Active Alumni magazine 2003

a ctivealumni in touch

with

you

Published annually for the alumni and friends of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation

2003

Saville Sports Centre Ready to Rock — finally!

John Barry

A

fter plenty of setbacks, delays, nail biting and cliffhangers, the Saville Sports Centre is finally a go! The contract for the $6.5 million design/build contract for the 120,000 ft2 sport facility has been awarded to Bird Construction Company of Edmonton.

The Saville Sports Centre, named for our major benefactor, Edmonton businessman and avid sportsman Bruce Saville, began in April and is expected to open its doors by January 2004. Bruce is very involved in community-oriented projects. His participation was really the catalyst for the development of this second facility linked to Foote Field at the South Campus.

There’ll be four key components as well as associated ancillary spaces at the new centre: • A state-of-the-art, 10 sheet, internationally sized curling rink • An eight court tennis facility — arguably the best facility of its kind in the province!

• A multi-purpose gymnasium • Approximately 600m2 of undeveloped space that could be converted for numerous uses, including a fitness centre or sports medicine clinic The support we’ve had from the university, the surrounding communities, provincial government and especially from Bruce Saville, has been fantastic and we’re very grateful for it.

Russ Sluchinski, manager of the existing university tennis centre says it’s been a long haul, but worth

Building boom!

Other expansions and renovations to the faculty: A $600,000 expansion of the Foote Field building A $350,000 upgrade of the West Pool.

Renovations include: ■ new sound baffles ■ new tiles for pool basin ■ new hand rails ■ new lifeguard chair The pool will be closed from April 22 till the end of July, 2003 the wait. “I’ve waited patiently, as have our members, for countless years and the reality that it’s finally about to happen is absolutely staggering!”

The Saville Sports Centre will benefit our students, faculty and alumni, the university and community of Edmonton. We anticipate that over 1000 people will purchase memberships to use the curling facilities and that an additional 600 to 700 will purchase tennis memberships. The facility will be well used by staff and students of the university, but we expect the general public will account for the highest percentage of usage.

Watch our web site for construction progress — I’ll be taking regular shots as this terrific new facility of ours comes out of the ground. ■

University of Alberta

Spring — and benefits — in the air for Active Alumni!

Wendy Andrews, Alumni Association Representative

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recently took on the challenge of representing the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation on Alumni Council which is part of the Alumni Association of the U of A. The goal of the Association is to create lifetime connections between alumni and the University.

“With your Alumni ONEcard you get special alumni rates for the university’s Fitness and Lifestyle Centre, discounts at the Bookstore, access to university library services, entrance to campus pubs, even access to recreational facilities at select universities and colleges all across Canada.”

Wendy Andrews

I had no idea how active the Alumni Association is, nor how many services it has to offer to you, its alumni! As a graduate of the University of Alberta, you automatically become a lifetime member, at no charge, of the University of Alberta Alumni Association.

As an alumnus you are eligible to receive many benefits.

Besides special access rates to university services and facilities, you can benefit from group purchase rates for auto, home and life insurance, and credit card services.

The world travel and education program is phenomenal and who would have thought that there would be an alumni book club! And there’s more!

With your Alumni ONEcard you get special alumni rates for the university’s Fitness and Lifestyle Centre, discounts at the Bookstore, access to university library services, entrance to campus pubs, even access to recreational facilities at select universities and colleges all across Canada.

There are many U of A alumni events, on campus and around the world: a tailgate party before a Bears or Pandas game in Edmonton, a Shakespearean play, a show jumping event and dinner at Calgary’s Spruce Meadows, a skating party in New York’s Central Park… these are just a few of the unique events that the Alumni Association hosts every year. Keep in touch!

You can keep in touch and register for your Alumni ONEcard by logging on to www.ualberta.ca/alumni.

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My job is to represent alumni from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. I hope to be in contact with you soon for information on how your Alumni Association can be effective for you. Stay tuned. ■

University of Alberta

From the Dean’s desk: Mike Mahon, PhD; Dean

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he times, they are a’changing. I am very pleased to greet all of you — our valued alumni and friends — via the newest communications vehicle for the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, Active Alumni.

During the past number of months our communications strategist, Jane Hurly has helped the faculty to determine how best to reach out around the world to all of you — as effectively — and cost-effectively as possible. In the future Active Alumni will be mailed to you once a year; and, as 64 percent of you are online, we’ll also be communicating with you more via email. You’ll receive two electronic issues of Active Alumni per year. Our newsletter will be available in PDF format on our web site as well.

Besides a more contemporary style for our alumni journal, in the near future we will unveil our new web site, designed to meet the needs of our most important constituents — our students, alumni and friends. Through these and other new communications vehicles we hope to keep you abreast of our latest teaching initiatives, the state of the art research conducted by our faculty, and what is happening on the athletics and recreation fronts.

But while we may have a new look, our desire to maintain the essence of our roots, established by our pioneers, remains strong. These traditions are rooted in a commitment to maintaining close ties with our alumni. I am extremely pleased to welcome Wendy Andrews as our faculty’s newest representative to the U of A Alumni Council. Wendy is a graduate of our BPE program (1978) and has a passion for the mission of the faculty. With Wendy’s help, we hope to reach out to many of you over the next year to ensure that you have an opportunity to tell us how we can meet your needs as an alumnus of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.

There are many exciting things happening in the Faculty.

We will break ground for the construction of the Saville Sports Centre in early April. Since we last reported on this project, we have enhanced its scope to include a brand new curling facility, an expanded tennis centre

“We hope to reach out to many of you over the next year to ensure that you have an opportunity to tell us how we can meet your needs as an alumnus of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.”

Dr. Mike Mahon with eight indoor courts, a new gymnasium, and space for a future sports medicine facility. We are presently recruiting two new faculty members in the areas of active healthy children and behavioural medicine — two of our key strategic initiatives. In March our Pandas hockey team won their third national championship, building on the success of our Pandas rugby team who brought home the gold for a fourth consecutive national championship this past fall. These are but a few of the many exciting activities taking place in the Faculty, some of which are highlighted in this first issue of Active Alumni.

So, we welcome your presence — personally or virtually.

Students, alumni and friends are the foundations of our faculty. Please keep in touch! ■

3 University of Alberta

Dr. John Hogg retires to BC in June:

But for John, when the tennis school added swimming lessons to its roster, life took an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with then national swim coach Bert Kinnear who invited him to get his swimming qualifications and coach the sport.

35 years as swimming coach and athlete mentor

Coaching swimming was exhilarating. Soon the young physical education teacher — John taught high school in Croyden, England — had a squad of promising youngsters under his wing, training out of Crystal Palace National Training Centre. At the ’68 Olympic Games, 13 of his swimmers swam for their country.

An athlete once said about Dr. John Hogg that what she liked best about him was “that he really cared.” “That’s been etched on my life,” he says.

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or 35 years, John has lived the mantra of caring — and caring deeply about his students and the hundreds of athletes he’s trained over the years. But he’s 65 now and in June this year he retires to BC and the 13-acre Salmon Arm hobby farm he and his wife Sally bought in 1985. “I’m really getting quite excited about it,” he says, but confesses he worries about who will carry on the work in performance psychology and who will be there for the student athletes who seek him out on any given day, for counselling, advice, and courage.

He began teaching and coaching youngsters early on in life. Growing up in England, John began his 35-year career coaching for a large tennis school to see him through university after an injury sidelined a promising career. “I spent my college years (at the University of London) going round the stately homes of Berkshire teaching rich kids to play tennis!”

He served as Scotland’s national coach and director of swimming from ’69 to ’74 with a stellar record of success.

But another turning point in John’s career occurred when he was introduced to Dr. Maury Van Vliet at the Commonwealth Games at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974. Shortly after, the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association and Jasper Place Swim Club in Edmonton created a professional coaching position for him for two years as part of the 1976 Olympic preparations. John and Sally settled in Edmonton in September 1974.

In 1976 John was invited by the U of A to combine the Jasper Place club team with the university team and he joined the faculty as a sessional instructor. The next six years were tough as he tackled his master’s degree and doctorate — coaching, teaching and attending classes.

“It was exhausting, but I don’t regret it. It was the best possible place to be; it was the best time to be studying sport psychology,” he says.

Class of ’63 — Get ready to Celebrate 40 years!

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ard to believe the time has flown by so quickly, but Reunion 2003 celebrates our 40th anniversary!

Plan to attend reunion from October 2nd through 5th this year at the University. Catch up with friends and faculty, visit your old haunts and hangouts at your alma mater. There’ll be so much to do and see, so come on out and join us for a wonderful weekend of memories.

Check the Reunion 2003 web site at www.ualberta.ca/alumni/reunion.

There’ll be more information as we get closer to the event.

Contacts for Reunion 2003:

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Class Organizer: Margo Wyley (margowyley@yahoo.ca); phone 780-430-6060 Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation: Nadine McMahon (nadine.mcmahon@ualberta.ca); phone: 780-492-3893

University of Alberta

In 1982 he joined the faculty full-time and set about improving the aquatics program and then the coaching route. “I saw myself as a moderator,” explains John of his approach. “A moderator takes the science of the sport from the sport scientist to the coach, and from the coach to the scientist.”

In addition to numerous books and articles on swimming and mental skills training for athletes, John has recently devised, and experimented with, several specific mental skills programs both for high school athletes and for young children (10 years and under).

“It was exhausting, but I don’t regret it. It was the best possible place to be; it was the best time to be studying sport psychology.”

His proudest accomplishment? “Without a doubt it’s the growth of female athletes and the overdue recognition for them,” says John. “I’ve really tried to be part of that by spending time with female teams — soccer, hockey, ice hockey, basketball and volleyball (John has worked with the Pandas volleyball team for 10 years). I think the pride rests in the fact that they have done well and that’s been due in some small part to understanding the mental and emotional aspects of competition.”

Now the future beckons. John plans to keep writing; he’s building a greenhouse “to continue my interest in growth and development by tending plants” — he may even get back into coaching. “Apparently some local teams are waiting for me to relocate,” says John. “And maintaining 13 acres will keep me busy!” ■

Dr. John Hogg

Class of 1963 Eric Abell John Acheson Neville Anderson Russell Armstrong John Audin Dale Bjornson Albert Carron Victor Chmelyk Linda Clute (Johnson) David Cragg Fred Curr

James Currey Albert Dawson Roy Galloway Eugene Gushaty Donald Gustafson Douglas Hall Walter Hawryschuk Douglas Hayes Bert Mahura Larry Maloney Ronald Marteniuk University of Alberta

Margo Niewchas (Wyley) Guy Passey John Patterson Gerald Percy John Reid Esther Segal (Solin) George Shaw Garry Smith Peter Stothart Richard Wintermute Claud Zinger

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Spotlight on the newsmakers

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he Provincial Fitness Unit and the Alberta Fitness Appraisal and Accreditation (FACA) program awarded Dr. Gordon Bell with the Dr. E.E. Bako Award at the recent Perspectives In Exercise Testing and Prescription conference.

The award is in honour of Dr. E.E. Bako, a physician who was dedicated to the promotion and importance of physical activity and measurement. It’s presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the Alberta FACA program.

Past recipients include Drs. Art Quinney, Alfred Nikolai, Dru Marshall and Garry Wheeler.

February, 2003: CIS Women’s National Volleyball Championships University of Alberta head coach Laurie Eisler is the 2002–2003 recipient of the Coach of the Year Award, receiving the honour for the second time in her career (1994–1995). The Regina, SK native has coached at U of A for 12 seasons since 1991 (assistant or head coach) winning six consecutive CIS championships from 1995 to 2000 and claiming a national silver medal in 1993.

Laurie was also the recipient of a Queen’s Jubilee Medal for her outstanding accomplishments in sport for Canada.

February 2003: Dr. Brian Maraj won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was recognised by the Delta Chi Fraternity, Alberta Chapter. This is a student-nominated award.

December, 2002: Dr. Gordon Bell received a McCalla professorship award. This award is in recognition of Gordon’s outstanding scholarship and provides him with a teaching release for one year.

January 2003: Dr. Kerry Courneya has been nominated for a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair. The CRC program was introduced by the federal government to attract and retain Canada’s best academics, and stem the brain drain. The University of Alberta has chosen to allocate a ‘retention’ Tier I CRC to Dr. Courneya.

Dr. Courneya has been allocated a CRC in the area of Behavioural Medicine (one of the faculty’s key strategic initiatives) in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research category. His nomination will take place within the next year. This is a peer reviewed competitive process.

The Canada Research Chairs represent one of Canada’s most significant academic honours.

November 2003: The Pandas soccer team took silver in the CIS Women’s Soccer Nationals.

March, 2003: CIS Men’s National Volleyball Championship. U of A’s Golden Bears took silver against the University of Manitoba’s Bisons.

CIS Men’s National Hockey Championship: U of A’s Golden Bears beat the New Brunswick Varsity Reds for the bronze medal.

CIS Women’s National Hockey Championship.

U of A’s Pandas won the championship, taking gold against University of Toronto’s Varsity Blues. ■

6 University of Alberta

Makoto and Miho

Dr. Makoto Chogahara (PhD ’98): baseball playing alumnus carves his career at Kobe University, Japan

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hen Dr. Makoto Chogahara completed his PhD at the University of Alberta in 1998 and returned to his native Japan, he little thought he’d bump into his old mentor and supervisor, Dr. Sandy O’Brien Cousins again!

Yet just five years later, both were invited to attend the 2003 International Conference on Physical Activity, Ageing and Productivity in Hokkaido, Japan, hosted by Dr. Tsutomu Suda of the University of Hokkaido.

It was a wonderful reunion, recalls Makoto, who is now associate professor in the Faculty of Human Development at Kobe University where he teaches exercise gerontology, exercise and sport promotion at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. “Sandy is a scholar whom I truly respect. Everything she said to me really lifted my spirits — just as they did when I was a PhD candidate in Canada!”

Makoto came to Canada for his PhD, having completed his undergraduate and masters’ degrees at the National Institute of Fitness and Sport in Kanoya, Japan. The subject of his dissertation, “The positive and negative social influences on physical activity in older adults” launched a lifelong interest in physical activity and its value in healthy ageing. His current research interests are in exercise, and sport promotions and campaigns for older adults, and in master sport event management.

Makoto has plenty of fond memories of Canada. He and his wife Miho married in Edmonton at the Hotel Macdonald in 1996. Miho supported him while he was studying — something he’s truly grateful for. “Miho worked very hard to support me. Her unfailing support and caring made it possible for me to pursue my goal.

Sharing both the good times and the hard times in Canada are our precious memories,” he says.

Does he miss anything about Canada? “Beer! Especially Molson Dry; shopping at IGA, the way Canadians say, ‘eh’ — and our best friends Steve and Mauricette! I miss the food too, but I like both,” he adds.

“People tend to emphasize the difference between Asian and North American countries. But what I learned from my experiences in Edmonton was that there are lots of similarities between the two.”

Dr. Makoto Chogahara Looking back he says the most important life lesson he’s learned is that, “People tend to emphasize the difference between Asian and North American countries. But what I learned from my experiences in Edmonton was that there are lots of similarities between the two. That makes me stronger!”

He and Miho keep active: they both love boating and fishing — and singing their hearts out at Karaoke! Their pet rabbit, says Makoto, keeps them ‘hopping’ around the house too.

He has plans to visit Edmonton in 2005 when the World Masters Games takes the city by storm. “I’ve started playing baseball again and I’m really looking forward to participating in the Games, and I’d like to bring my wife, parents and friends to the event!”

So what’s the next big thing he’d like to do? “I’d like to see the World Masters Games come to Japan in 2009,” he says. ■ Makoto’s contact information: Makoto Chogahara PhD Faculty of Human Development Kobe University 3-11, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan Email: cmakoto@kobe-u.ac.jp Telephone and fax: 078-803-7731

University of Alberta

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Dr. Sandy O’Brien Cousins keynotes at Japan conference on ageing and social productivity

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n February this year, exercise gerontology expert Dr. Sandy O’Brien Cousins was the keynote speaker at the first International Conference on Physical Activity, Ageing and Social Productivity in Sapporo on the north island of Hokkaido in Japan to share her most recent findings on physical activity and productive ageing. The conference, organised by Dr. Tsutomu Suda, an expert on physical activity and its impact on social productivity, provided Sandy with an unprecedented opportunity to compare snowbound Edmonton and Sapporo and how senior citizens in particular, meet the challenges of winter. Sandy presented new data on older adults in Edmonton on the ways they become more energetic and productive after exercising.

Sapporo, with 1.8 million people, is much like Calgary, says Sandy, bounded by the mountains and with excellent Olympic facilities.

Sapporo’s annual cross-country marathon was an eyeopener, she says. “I was very impressed by the number of middle-aged and elderly people out there skiing! The oldest woman was 78 years old and the oldest man was 92.” And while that might not be remarkable in itself, it is when you consider that Japanese culture favours gentility, — “the people are very gentle — and genteel” — yet they participate very aggressively in what seniors in Canada might consider a high risk sport in their later years — and vigorously tackle social policies that are barriers to them too!

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Sandy also met up with her former graduate student, Dr. Makoto Chogahara from Kobe University. “We are a generation apart but we get along so well. I admire the way he has maintained his English and switches gears between cultures so easily.” Makoto translated Sandy’s presentation for the Japanese audience.

“I was very impressed by the number of middle-aged and elderly people out there skiing!

The oldest woman was 78 years old and the oldest man was 92.”

Dr. Sandy O’Brien Cousins The town of Mikasa with its substantial elderly population is the site of Dr. Suda’s research on the welfare of older citizens. He’s looking specifically at snow-shovelling as a fitness activity for seniors, then measuring their social productivity — to what extent they help others — as a result of their being fitter and more energetic. With its heavy snows which virtually incarcerate the elderly in their homes, Mikasa’s isolation takes its toll on the mental and physical health of the population. “The wet snow comes down almost every day,” says Sandy. “It takes all the energy of the able seniors who have to dig out their doorways and those of their more frail neighbours. They don’t dig out their windows and so they have no daylight in the winter.

They are literally buried alive unless they can keep digging themselves out! Travel is limited as their rural roads aren’t cleared. The only way to get to the market is to walk seven or eight km down the highway,” says

University of Alberta

Sandy. “The highway is narrowed by ploughed snow and therefore very dangerous for pedestrians of any age!”

Depression and suicide are very high among seniors in Mikasa.

Lack of snow leads to Campus Outdoor Centre closure

“The Japanese in Sapporo are better in some ways at making winter an active living opportunity than we are. They have outdoor festivals going on all winter,” remarks Sandy, noting the extravagant snow-sculpting festival which dominates Sapporo’s snowpacked main street boulevard, attracts thousands of tourists from other parts of Japan and abroad. “It would be like closing down Jasper Avenue for 10 blocks and building snow structures that light up at night and function as music and entertainment stage areas in the day. I’d like to see Edmonton do something comparable, so that winter can be as meaningful and participatory as our summer events.”

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“It was a small conference, but I learned so much,” says Sandy. And was the sushi great? “I’m not a fish eater” she ‘fesses up. “But Sapporo beer is THE best! ■ Magnificent snow sculpture at Sapporo’s annual snow-sculpting festival

wenty-one years after its inception, lack of snow for four years has forced the closure of the Campus Outdoor Centre this spring. Capricious weather, and a lack of public knowledge about the offerings of the centre meant it simply wasn’t bringing in the users — and the revenues — needed to run it profitably. With the operating deficit expected to balloon to over $300,000 this year, the demise of the centre became a certainty said dean Mike Mahon.

“This was a very difficult decision to make but we simply cannot afford to carry a large debt. Moreover, the university does not allow any faculty to run a deficit. It’s essential that we be fiscally prudent.

Our only option was to close the centre.”

The centre, located in the northwest corner of the Universiade Pavilion, provided instruction in a range of outdoor activities including cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter and rock-climbing, canoeing and kayaking in the summer. Outdoor equipment rentals were also part of the centre’s business.

Equipment will shortly be liquidated through tendered group sales to not-for-profit organisations, rather than through individual sales.

All cross-country ski lessons and wilderness adventure programs at the field centre at Rocky Mountain House have been wound up.

However, the wilderness adventure programs may be picked up by the centre’s former private sector partner Hela Ventures, which will continue to operate the field school. The faculty is continuing to form partnerships for program delivery.

The climbing wall, which is fiscally viable, will remain open for business for mountain training and will be run through faculty operations on a self-sustaining basis.

Plans are currently underway to find creative, cost-effective and workable solutions to continue to offer outdoor programs to our students. This may mean partnership with an outside group or company which provides this type of programming.

“In hindsight perhaps the centre was too much of a well-kept secret,” said assistant dean John Barry, adding that more aggressive marketing may have assisted in making it more visible in Edmonton. “But this was a weather-dependent centre and with our weather as unpredictable as it has been over the past few years, this unfortunately spelled the end for the operation.” ■

9 University of Alberta

Herb and his wife Aletha

Former Dean Herb McLachlan remembers 1953 — and all that jazz!

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raduates of the faculty’s first BPE degree program this year celebrate 50 years since convocation. And a great year it was! Rita Hayworth wowed the crowds in Salome; polyester made its debut, Life with Father was on the box; Beatnik culture was hip, soda fountains were big, Rock ‘n Roll and James Dean were way cool; the bikini, poodle skirts and hoola hoops were in.

But for Herb McLachlan, who served as dean from 1978 to 1983 a favourite memory will always be seeing that first graduating class of the newly-minted Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation convocate. “Seeing them in convocation — it always stays with you.”

Born in Edmonton in 1923, Herb had just completed his degree at McGill — one of two universities in Canada to offer a BPE (the other was University of Toronto), when he met the legendary, late Dr. Maury Van Vliet.

“I was just about to take a year of teacher preparation in Alberta,” he remembers, “and here a nice job arrived.

I had many offers when I left McGill, but I wanted to come back to my roots — and I wanted to teach.” It was 1948, the war was over, he was a young husband — he and Aletha have been married 57 years now Richard Bradshaw — and the princely Muriel Clapp (Shapka) $2800 a year in salary Leonard Cooper meant “I was made!” *Lynn Crawford

Class of ‘53

James Day Jean Grusz (Henderson) Huestis, Marilyn (Holmes) *Donald MacIntosh Joan McFarlane (Thomas) Stephen Mendryk *Albert Olson Robert Rosborough *Walter Tuck Margaret Visser (Southern)

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*Deceased

“My first job was to coach the Pandas in track and field,” says Herb, who “got into basketball,” ran the men’s intramurals and taught the anatomy class.

A big kick for Herb was seeing the Van Vliet Centre come out

“The only way to keep the ice frozen was to keep the doors open all the time! If we had a melt in February, we had to cancel the intramurals.”

Former Dean Herb McLachlan

of the ground in 1959. “The building made our lives so much easier,” he says. “Before we had the Clare Drake arena, we played hockey at the old Varsity Rink — a wooden structure built in 1929. No artificial ice there.

The only way to keep the ice frozen was to keep the doors open all the time! If we had a melt in February, we had to cancel the intramurals.”

Swimming used to be held at the YMCA, so the pool in the VVC was a godsend; and it was a relief to have a gym to replace the decrepit old airforce gym — unsafe and dangerous — with its cracking beams that had to be sandbagged in place while the gym was in use!

Offiating basketball “was my main activity,” says Herb, who helped launch the Edmonton Basketball Association, now 275 strong.

Herb’s ties to U of A remain strong: he’s been a member of the University Scholarship Committee since its inception in 1985 and shows so signs of letting up; he’s a volunteer with the City of Edmonton too. He sits

University of Alberta

1953: Remember when?

■ A microwave network connects CBC television stations in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. The first private television stations begin operation in Sudbury and London.

■ Queen Elizabeth’s coronation is also televised this year, and the CBC beats U.S. competitors to the punch by flying footage across the Atlantic. on the Veterans for Sport committee and on a committee to establish a Sports Hall of Fame for the City.

■ Hurricane Hazel devastates Southern Ontario ■ Korean War ends

Herb, who took his doctorate at the University of Oregon, turns 80 in August this year and he’s still got a twinkle in his eye; he’s still physically fit and very active — he and Aletha are avid line dancers! — And he works out at the university fitness centre or at the gym in his apartment building.

Regrets? “None. But I did want to go into medicine at one time and be an ophalmologist,” he says. A pilot during WWII, Herb says he longed to go overseas and “see some action.” But that wasn’t to be either. Maybe it’s just as well, says Herb. “I really wouldn’t do anything different if I had to live my life over. I’ve been so lucky, always, to be in the right place at the right time.” ■

Where are you?

Keep the University informed of your address changes too Changing your address? Updating your mailing preferences? Keep in touch with U of A by letting the office of Advancement Records External Relations know where you are.

Via email: alumrec@ualberta.ca Phone: (toll-free in North America) 1-866-492-7516 Local: 780-492-3471 Check out the alumni web site at: http://www.ualberta.ca/ALUMNI and use the online form.

■ The first Corvette rolls off the assemby line ■ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel meet at Forest Hills High School ■ Ikea opens its first showroom in Armhult, Sweden!

■ Sir Winston Churchill wins the Nobel Prize in Literature ■ Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the 34th President of the United States; Harry S. Truman dies ■ Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick discover the double helical structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.) and change the face of crimesolving forever ■ Big movies: The Big Heat, From Here to Eternity, The Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane ■ Oscar award for best picture goes to The Greatest Show on Earth, Producer — Cecil B. deMille ■ Russian composer, Sergey Prokofiev dies; brilliant astrophysicist Edwin Hubble dies as does hated dictator Josef Stalin ■ Montreal defeats Boston in the Stanley Cup ■ Maureen Connolly takes women’s Wimbledon title; Victor Seixas wins the men’s title ■ Edmund Hilary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal summit Mt. Everest

University of Alberta

11

You were there! We’re so glad you made it!

Reunion 2002 12

Left:

Gabrielle Barry (BA Recreation ’77)

and Jamie Drake (BA Recreation ’76)

Larry and Bernice (nee Coward) Beres (both BPE ’62)

Ron Richards (BPE ’67; MSc ’69), Esone Richards and Larry Dufresne

LtoR:

(BPE ’67; MA ’71)

Joe Lovsin, Dr. Andrea Borys (BPE ’62) and Dr. Peter Dooling LtoR:

Photo credit: Pat Bates

University of Alberta

Gene Dextrase (BPE ’62) and Arlaine Monaghan, widow of Jack Monaghan (BPE ’64). Jack and Arlaine’s children are alumni of our faculty too!

Dale (BPE ’90) and Jackie (BPE ’99)

University of Alberta Reunion Weekend 2003 October 2nd to 5th 2003

Connecting to Every Decade Faculty Reunion Weekend Events: ■ Friday, October 3 — Pub Night at Foote Field from 7-9 p.m. (following the U of A’s Welcome Back Alumni BBQ) Enjoy live music and a drink on us!

Dr. Bob Wandez (BPE ’67, MA ’71, PhD ’74), Grant Sharp (BPE ’67) and Margaret Sharp LtoR:

■ Saturday, October 4 — Work up a Sweat: Join the Faculty’s Turkey Trot, a fun walk/run/stroll fundraiser for United Way ■ Dean’s Lunch — mix and mingle for every generation of our alums — 12–2 p.m.

Dan Gilmet (BPE and Bob Coyle (BPE ’62)

’63)

■ Brainiac Blast — 10 a.m.–12 p.m. and 2–4 p.m.

— Learn what’s new in our research — three top level presentations — PhD poster displays — meet tomorrow’s groundbreakers today — Tour our labs — see the human body as you’ve never seen it before ■ Pandas Field Hockey — Foote Field 2–4 p.m.

— Watch our Pandas bring down their prey — and a championship!

Check the web site: www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/per

University of Alberta

13

Soccer veteran and alumnus Tracy David to be inducted to Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame Sharie Epp, Times Colonist sports staff Reprinted with permission

“Ithink the reason I was good enough to play on the national team was because I played with boys.”

Tracy David

W

hen Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, Tracy David’s father and grandparents sewed precious belongings into the hems of their clothes and escaped to Canada. They were among a small group of Sudeten Germans who settled on an abandoned Northern B.C. ranch now known as the community of Tomslake. In the middle of nowhere, few things were familiar, except for the game they played.

“They brought soccer with them,” said David, who was immersed in the sport from the time she could kick the ball. “I love it. It’s just all-consuming. When they talk about soccer in other countries being a religion — I’m a fanatic.”

In May, David, who played on Canada’s first national women’s team in 1986, will be inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. The 42-year old is being recognized for her many exploits as a player, but could easily have qualified as a builder or coach. “To me it’s not work, it’s fun,” said David, who still thinks of Tomslake, population around 300, as home. Blue eyes wide, she admitted being shocked by the hall of fame announcement.

Hired to coach the UVic Vikes women’s soccer team this year, David came to Victoria with a resume reflecting the development of women’s soccer in Canada. It started in the north, where a game featuring the Tomslake Pioneers men’s team was a community event, and a visit to a neighbour usually included a friendly match. David, and a couple of other girls played as fillers on the lone boys’ team, coached by her dad. The only competition was at tournaments.

“I think the reason I was good enough to play on the national team was because I played with boys,” said David.

Moving from Tomslake to attend the University of Alberta, David was on the field when women’s soccer debuted at the Western Canada Games. She played in the first under-18 girls’ national championship, and organized the Edmonton Angels, an intensely competitive club team that won six national championships in 10 years. While David was still a student, and president of women’s athletics at Alberta, she received an invitation to a tournament at the University of Victoria. Because Alberta had no varsity team, David gathered everyone she knew to make the trip. Paying their own way, the pick-up squad bunked

14 University of Alberta

with UVic players, played in borrowed uniforms, and won the tournament.

The next year, 1983, David’s lobbying led to the formation of the Alberta Pandas soccer team. By the time the inaugural Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s soccer championship was held in 1987, David was coaching the Pandas. In 16 years, she guided Alberta to CIS crowns in 1989 and ’97. Now, after moving to Victoria to be near partner Bruce Wilson, coach of the Vikes men’s soccer team, David hopes to put a CIS banner on the wall for the Vikes.

“I want UVic to win a number of national championships,” she said.

Meanwhile David is working on her master’s degree in coaching, and is the assistant coach of the under-17 national team. And she continues to use her aggressive midfielder’s skills to move the ball in women’s soccer.

Whether it’s as the only woman taking Level 4 coaching certification with former pros such as Wilson and Bob Lenarduzzi, or sitting around the table at a male-dominated conference, she still feels the need to fight for her cause.

“Even to this day, I still feel I have to prove myself — maybe because I’ve always had to do it. I’d always have to show them I could play the game,” said David, not sure enough young women are growing up with her brand of street soccer mentality.

“In that part we have a way to go.”

Players these days are identified as national team prospects at 13 years old. By the team they reach University, they usually have 10 years of solid competitive experience. The game between Canada and the United States at the under-19 women’s world championship in Edmonton last summer drew a huge television audience, and more than 50,000 people in the stands. The advancement is there, but too slow, David said.

“I think it’s fantastic, but to echo the sentiment of my generation: What took them so long?”

The answer might be that not enough of them grew up in Tomslake. ■

Please Keep in Touch — electronically We need your email address

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t’s a fact of life that the Internet is making it easier and easier for us to keep in touch. In many ways, it’s the natural evolution of the way we communicate today. To its advantage it’s cheap, fast, easy-to-use.

You may have noticed from the nameplate of Active Alumni that the alumni newsletter will be published only once a year from now on. A big part of the reason for that is cost: printing 6000 copies and sending out a newsletter the size of Katimavik three times a year had become too costly. So we’ve had to whittle that down to once a year for a printed publication and, to keep you posted, we’ll produce two electronic newsletters that we’ll email to you and post on our new web site that’ll be launched at the end of May. In fact, we’ll be using our web site more for every type of communication — with students, faculty and alumni.

That’s in line with what U of A is doing to reduce costs: students apply exclusively online now; the university calendar is online and soon the print version of the calendar will be phased out.

In many ways it’s become the central way we navigate our lives. In Canada 62 percent of us are online; in the US that’s 72 percent; in Japan, Korea and UK half the adult population uses the Internet; in Australia 42 percent are online.

Internet use has moved from routine to essential and we can’t ignore its might as a communications tool most of us use regularly. So keep your finger on the pulse: send me your email address — and you’ll need to keep it current — so we can stay in touch with you.

I’ll pass your email address to Advancement Records, External Relations as well. ■ Contact: Active Alumni Jane Hurly, Communications Strategist Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation University of Alberta Phone:780-492-6821; Fax:780-492-1008 email: jane.hurly@ualberta.ca (Note: no ‘e’ in Hurly!)

Web site: www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/per/

University of Alberta

15

On the Edge Kevin Kwan launches Kwantum to offer broad spectrum of wellness services

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t’s a frigid day in March but the sun streams through the wall of windows in Kevin Kwan’s chic, decidedly upscale third floor office in Manulife Place in downtown Edmonton, filling it with light and warmth. Kevin, who launched Kwantum in October 2001, looks relaxed in the hive of activity that surrounds him and perfectly at home in his new role as successful businessman. We sit in cushy leather chairs as Kevin explains how he made the leap from holding down four jobs after graduation from the BPE program in 1998, to owning his own full-service wellness company.

“I come from a very entrepreneurial family,” says Kevin, who was born and raised in Smithers, BC. “I have four older brothers and a sister and I’ve always looked up to them — they’re all very successful. My mother is my biggest supporter and has instilled ethics and value in everything I do. My father came from China with virtually just the clothes on his back. He’s now a successful businessman who owns a hotel, restaurant, clubs, and a liquor store. He showed me it’s definitely possible. It’s not just education, but a combination of your drive, education, and contacts that make for success.”

Kwantum fulfills Kevin’s dream to offer a downtown based company providing full-spectrum workplace wellness solutions, educational programming, rehabilitation and medical fitness services to Edmontonians.

“There are essentially three prongs to our business,” says Kevin. “Facilities management and design, which we provide for schools and corporations; workplace wellness (typically provided on a company’s premises), and the downtown centre, serving workers in the core, offering physical therapy, exercise therapy, exercise testing, massage therapy, and nutritional counselling.” Kwantum also manages the Manulife Place fitness centre and has

“It’s not just education, but a combination of your drive, education, and contacts that make for success.”

Kevin Kwan several large meeting and conference rooms for presentations and conferences.

Though the doors have only been open a short time, Kwantum already has several large projects to its name: Elk Island School Board brought in Kwantum to design the wellness facility at Salisbury Composite High School.

“We were brought in at ground zero,” says Kevin, consulting with the client on their needs, then designing a facility, procuring equipment and customising programming for the students.

“We teach everything from anatomy and physiology to circuit training and body composition at the school,” he says.

Kwantum also designed and delivers a workplace wellness program for the Provincial Health Authority of Alberta. This customised wellness program involves regular education sessions at the client’s premises, twice-yearly wellness consultations with each employee, ergonomic work station consultation and

16 University of Alberta

set up. “We design custom programs for each employee — and provide consultation on anything from wanting to get in shape to how to buy a treadmill, to where do I find a golf pro.”

But he’s not as busy as he wants to be yet. “I’m working on building the area of exercise referrals, working with physicians to refer their patients to us when they prescribe exercise to their patients.” It’s a challenge, he concedes, and a process of education to set physicians at ease that the treatment Kwantum will provide is both research-based and delivered by qualified staff with degrees in kinesiology and physical education.

Also, he says, though Calgary and Vancouver have similar centres to his downtown, “People in Edmonton aren’t yet used to accessing this type of service downtown. We’re seen as personal trainers, they don’t see the true breadth of what we do and and appreciate it. I think that will come as we revitalise the downtown core.”

Kwantum’s primary services, are provided by a team of BPEs — all alumni from U of A. Erin Dola, Lindy Woo, Lynnette Scharfenberg and Greg Lembke all have BPE degrees in sport performance; Trina Bandi, who provides the workplace wellness programs holds a BPE degree in adapted physical activity; Kevin specalised in active living, health promotion and wellbeing. Besides the core team, there’s a network of health and physical activity experts outside of Kwantum to round out the services they offer.

Kevin, who is also vice chairman of Capital Health’s Community Health Council for West Central and a director of the Downtown Edmonton Community Association, takes on practicum students and volunteers from the faculty, engaging them in organizing a fun ‘Tribal Challenge” (www.tribalchallenge.com) to help Edmontonians acquire points for the physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, occupational, environmental and social dimensions of wellness. If that’s not enough, he’s also one of the head coaches for the Edmonton Dragonboat races held every summer, and senior men’s volleyball coach at M.E. LaZerte High School.

As for the future, Kevin says international opportunities for Kwantum beckon: he recently made a presentation to a diverse group of company directors and highlevel bureaucrats from China here to study executive management at U of A. “They were definitely interested in what I’m doing at Kwantum. The head of a power corporation wants a similar facility to the one I built for Salisbury School,” says Kevin, “and an executive from a hotel chain expressed interest too.”

It’s an opportunity that would dovetail with Kevin’s personal desire to provide a legacy wellness facility for Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. “This would really be a tribute in many ways to my heritage and a culture that helps define me today,” he explains, adding that the introduction of Western foods in China has caused health issues there he’d like to help combat.

In time, he says, “I would love to be in a position to say to Dave Mitsui, (practicum supervisor in the faculty), ‘We have a facility in China. I would like four or five practicum students who want international exposure to come with me and deliver wellness programs …’”

As I leave the spacious offices, Kevin adds, “You know, my father’s entrepreneurial character taught me a lot, but my 98 year-old grandmother taught me the lesson of being active for life. She rode her exercise bike right to the end of her life. A lot of what you see here is for her too.” ■

Kwantum is located at: Manulife Place Suite 388, 10180 – 101 Street, Edmonton www.kwantumwellness.com email: kevin@kwantum.ca Phone: 780.428.9355

17 University of Alberta

Play in the midnight sun

By Audrey Giles, PhD candidate

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s a person who grew up in the heart of suburban Toronto, I am often asked to reflect on the path that led to my PhD research, which investigates Dene women’s changing involvement in traditional games in the Northwest Territories. The often bumpy but never dull path that led me to the University of Alberta took me through several provinces and territories, several Inuit, Cree, and Dene communities, as well as a great deal of personal growth.

After a few summers working as waterfront staff at a residential camp, my twin sister Sarah and I decided to apply to the Northwest Territories (NWT) Aquatic Program for summer employment following our first year of university (Queen’s University for me, Dalhousie University for her). That summer, I spent three months in Cape Dorset, NWT (now Nunavut) as the community’s swimming pool supervisor.

As a white, feminist, university educated, vegetarian, I experienced profound culture shock. The fact that Cape Dorset was plagued with poverty and had the highest suicide rate in Canada that summer did not help the situation.

Upon returning south, I do not think that my friends and family members thought that I would return North again.

While, undoubtedly, I had a trying summer I found myself increasingly fascinated by (to quote Robert Service) “the strange things done in the midnight sun,” — particularly the sport and recreation practices that I saw.

As a physical and health education student who hoped to specialize in sport psychology, I found myself writing papers about socio-cultural aspects of Northern sport and recreation. This interest was reinforced by my subsequent work with Alberta’s Future Leaders Program in Northern Alberta, as well as another with the NWT’s Aquatic Program, this time in Fort Simpson, NWT. Eventually, I commenced my graduate work in anthropology of sport at the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the U of A, with my incredible supervisor, Dr. Debra Shogan.

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In general, I find that everyone loves to see my photos, especially from my fieldwork in Sambaa K’e, NWT

“As a white, feminist, university educated, vegetarian, I experienced profound culture shock.”

Audrey Giles (a community of 65 people accessible only by chartered aircraft), and to hear my stories of, for example, narrowly avoiding being shot, making my own moccasins, the trials and tribulations of chopping wood for heat, and living without hot water for months on end, etc. Very few people want to hear the other stories that I have to tell about the legacy of colonialism, people’s experiences with residential schools, as well as poverty and other social problems that are rampant in many Northern communities.

While I hope that my research makes a contribution to creating a more complete record of sport and recreation in Canada’s North, I often feel more confident about the contributions of the non-profit organization that my sisters and I founded and continue to run.

Our organization, Sporting Partnerships of Universities and Northern Communities (SPUNC), links universities and schools across Canada with communities in the NWT. Our goal is to reduce regional disparities in access to sports equipment. In the past four years, SPUNC, through our partnership with Sport North, Matco, and several airlines, has sent about 4,000 lbs of equipment to the North free of charge. Though my sisters and I are all extremely busy with our various pursuits (my twin sister is now in medical school, while my older sister is a project advisor for a non-government organization in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), we all remain committed to trying to put smiles on the faces of some wonderful Northern children. ■

University of Alberta

U of A hockey has plenty to celebrate Richard Cairney Reprinted with permission from ExpressNews

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niversity of Alberta hockey teams were on a high in March. The undefeated Pandas are celebrating their second consecutive national championship, and third in three years.

The Pandas, who posted a 31–0–1 record in regular-season play, defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 5–4 in overtime at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women’s hockey championships in Regina, SK. March 9. On the same day, the Bears won the Canada West Men’s Hockey Championships and a shot at a national title when they defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 5–2.

The ones for you, of course, are the easiest to deal with.

And the best goal of the year came in overtime when Taryn Fjeld won the title for the Pandas.

This year, Draper says, most of the team’s scoring has come from a line made up of Danielle Bourgeois, Lori Shupak, and Kristen Hagg. The U of T managed to key in on the high-scoring trio but other players stepped in to get the job done.

The tight contest against the U of T in the finals saw Pandas’ head coach Howie Draper’s prediction that his team would need to play its best hockey of the season come true. The U of T took a 2–0 lead in the second period but the Pandas came back with four unanswered goals from Alison Benfeld, Lori Shupak, Taryn Barry and Kristen Hagg. That’s when things started to go wrong.

“The sign of a good team is when one line can’t perform the role they are used to, another line steps up. And we got input from all of our lines which made the finish that much more satisfying.”

“We came back and we were ahead 4–2 and we started to think ‘well, this one’s in the bag’ but Toronto had something to say about that,” said Draper. The Blues bounced back with two goals, sending the game into overtime with just 19 seconds remaining in regular time.

In Edmonton, the Bears defeated the Huskies 5–2, winning a best-of-three Canada West finals and a spot at the CIS championships in Fredericton, NB, March 20–23. The victory marks the Bears’ 42nd Canada West title.

So what does a coach say to a team that has blown a twogoal lead, just before the overtime period?

“One thing we’ve worked on a lot this year is being able to come back twice as strong after you’ve been scored on,” said Draper. “Every goal, for you or against you, has to make you better.”

The victory is the third championship the Pandas have won since forming six years ago.

Bears coach Rob Daum said the opportunity to go back to the nationals — this was the team’s seventh consecutive appearance at the University Cup championships — is a “terrific achievement” for the team.

“There isn’t any anxiety, we’re just looking forward to the challenge, and we’re pleased with what we’ve done to get there.”

The Bears captured bronze, beating the New Brunswick Varsity Reds 8–2. ■

For all the Bears and Pandas sports action visit: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/athletics/ University of Alberta

19

Wall of Fame Fund-Raiser and Dinner May 1, 2003 at the Shaw Conference Centre Join our faculty and alumni for a glittering, memorable evening to honour outstanding athletic alumni and to raise funds for scholarships for new and current student-athletes.

Last year we raised $29,000. This year we’d like to up the ante and raise $45,000! We know it’s ambitious, but with your help we can help student-athletes reach their full athletic potential. Who knows — you may be helping the next Canadian Olympian onto the podium at the next Olympic Games!

Please join us!

Schedule of Events: May 1, 2003 5:30 p.m.: No-Host Reception 5:30 p.m.: Silent Auction begins 7:00 p.m.: Balloon Blitz 7:30 p.m.: Dinner 9:00 p.m.: Induction Ceremony

a ctivealumni

This year’s Inductees: Jim Fleming (Hockey) Barry Kennedy (Swimming and Water Polo)

Joe Poplawski Alex Romaniuk

Story ideas? Comments?

Suggestions?

Contact editor Jane Hurly at 780.492.6821; email: jane.hurly@ualberta.ca

(Football) (Wrestling and Builder)

Shona Schleppe

Active Alumni is produced annually for the alumni and friends of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.

Visit our web site! www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/per/

(Field Hockey and Soccer)

■ Cost: $150/person. (Tax receipt issued for $100/ticket purchased) ■ Shaw Conference Centre, 9797 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta ■ Donations: Donations in any amount are, of course, gratefully received. Your donation will be receipted in the full amount.

Contact: Nadine McMahon Phone: 780.492.3893 E-Mail: nadine.mcmahon@ualberta.ca University of Alberta

a ctivealumni Jane Hurly, Communications Strategist Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation W1-34 Van Vliet Centre University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H9

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