With the conclusion of the 2015-16 squash season comes the conclusion of Squash Canada’s quadrennial strategic plan. This year marks the 101st edition of Squash Canada's Annual General, capping what was an incredible and memorable year for Canadian squash. The weekend serves as an annual review of the successful past year as well as a springboard to greater things to come in 2016 and beyond.
With the conclusion of the 2015-16 squash season comes the conclusion of Squash Canada’s quadrennial strategic plan. This year marks the 101st edition of Squash Canada's Annual General, capping what was an incredible and memorable year for Canadian squash. The weekend serves as an annual review of the successful past year as well as a springboard to greater things to come in 2016 and beyond.
A full review of the past year, which featured the record-setting 6 Pan-American Games medals, celebration of Squash Canada’s centennial, as well as elections; by-law updates; sharing of best practices between the presidents of the Provincial/Territory Associations; and building the foundation for Squash Canada’s 2016-2021 Strategic Plan.
As the leaders of the squash community arrived in Ottawa, Squash Canada’s Executive Director, Dan Wolfenden, conducted a country-wide staff meeting, where the staff of the national and provincial/territorial associations were able to gather to share, discuss and collaborate on programs and ‘hot topics’ in the Canadian squash scene. It was an exciting opportunity for sharing amongst leaders and partners, setting the stage for what was a productive and collaborative weekend.
On the first full day of the weekend, the membership, took part in a strategic planning session, facilitated by Cathy Smart, of Smart Move Inc.; an opportunity to truly build on our collective strengths as we work towards building the foundation of the future.
On Saturday morning, Jeff Deverill (owner of Barrie Athletic Club, ON), led the membership in a National Rankings Workshop, where a collective agreement to work towards a nation-wide system was established. Following that, VP of Operations for Squash Canada’s Board of Directors, John Roche, led the group through a policy workshop where the newly formed policy around Athlete Eligibility for Squash Canada’s Men’s and Women’s Team Championship was approved by the members (full policy to be published soon).
The final session before the Annual General Meeting was an exciting workshop where Provincial and Territorial Associations (P/TAs) shared with their colleagues some of the projects and programs that they have met with great success. From successful tournaments with junior development (Nova Scotia) to program marketing (Northwest Territories) to junior programming development and implementation (British Columbia), the P/TAs proved that the future of squash in Canada is bright and a lot of exciting things are on the horizon.
Also, as part of the weekend, the annual Awards Celebration Banquet took place on Friday night. This year's banquet celebrated the Award of Achievement, Award of Appreciation and the Award of Excellence and honoured three outgoing Board of Directors members.
The AGM concluded with the re-election of incumbent Lolly Gillen of Toronto, ON as President and newly elected Sandra Thompson of Vancouver, BC and Kish Kapor of Toronto, ON who became Squash Canada’s new Directors-At- Large. Thompson and Kapor will be serving a three-year term, while Gillen will serve as President for a two-year term and be joining the team, Shaun Thorson (VP Finance) of Gatineau, QC, Andrew McDougall (Athlete Director) of Toronto, ON and Steve Wren (VP Technical) of Gatineau, QC.
