: Joan (Rogers) Sorokan, Lenore (Elliot) Wilkinson, Dr. Roselyn Stone, Barbara (McNabb) Rasinaho, June “Babbie” (Plant) Stone, Wendy (Hughson) Southey Front Row: Joan (Creary) Maggs, Peg (Dippell) Menzies, Ruth Brown
The class of PHE 5T2 enjoyed a full day of activity on June 1 as they celebrated 60 years since graduation. The day began with the Chancellor’s Circle medal ceremony and concluded with dinner at the Faculty Club. Many thanks go to Ros Stone and John Miteff for organizing the event.
PHE 7T7
Back Row: Terry Housley, John Miteff Front Row: Gerry Barnhill, Byron Peebles, Dr. Gerry Sutherland Missing: Doug Dies, Bill Huycke
The graduates of PHE 7T7 gathered in the Benson Lounge in the Athletic Centre on July 6 to reminisce and celebrate 35 years since their graduation. An organizing committee of almost half the class had a great time planning the event and everyone is looking forward to the next gathering.
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Alumni Updates
PHE 7T2
Thanks to a huge organizing effort of a dedicated committee headed by Angela Papworth, the class of PHE 7T2 gathered to celebrate 40 years since their graduation. The event took place at the Auld Spot Pub on June 2. The group honoured friends they’ve lost and celebrated recent retirements. Most of all, they remembered all the great times they had together.
Front row, L-R: Chris Mitskinis, Sue Young, Kathy Green, Angela Papworth, Aki Odamura, Karen Zarundny, Jo Tomsett Jones Second row, L-R: Don Fraser, Debbie Wales, Joanne Mitchell, Judy Masson, Cathy Roberge, Merna Glowinski, Gord Bullock Third row, L-R: Anu Marley, George Adams, Bob Knuckey, Kathy Fuller, Stu MacSween, Tom Loumankis, Carl Trinier, Val Hancock Back row, L-R: Rod Grummett, Doug Heys, Wayne Cousins Others not pictured include: Ornella Barrett, Nancy Beard, Anne Chellew, Jackie Greaves, Margaret Grieve, Ken Harris, Rocky Horyn, Colleen Hrivnak, Dave McDowall, Bob Morrow, Carolyn Pederson, Kim Porter, Janet Reynolds, Geri Rodman, Mike Toole, Richard Ward, Sue Whiteside, Lynn Zuliani
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Alumni Updates
Golf Tournaments
Men’s hockey golf tournament
Women’s hockey golf tournament
Men’s hockey alumni and friends gathered at Emerald Hills Golf and Country Club on July 10 for the annual golf tournament in support of the current program. With great weather and good company, the group enjoyed a fun day of golf, catching up and supporting a great hockey program.
This annual fundraising tournament took place on Saturday, September 8 at Angus Glen Golf Club. The tournament set a new record for 43 hole and tournament sponsors, making it the most successful fundraiser for women’s hockey to date. The team looks forward to hosting the CIS women’s hockey championships in March 2013 at Varsity Arena.
PICTURED/ L to R: Tournament champion foursome Tom Diceman, Al Stanley, Doug Cherapacha, Dean Haig
Upcoming events Swimming quadrennial reunion
Field hockey CIS championships
Saturday, October 20, 2012 Daytime event Alumni/current swim team ‘dual’ meet 50m pool at the Athletic Centre 4:15–5:00 p.m. Evening event Hart House Reception: 6:00 p.m. Dinner: 7:30 p.m.
Varsity Blues field hockey alumni reception Sunday, November 4, 2012 Varsity Centre Pavilion 12:00 p.m. Contact: Masha Kennedy masha.kennedy@utoronto.ca
For more information, please contact: byron.macdonald@utoronto.ca
Career Café If you have an interesting career path that you would like to share with current students, please contact Masha Kennedy at 416.946.5126 or masha.kennedy@utoronto.ca The next event will be held on February 4, 2013.
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Alumni Updates
Class Notes
1960s
1990s
2000s
Cathy Blackburn
Robert Hooper
Joel Kerr
PHE 6T0, Hockey
PHE 9T3, Track and Field, Cross Country
PHE 0T2
Cathy is the current president of the Temiskaming District’s Genealogy Group in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, where she helps individuals track relatives and ancestors who resided and worked in Kirkland Lake during the gold mine rush. Cathy has helped people from all over Canada and the United States, as well as Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to find ancestral connections to this unique geographical location.
Bob Hooper and his wife, Mijka, established DanceMakers in their hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario, after spending considerable time studying, training, working and performing in Toronto. In 1994 the studio launched with 30 students and has since expanded its enrollment to over 400. The programs are designed to teach dance skills, with a focus on enhancing self-esteem and confidence through achievement and enjoyment of the arts.
Dr. Joel Kerr is the current team doctor of the Oshawa Power basketball team. With formal education and certifications as a chiropractor, ART provider and acupuncturist, “Dr. J.” takes a holistic approach to helping clients and athletes achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Actively involved in the basketball community in the GTA, Joel offers his expertise in first aid and injury prevention to annual charity basketball events such as Bay Street Hoops Basketball and Girls Addicted to Basketball.
Vijay Kanwar MBA 9T7
Greg Wells MSc 9T9, PhD 0T4
A member of the Faculty’s campaign advisory board, Vijay was recently appointed as a council member to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). NSERC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry and strives to make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for the benefit of all Canadians.
Troy Mann PHE 9T3, Hockey
Troy is the current assistant coach for the Hershey Bears, an American Hockey League team in Pennsylvania.
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Currently a professor in U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Dr. Greg Wells recently published, Superbodies: Peak Performance Secrets from the World’s Best Athletes. The book, available in stores and online, decodes the science behind Olympic performance and offers high-performance tips for people of all ages and abilities to improve their health and fitness.
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Varsity Sports Store Ordering for your team? Ask in store for details
Varsity Sports Store 55 Harbord St • Athletic Centre Toronto ON M5S 2W6 (416) 977-8220
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Alumni Updates
In Memory
Robert Christian Schmidt B.Ed 0T9, Tennis
On July 9, in his 30th year, Rob passed away suddenly in Durham, North Carolina, after an acute intestinal infection. Rob developed a strong love for tennis at an early age, playing and coaching tennis at the John Hatch Tennis Centre. His love of the sport spread throughout the entire Schmidt family and followed Rob as he moved to South Korea, Toronto and North Carolina. Rob competed on the Varsity Blues tennis team while completing his bachelor of education at the University of Toronto. He had a loving and compassionate soul, and touched the hearts of many throughout his short time. Beloved husband and soulmate of Elizabeth Moore, Rob will also be sadly missed by his mother Pauline, father Werner, and sisters Laura and Allison, and extended family.
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Scott Kerr Bricker
Patricia Brooy
Robert Cooper
PHE 4T9
PHE 4T9
PHE 4T8, Hockey
Scott Bricker passed on April 29 in his 87th year. After World War II, where he served as a tail-gunner on a Lancaster bomber, Scott entered the University of Toronto and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical health education. He re-enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1948, serving with the United Nations in Pakistan and India in 1967-68, and retired as a major in the Queen’s Own Rifle in 1975. Scott worked for Alberta Disaster Services until his retirement in 1994.
Pat passed away on June 15 in her 85th year. The beloved wife of the late Walter, Pat was a loving mother to Carol (Robert), Kathy (Val Steffan), Jennifer and Lorri (Jim), and cherished grandmother of Nicole, Kirk, Stephen, Drew, Brandon, Christina, Jessica, Philip, Jack and Evan. Pat was a proud Canadian and vibrant member of her community. She generously cared for and selflessly gave to others. Her energy and love for life was admired by all.
Bob died this past April in his 87th year. He was survived by his wife of 30 years, Virginia (nee Kidd), and predeceased by wife Marilyn (nee Sproule). After graduating from U of T, Bob coached the Cobourg Galloping Ghosts before moving to Windsor. Bob was an avid golfer and past president of Beach Grove Golf and Country Club, and also a member of the Isla del Sol Yacht and Country Club in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bob’s philosophy in life was, “If you can’t have any fun, don’t go.”
pursuit.utoronto.ca
Alumni Updates
Donald Ferguson
Joan Mavis Goodwin
Robert Platt
PHE 4T7
PHE 4T8, Basketball
PHE 4T9
Donald “Doc” passed away on May 23 at the age of 86, after a long and happy life. After graduating from the U of T, Don taught math and physical education at Westdale Secondary School for 34 years. Last year, he was inducted into the Westdale Athletics Hall of Fame in recognition of his inspiring leadership as a basketball coach and as head of physical education. With his wife, Marie, Don spent many happy years of retirement at the cottage, golfing and wintering in Alabama.
Joan passed away peacefully on April 11 in her 87th year. Predeceased by her grandson Jeffrey and husband Des Goodwin, Joan was the dearly-loved mother of Janet Hanley (Nick) and Susan Top (Andrew), and cherished grandmother of Andrew, Christie, Desmond and Mavis.
Bob died on June 30 in his 90th year. His fast-paced and energetic outlook took him from boardrooms to safaris, but his favourite stopping-off point was the cottage. An Olympic-class rower, camp director, pilot, entrepreneur extraordinaire, self-styled banker, world traveller, conservationist, solitaire addict, advertising guru and mentor, Bob cut a wide path throughout his life. He is greatly missed by his loving wife Betty, daughters Marion (David), Donna (Jim), Karen (Paul) and Barbara (Wayne), his 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Rev. Harold Bernard Gardner St. Michael’s 5T4
Father Gardner died peacefully on April 4 at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto in 1954, Father Gardner became ordained in 1959 and went on to receive a master’s in library sciences from Case Western Reserve University in 1961. He had a rich career as an educator, librarian, administrator and mentor, and was an important fixture at St. Michael’s College, holding positions as assistant registrar, registrar, chaplain and dean of men. Another year-anda-half was spent working in alumni affairs and development at St. Mike’s. From 1995-1997, Father Gardner served as principal of Detroit Catholic Central High School. An avid supporter of the Varsity Blues, Father Gardner loved to attend hockey games in Varsity Arena and served as a mentor and counselor to many athletes and students associated with St. Michael’s College.
Stanley Joseph Marchut PHE 6T1, St. Michael’s 6T2
Stanley passed away peacefully on March 25. The retired coach spent 24 years leading the Durham Lords women’s volleyball team, winning six OCAA coach of the year awards and the 1994 CCAA women’s volleyball coach of the year. Known to his friends as ‘Stan The Man’, Stanley had a long and illustrious career in sports and education, boasting over 350 career wins and missing only one playoff in 24 years. He was inducted into Durham College’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Robert “Bobby” Nicol Bobby passed away peacefully at the Southlake Hospital in Newmarket on July 11 in his 76th year. Beloved husband of Rena for 54 years, Bobby was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he played professional soccer with Hibernian FC “Hibs” before joining the Toronto City FC in Canada. During the 1969-70 and 1980-81 seasons he also coached the Varsity Blues soccer team. In later years Bobby became an avid golfer and was a proud member of the Board of Trade Golf Club in Woodbridge for over 25 years. He will be greatly missed by his friends in the soccer community.
Dr. Geoffrey Shulman MD 7T8, Waterpolo
Geoffrey died peacefully on July 2 after a four-and-a-half year battle with cancer. He will be dearly missed by his family and loved ones.
Robert L. Strom PHE 5T0
Robert Strom died on July 2. A remarkable man, Robert was respected, admired and loved by all who had the privilege of knowing him. An active alumni volunteer, Robert took the lead in organizing several class reunions. He personally reached out to classmates to maintain contact through the years.
Nicholas Thierry B. Arch. 6T4, Swimming
Nick passed away on October 2, sending a ripple of grief across the swimming community. An assistant coach with the Blues for many years after graduation, Nick will be further remembered in the spring issue of Pursuit.
CORRECTION/ In the spring 2011 issue of Pursuit, Cathy Blackburn (PHE 6T0, Hockey) was incorrectly listed in this section. We regret this error. Cathy is alive and well, and living in Kirkland Lake. See page 36 for what she’s been up to.
PURSUIT | FALL 2012
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Time Out
The One-Pound Workout By Althea Blackburn-Evans
Smooth as driftwood despite their mottled complexion, these time-weathered wooden weights were a staple in the strength program when Hart House opened its doors in 1919. Used by thousands of students for calisthenics over the years, these one-pound wonders were retired sometime in the 1930s, only to be unearthed by the hundreds when the men’s physical education program moved from Hart House to the Athletic Centre’s Warren Stevens building in 1979.
When completed in 2015, the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport will unveil the very latest strength and conditioning technology, offering row upon row of state-ofthe-art equipment for whipping pecs, quads and glutes into shape. While the one-pounder is a thing of the past, the satisfaction of a good sweat and a slow burn are very much alive.
Today, weight training at the University of Toronto has a much different face. Wood has given way to steel and rubber, and there are myriad options for molding the muscles of weekend warriors and elite athletes alike.
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PHOTO/ LUKE PAUW
Get Goldring going You can help change the history of Canadian sport! Leave your legacy as one of the founding supporters of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. Founding benefactors (gift of $1,000 or more) Recognition: name of donor will be permanently displayed on the donor wall at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport
Complete the form below and send your donation to: Alumni Office Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, 55 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2W6 Contact Robin Campbell by phone 416.677.5357 or email robin.campbell@utoronto.ca Donate online at donate.utoronto.ca/goldring
Yes, I want to support the Golding Centre for High Performance Sport Campaign, I wish to contribute: $200 $500 $1000 (donor wall recognition) Other Cheque (Payable to the University of Toronto) Credit Card VISA MasterCard AMEX Expiry Date /
Card Number Name
Name on Card Address
Signature Phone (H) May we recognize you by including your name in the published donor lists? Yes No You will receive a tax receipt for your donation by mail. Charitable Registration #: BN1081 62330_RR0001
For more information on PHE class reunions during Spring Reunion contact: Masha Kennedy masha.kennedy@utoronto.ca 416.946.5126
HONOURED YEARS:
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