One of the founders and first ever chair of the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary Geoff Gowan passed away Friday in Halifax at the age of 83.

The member of the Order of Canada died after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Gowan's career in the sport spanned decades, and he was inducted to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 2002.

The native of Ravenglass, England's legacy is honoured through the Geoff Gowan Award, which celebrates achievements and contributions to coaching development; something Gowan dedicated much of his life to. He was technical director and president of the CAC from 1972-1996 and created the first national coaching institute in 1986.

Many of Canada's top coaches have won the award, including Jack Donahue, Doug Clement, Al Morrow, Donald Dion, Charles Cardinal, Andy Higgins, Tim Frick, Allison McNeill, Lyle Sanderson, Dru Marshall and Keith Russell.

Through his work with the CAC, Gowan was instrumental in the training of more than a million coaches through the development of the National Coaching Certification Program, considered to be among the best coaching education programs in the world.

Details on funeral arrangements have not been released.

TORONTO, May 10, 2013 - Before a sold out crowd this evening at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Canadian Paralympic Committee celebrated champions past and present at the Paralympic Hall of Fame and Sport Awards Ceremony. Honored in person tonight were the six 2013 inductees in to the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame, announced last month:
 
Athletes Robert Easton (Victoria, B.C, originally from Edmonton, Alta.), Jennifer Krempien (Richmond, B.C., originally from St. Albert, Alta.), and Tim McIsaac (Winnipeg, Alta.)
Coach Tim Frick (Pender Island, B.C.)
Builders Janet Dunn (Victoria, B.C., originally from Ogema, Sask.), and John Howe (Brantford, Ont.)
 
Biographies and photos of Hall of Fame inductees are available here: http://www.paralympic.ca/en/About-Us/Inductees.html
 
Initiated in 2000, the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame recognizes and celebrates those who have made a significant contribution to the growth and development of the Paralympic Movement in Canada. These individuals will be acknowledged within the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame Honoured Members section located in the Olympic and Paralympic Gallery at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary. The Canadian Paralympic Committee holds an induction process every two years, during a non-Paralympic Games year.
 
Also announced and presented this evening were the prestigious CPC Sport Awards for 2012, including:
 
Best Games Debut: Summer Mortimer (Ancaster, Ont.), winner of two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in swimming at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Best Team Performance: Men's wheelchair basketball team, who went undefeated and won the gold medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Best Male Athlete: Patrick Anderson (Fergus, Ont.), top scorer among all wheelchair basketball players at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, averaging 25 points per game, who led Team Canada to gold
Best Female Athlete: Michelle Stilwell (Parksville, B.C.), winner of gold and silver medals in athletics at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Para-Development Coach: Chris Holden (Ottawa, Ont.): Accomplished grassroots program director and senior coach for para-alpine skiing, para-snowboarding, adaptive waterskiing and wakeboarding
Tim Frick Paralympic Coach Excellence: Jerry Tonello (Toronto, Ont.), Head Coach of the Men's wheelchair basketball team that won the gold medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
 
Biographies and photos of Sport Awards recipients are available here: https://www.paralympic.ca/en/About-Us/Sport-Awards.html
 
The Canadian Paralympic Committee created the Sport Awards after the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in order to recognize outstanding athlete and team performances at the Paralympic Games, as well as excellence in coaching at both the high performance and development levels.

The Canadian Sport Centre Calgary would like to thank all those who attended the "Life of an Athlete" presentation by John Underwood.

John's entire presentation can now be downloaded (below) and is available on our website at www.canadiansportcentre.com 

 john underwood part 1.pdf

 john underwood part 2.pdf

 john underwood part 3.pdf

 john underwood part 4.pdf

 john underwood part 5.pdf

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TORONTO, May 11, 2013 - Excitement and optimism were in the air this afternoon as the Canadian Paralympic Committee earlier elected a new Board of Directors including a President, a Vice President and seven Directors at the 2013 CPC Annual General Meeting in Toronto. All will serve four-year terms, from 2013 to 2017.
 
Dr. Gaétan Tardif (Toronto, Ont.) is the new President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. He takes over from David Legg, who held the President position for three years.

Fluently bilingual, Tardif has participated in seven consecutive Paralympic Games, most recently as Team Canada's Chef de Mission at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Tardif is an academic physician and health care executive with leadership experience in several professional and not-for-profit organizations. He is Medical Program Director - Rehabilitation and Post-Acute Care at the University Health Network and a Professor in the Department of Medicine and director, Division of Physiatry (PM&R) at the University of Toronto.
 
Tardif also served as Director of Administration and Chair of the HR Committee on the Canadian Paralympic Committee Board of Directors from 2008 to 2013 and was a member of the Games Committee from 2006 to 2013.
 
"Thank you very much for your vote of confidence," Tardif said to the voting delegates. "The hard work starts right away. I'm really looking forward to working with the sport community to help Canada become the world's leading Paralympic nation. I truly believe I have the best volunteer job in the world!"
 
CPC's new Vice-President is Debbie Low (Richmond Hill, Ont.).
 
Low is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario. She was the Executive Director of ParaSport Ontario from 2002 to 2005, Assistant Chef de Mission for the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, Chef de Mission for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and a member of the International Paralympic Committee's Games Committee. She has also been involved in nine sets of Canada Games, including Chef de Mission in 1999 and 1997.
 
Low was a Canadian Paralympic Committee Board member and served on the Games and High Performance Committee from 2007 to 2011, including serving as CPC's Board representative on the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games Bid Committee.
 
Also elected today were seven Directors of the Board. They are: Ellen Waxman (Toronto, Ont.), Rick Baker (Ottawa, Ont.), Gail Hamamoto (Vancouver, B.C.), Andrea Carey (Victoria, B.C.), Blair McIntosh (Toronto, Ont.) and Rem Langan (Toronto, Ont.) and Jim Westlake (Oakville, Ont.).
 
Waxman and Baker are new members of the Board, while Hamamoto, Carey, McIntosh, Westlake and Langan are returning to the Board.
 
Biographies of all incoming CPC Board members - President, Vice-President, and Directors - are available here: https://www.paralympic.ca/en/About-Us/Board-of-Directors.html
 
Canadian Paralympic Committee photos available for download: http://tinyurl.com/d88bbmm
 
About the Canadian Paralympic Committee
 
The Canadian Paralympic Committee is a non-profit, private organization with 46 member sports organizations dedicated to strengthening the Paralympic Movement. The Canadian Paralympic Committee's vision is to be the world's leading Paralympic nation. Its mission is to lead the development of a sustainable Paralympic sport system in Canada to enable athletes to reach the podium at the Paralympic Games. By supporting Canadian Paralympic athletes and promoting their success, the Canadian Paralympic Committee inspires all Canadians with a disability to get involved in sport through programs delivered by its member organizations. For more information, visit www.paralympic.ca

(Ottawa, ON – May 10, 2013) Cycling Canada announced today its roster for the National Team to compete at the 2013 Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau and the 2013 Chrono Gatineau.
 
Among the group of seven cyclists, one former and one current Canadian Champions are in the line-up. 2011 Canadian Road Champion Véronique Labonté of Montréal will race the road race, while current Canadian Road Champion Denise Ramsden of Yellowknife, NWT, will race the Chrono Gatineau.
 
Véronique Fortin, of Gatineau, QC will have the opportunity to race in front of her home crowd of family and friends.
 
“This a great opportunity for top Canadian riders to represent the country in a premier women’s cycling race in North America, and enhance the development of up and coming riders, showcasing Canadian talent on home soil,” said Denise Kelly, head coach of the Canadian Women Road Cycling Team. “This will also serve as an opportunity to continue to build on the cohesiveness among riders and the professionalism of the National team.”
 
The women cycling race is the highest UCI-sanctioned race for women road cycling in Canada. The races are to be held next weekend, with the traditional road race on Saturday and the individual time trial race on Monday.
 
Retired cyclist Clara Hughes won the Chrono Gatineau last season with her team Specialized-Lululemon.
 
TEAM CANADA – 2013 GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE DE GATINEAU
Kinley GIBSON (18) Edmonton, AB [Road Race & Individual Time Trial]
Lex ALBRECHT (26) Barrie, ON [Road Race]
Audrey LABRIE (18) Laval, QC [Road Race]
Véronique LABONTÉ (32) Montréal, QC [Road Race]
Véronique FORTIN (33) Gatineau, QC [Road Race]
Candice VERMEULEN (29) St. Catharine, ON [Road Race]
Denise RAMSDEN (22) Yellowknife, NWT [Individual Time Trial]
 
Staff
Coach: Denise Kelly
Soigneur: Craig deVeer
Mechanic: Sean Kelly

Top Female wrestlers from Canada, USA and Ukraine join forces to Save Olympic Wrestling

(Ottawa, ON – May 10, 2013) Wrestling Canada, in conjunction with USA Wrestling and the Ukrainian Wrestling Association, will take part in a spectacular wrestling tri-meet at Niagara Falls on May 31 to end the month of May with a bang. May has been designated “International Wrestling Month” by the International Wrestling governing body, FILA.

The demonstration meet dubbed “Battle At The Falls”, which will be wrestled in a tri-meet format, will take place at the iconic Niagara Falls, a spectacular backdrop for these wrestling matches.

“This will be a great showcase for wrestling, featuring the best female wrestlers from Ukraine, United States and Canada together for wrestling. Canada is an international leader among women wrestling, and a great fit to host such as event.” said Tonya Verbeek, three-time Olympic medallist who lives just a few kilometers from the Niagara Falls.

Added Carol Huynh, 2008 Olympic Champion: “This is going to be a fantastic and fun-filled event for wrestling in Canada, and represents a great opportunity for the sports fans to see some of the best female wrestlers compete in Canada. What a great location to host such a meet. With the Pan-American Games coming to the Greater Toronto Area in 2015, the GTA population can get a glimpse of what is to come in just a few years.”

Rosters and schedules will be announced at a later date.

USA Wrestling will host a similar meet for the men this month, at the Grand Central Terminal in New-York, featuring USA, Russia and Iran. With Canada as a world leader in women’s wrestling, it is fitting for Canada host an event for the women.

The event, sanctioned by Wrestling Canada, is being organized locally by the Brock Wrestling Club in St. Catharines, led by Marty Calder. The event has received the full support of FILA and will be promoted through FILA’s website and social media sites.

Wrestling is currently vying to regain its spot on the core Olympic programme after it was recommended by the IOC Executive Committee to be removed from programme for the 2020 Olympic Games.

On May 18, the FILA will gather in Moscow, Russia for an extraordinary meeting, while on May 31, the IOC Executive Committee will narrow the list from eight to three sports. Those three sports will then have one final presentation to make before the decisive vote at the IOC Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from September 7-10.