activealumni2007

active alumni in touch with you

summer 2007

Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation

Impact on activity PER alumni are keeping Alberta’s communities active through ARPA

Rick Curtis (’69), ARPA’s Executive Director, and Shelley Shea (‘81), President

“We are driven to make an impact on society... through teaching, research and work in the community.”

Message from the Dean How do you remember your days as an undergraduate or graduate student in the Faculty? Chances are you remember a professor who helped you understand a complex concept; or a student advisor who helped steer your studies in the right direction; maybe it was the fun of playing sport or engaging in activities through Campus Recreation, or knowledge you acquired in your studies that you’re still using today.

I hope you remember excellence as the cornerstone of your studies here, for we have a passion for it. As such, we continue to expand opportunities for students in the classroom and on the field and to endow them with a rich learning experience that will stand them in good stead in their lives, no matter which path they choose.

Beyond these walls, we are driven to make an impact on society and we do that through our research, teaching, and work in the community.

With a burgeoning enrolment rate and our programs in high demand we continue to add to our cohort of professors. In so doing we continue to expand our areas of knowledge and research to enable students to enjoy an intellectually invigorating and challenging experience.

Our passion for excellence is unfolding in our plans to establish the Institute of Physical Activity and Health, which will be home to our behavioural medicine scientists. The Alberta Diabetes Institute opens in October in the Health Research Innovation Facility and our exercise physiologists will be conducting important work there, working with other health scientists to get a handle on diabetes, a disease now rampant in our society.

We have added two new sports to our roster in the Golden Bears and Pandas athletic program: starting this September both golf and curling will be offered to our outstanding young athletes, and our Campus Recreation programs continue to grow, reaching more than 30,000 students across campus every year.

You can support this continued passion for excellence by promoting the faculty, by encouraging organisations in which you work to provide philanthropic support to enable the faculty to continue its work. For alumni, including Colin Davey featured in this magazine, planned giving – remembering the Faculty in your will - is a much-appreciated and thoughtful gesture.

I hope to meet with many of you at Reunion 2007 and encourage you to begin making plans to attend Homecoming 2008 to mark the University’s Centenary. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Yours truly, Mike Mahon, Dean 2

Active Alumni

ARPA ADVOCATES Rick Curtis and Shelley Shea are just two of the Faculty’s alumni – in a long line of successful graduates and professors – who have buoyed the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association over the years.

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Table of contents

active alumni

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MAKING BREATHING EASIER

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GOLDEN COACH

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TAKING HEART

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FACULTY RETIREMENTS

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ARPA ADVOCATES

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ALUMNI AWARDS

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GLOBE TROTTER

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FACULTY NOTES

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REUNION 2006

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CLASS NOTES

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SPORT’S STAND-UP GUY

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POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE

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LEGENDARY COACH

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MEETING POST

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WATCHING THE WILD

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IN MEMORIAM

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RE-CREATING ALBERTA

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

Comments, questions, suggestions for stories are welcomed.

Please contact: Jane Hurly, communications strategist Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation E415 Van Vliet Centre Ph: 780-492-6821; Fax: 780-492-2364 Email: jane.hurly@ualberta.ca Publication Mail Agreement No. 40063741 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, E415 Van Vliet Centre, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H9

COVER: Photo by Zoltan Kenwell

CORRECTION Hugh William McPherson, BPE ’71, received an Alberta Centennial Award last year in recognition of over 30 years of volunteer work in sport and recreation. In our last issue, Hugh’s name was excluded from the list of recipients. Active Alumni sincerely regrets this error.

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Get Connected Your Alumni Association is here to serve you

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n just its second year of operation, your Physical Education and Recreation Alumni Association (PERAA) has already made significant inroads in re-establishing alumni connections. Winter Alumni events in Calgary (Wine Tasting Reception) and Edmonton (Beer Tasting Social), coupled with a huge turnout for Reunion 2006, have nearly tripled our annual alumni event attendance. Thanks for your wonderful response!

This leap in attendance is a real demonstration of the strength of our Alumni Association – of which you are a member – and proof that our grassroots approach to providing an opportunity to engage each other in a relaxed environment is just plain old fun! If you have attended an event in the last year or so you know what I am talking about. If you have not, keep an eye open for a letter inviting you to register for Reunion 2007 (September 27-30) and join in. And if Reunion 2007 is not enough to get you excited about your alma mater, next year’s 2008 Centenary Celebration will include the largest Alumni tailgate party in the history of the University! This is where we need your help and expertise. If you are interested in volunteering to help plan one of these events, or have a speaker idea, please contact me at mii@shaw.ca.

“I’m proud of the strides our PERAA team has made.

There are volunteer roles, big and small, that are always available if you are interested in getting involved.”

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Active Alumni

PERAA is also developing an online resource centre that will host an announcement board, a mentorship program for you to get involved in, travel advice centre, and online forums for industry related questions and debates. Not only will these new services help young PER alumni connect with older alums, it will provide us all with an online, one stop shop for alumni and faculty announcements and connectivity.

I’m proud of the strides our PERAA team has made.

There are volunteer roles, big and small, that are always available if you are interested in getting involved. I encourage you to consider this opportunity, but most importantly I invite you to join in the fun we have at our events, be proud of our Faculty, and be Active Alumni.

Speaking of Active Alumni, I am thinking about a Healthy Alumni challenge of some sort. If anyone would like to help me with that, please give me a call at 780-483-2570.

If you have not yet provided us with your email address, please do so by contacting Jocelyne Lambert at jocelyne.lambert@ualberta.ca. This makes it much easier to keep you up to date on our events.

Have a wonderful and active summer!

Wendy Andrews (BPE ’71)

“This means they don’t have to work as hard to breathe and they are not so short of breath during exercise, which allows them to do more.”

Making Breathing Easier Neil Eves’s research on a super mix of gases means easier breathing for sufferers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

by Bev Betkowski

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t makes for bobbing balloons and squeaky voices, but now helium is also helping people with severe respiratory problems breathe easier.

Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that combining helium with 40 per cent oxygen allowed patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to increase their exercise capacity by an average of 245 per cent.

COPD is a disease of the lungs caused by smoking and includes the conditions of emphysema and chronic bronchitis. People with severe COPD typically struggle for every breath while exercising and any improvements that could be made to their ability to perform exercise could have significant clinical implications.

This was the first study to demonstrate that heliumhyperoxia (40 per cent oxygen, 60 per cent helium) improves the exercise tolerance of COPD patients to a greater extent than oxygen alone, which is currently used for treating patients with this disorder. The results of the study were published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine.

Patients with COPD have difficulty breathing out and often air is trapped in the lungs at the end of each breath; this has been shown to be one of the primary reasons for the shortness of breath experienced by these patients.

Combining the helium and hyperoxia slows down the frequency of breathing while making the air easier to

breathe. This combined effect reduces the amount of air trapped in the lungs during exercise.

“This means they don’t have to work as hard to breathe and they are not so short of breath during exercise, which allows them to do more,” said Dr. Neil Eves (PhD ’04), lead author on the study. Eves conducted the study for his PhD dissertation at the U of A. In the study, 10 clinically stable men with moderate to severe COPD were each given four different mixes of gases including room air, while they exercised. During each test they were monitored for exercise time, breathing capacity, work of breathing and symptoms of exertion. The best results were achieved with a mix of 40 per cent oxygen and 60 per cent helium.

The helium-hyperoxia mixture improved the exercise tolerance of the patients by 245 per cent compared with air (21 per cent oxygen, 79 per cent nitrogen), by 56 per cent compared with hyperoxia (40 per cent oxygen, 60 per cent nitrogen) and 116 per cent compared with a “normal” oxygen-helium gas (21 per cent oxygen, 79 per cent helium).

“If patients were to breathe helium-hyperoxia in a rehabilitation setting, they could potentially perform a lot more exercise, which may improve their exercise capacity, fitness level and, as a result, quality of life,” Eves said. a This article originally appeared in the University’s ExpressNews.

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Taking Heart “The U of A has a good program in that it allows you to do a four-month placement to get engrossed in a field of interest.”

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Active Alumni

Practicum program sets Kin grad, Annalise Corcelli on career in cardiac wellness

by Bev Betkowski

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nnalise Corcelli (BSc Kinesiology ’05) was uncertain about her future as she approached the finish line for a degree in kinesiology almost two years ago. But thanks to a top-notch practicum program, the proud U of A graduate found a meaningful place in the work world.

The 24-year-old credits her degree from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation with helping her land an energetic position at the Cardiac Wellness Institute of Calgary, and it was the practicum program which helped her settle on a career.

“The U of A has a good program in that it allows you to do a four-month placement to get engrossed in a field of interest. I didn’t know about the Institute until I did the practicum.”

Her degree has allowed Corcelli to turn a lifetime involvement with sport (she grew up in Edmonton playing softball) into a fulfilling career helping people with heart disease use exercise to recover.

It started with a 400-level anatomy class at the U of A, which sparked her interest in cardiac therapy. She was hooked after an up-close look at the intricate workings of the human heart. “For the organ to be so small and to do so much work in the body is so amazing. I wanted to know more.”

Her interest was a natural fit for a practicum at the Cardiac Wellness Institute, a facility offering comprehensive services in heart disease prevention and rehabilitation in the Calgary Health Region. She started out supervising clients doing treadmill stress tests, and then “developed into what they call an exercise specialist,” Corcelli said. She was certified as such in March 2005 by the American College of Sports Medicine.

By July of that year, she had formed a care team and was taking on clients of her own. “It was a big transition—lots of new things to learn, lots of different responsibilities.” She helps people from ages 25 to 90 get back on the road to wellness, and it’s the best part of her job.

“The important thing is developing a relationship with them as they go through this major change in lifestyle.”

She works with 80 patients at any given time, supervising and programming stress tests, monitoring their heart and blood pressure rates, teaching introductory exercises and meeting with them twice weekly for follow-up visits during a complete 12-week wellness program.

Corcelli, who plans to continue growing in the job she finds rewarding, credits her U of A education for giving her an appreciation for personal well-being, as well as guiding others in the gentle art of self-care.

To that end, she takes full advantage of the nearby Rocky Mountains to stay active snowboarding and hiking, in between visits back to Edmonton to connect with family and friends. It strikes a balance of physical and emotional nourishment.

“I have to look after my own lifestyle as well. It’s made me look pretty diligently at what I’m doing to provide that example for my patients.” a

2007 SPORTS WALL OF FAME

Don Spring (hockey) receives his award from University of Alberta Chancellor, Eric Newell at the 2006 Sports Wall of Fame Dinner

2007 Sports Wall of Fame Dinner and Fund-raiser – May 10 Annual fund-raising event supports student-athletes

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e’re proud that the University of Alberta has produced more Academic All-Canadian athletes than any other university in Canada. It’s this kind of accomplishment the Sports Wall of Fame Dinner promotes and fosters through its support of high-calibre students who excel both in the classroom and on the field.

The Sports Wall of Fame Dinner celebrates commitment to, and excellence in, sports. Enjoy the company of friends and colleagues, pay tribute to the inductees, and support our student-athletes at this special event.

2007 Sports Wall of Fame Inductees Tracy David, BPE 1982; BEd 1998 John Devaney, BComm 1982 Stuart Robbins, PhD Education 1973 Joan Thomson, BEd 1953

Event details Thursday, May 10 Shaw Conference Centre 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. No host reception 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Induction Celebration and Ceremony 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Dinner

Tickets Contact Jocelyne Lambert at 492-3893 or order online at www.uofasportswalloffame.com

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photo by: Zoltan Kenwell

ARPA Advocates PER alumni lead Rick Curtis and Shelley Shea - working together to foster active, healthy communities in Alberta

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Active Alumni

F “Through this advocacy and leadership this organization is real to all people. A lot that we do comes back to help Albertans.”

by Phoebe Day

the way

or students in the early years of the recreation degree program, there was no escaping it. Popular instructors, Dr. Alan Affleck and later Dr. Elsie McFarland, often reminded their pupils about the importance of making a contribution, not only to the community at large but to the field of parks and recreation. It must have worked.

Today, the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association continues its behind-the-scenes work to build healthy citizens and communities, thanks in large part to U of A alumni who heeded the messages from their venerable professors.

Take Shelley Shea (BPE ’81), for instance. The current president of the ARPA was first exposed to the association as a U of A student in the latter 1970s and early ‘80s. Even as a volunteer then, she recognized the group as an invaluable way to network and become more in touch with the field. After taking a break to raise her children, she was drawn back to the association and its commitment to the community.

“I was blown away by the level of advocacy and research going on at this level,” says Shea, now the manager of sport development for the City of Calgary. “And as we heard all the time from people like Elsie McFarland and Al Affleck, I really believe we have an obligation to give back and this is a great way to do it.”

Since its inception in the 1950s, when Dr. Affleck was a founding member and when membership fees were $2, ARPA has been advocating for such issues as better school recreation programs, volunteer training and general plans to assist communities in establishing recreation programs. Today, its vision seems simple enough: to create a province that will “embrace and proactively use recreation and parks as essential means for enhancing individual wellbeing and community vitality, economic sustainability and natural resource protection and conservation.”

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To achieve this, ARPA has secured partnerships with a variety of local, provincial, national and international groups, ranging from Hockey Alberta to fitness leaders across the province. Most Albertans do not even realize how the association is affecting them.

“In a lot of ways, our association does have a direct impact even though it is difficult to see the specifics on the ground,” says Rick Curtis, the executive director of ARPA and a ’69 grad. “We are largely focused on building sector capacity and supporting a variety of proactive initiatives that will advance the growth and development of recreation and parks services especially at the community level. Through this advocacy and leadership this organization is real to all people. A lot that we do comes back to help Albertans.”

One such initiative is called “Everybody Gets to Play.” ARPA partnered with its national counterpart to run this Canada-wide program whose aim is to provide recreation to all children. “We want to make sure low income and various disadvantaged groups get access to playgrounds and play opportunities,” says Shea. “If we can help mobilize our communities and make it easier for these kids, the quality of life will be better.”

Another example of the range of work the association is undertaking is their close look at community recreation and sport infrastructure throughout Alberta. The association recently submitted a position paper to the provincial government that included an extensive review of recreation facilities

— existing pools, arenas and curling rinks — that found that more than 80 per cent of the built infrastructure is going to be 30 years or older within the next few years. ARPA strongly encouraged the government to take action to provide financial support for these aging buildings that are vital to advancing the provincial health and wellness agenda as well as contribute to the building of vital, sustainable communities.

The association’s membership now numbers 650 and represents the vast majority of Alberta communities.

The group continually looks inward at ways to ensure the organization is best serving all corners of the province. For instance, in the last few years ARPA has studied the notion of quality assurance at the municipal level. “In other words, we want to make sure the recreation and parks sector is actually doing and accomplishing what we say we are doing, towards principles of healthy child and youth development, as an example,” says Curtis.

The ARPA Board of Directors also examined the sustainability of the association and after significant scrutiny, determined that a more diverse resource base was required, says Curtis. Led by alumnus Dr. Barry Mitchelson, the Recreation for Life Foundation was established to support ARPA activities through the cultivation and solicitation of corporate funds.

One program that has benefited from the formation of that foundation — along with help from Encana and the Alberta Lottery Fund — is the Alberta

Active Communities Initiative, which will allow ARPA to spearhead a provincial initiative directed towards getting more citizens, more active, more often.

“Without the foundation, we would never be able to commit to such an initiative,” says Curtis.

Despite the changes along the way, the ARPA continues to maintain close ties with U of A alumni. Starting from the students and their connection to the organization to those retired professionals — like Curtis — who want to recommit to their recreation and parks roots.

“The U of A is hugely significant to the history and development of the ARPA,” says Curtis, adding that the vast majority of previous Boards of Directors have been U of A grads. “I, like many others, have been influenced by U of A faculty, including Al Aflleck and Elsie McFarland.

I was very fortunate to have had Dr. McFarland as an early career mentor.

“Today, it is still easy for students to stay involved with the association and is the best way to get connected with the field.”

And what does the future hold in store for the ARPA? In the province’s post-debt environment and with a new premier, ARPA will continue to focus on enhancing the lives of Albertans, says Curtis. “Recreation and parks and the whole notion of wellness and active living have become strategic considerations,” says Curtis. “When it comes to personal health, building active, vital communities and promoting environmental stewardship, we bring a lot. Our goal is simple — we want to enhance the quality of life for Albertans and make this the best place to live.” a

PANDA POWER CBC funny man Rick Mercer got into plenty of trouble trying to outsmart the Pandas volleyball team when he was on campus in January to film a segment on the University of Alberta for his show The Rick Mercer Report. Mercer was not hurt... The Pandas went on to win gold at the CIS championship.

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Active Alumni

“And I learned that life is full of surprises – not all of them pleasant – and most beyond my control.”

Zalie Cervenan coaches soccer in the summer. She’s seen here with her young team in Switzerland.

Globe Trotter Zalie Cervenan thrives on travel and adventure

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hile she was an undergraduate student, Zalie Cervenan (BPE ‘02) persuaded the University of Alberta that climbing a mountain in Ecuador’s Andean highlands should count for credit towards her degree. It took some doing – after all, a university doesn’t sway easily. “My project was to go mountaineering in Ecuador and do some team-building activities leading up to the climb,” she says.

“Right up to the day I went, I don’t think my dad thought I would do it,” she says. “I can be pretty determined when I want something!”

That same determination led to a dream job in Europe where she instructs skiing from December to April each year to youngsters at the Neige Aventure Ski and Snowboard School in the commune of Haute Nendaz in Switzerland.

“The Swiss Alps are my ‘office,” she says with broad smile. “The commute is eight minutes by gondola!” The ski school attracts instructors and students from all over the world. “I usually speak four different languages in one day,” says Cervenan who is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Dutch and can ‘get by’ in Finish, Italian and German.

Life as a globetrotter suits Cervenan who got a taste for travel when she went on a student exchange program to Colombia while in high school and to the University of Jyväskylä in Finland as a university student. She learned a lot about life from the two very different cultures.

“And I learned that life is full of surprises – not all of them pleasant – and most beyond my control. I decided then that life is an adventure.”

She also learned that if you really want something, go get it. Cervenan wanted to be a volunteer at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. “I took matters into my own hands, contacting someone in the Gymnastics Federation in Switzerland, when I hadn’t heard from Athens. A week later I was invited to volunteer with them.”

Cervenan, who also coaches and referees soccer, is the

lone female coach for the regional soccer club and is the only the second female referee in the canton (province).

“Le Valais does not have a strong women’s soccer program compared to Alberta’s,” she explains. “The club I belong to is setting up a U14 girls’ team– maybe my club involvement helped to spur that on,” she says hopefully.

When she’s back in Canada she referees volleyball too – and it’s a bleak contrast to Switzerland. “The system here doesn’t treat referees and coaches as professionals; spectators have no respect for them either. In Switzerland I’m treated – and paid – as a professional. But in Canada if I wanted to work as a ski instructor and referee, I’d probably also have to work a second job to supplement my wage.”

“I am interested in working with either FIFA or the IOC in the future,” says Cervenan. She’s planning on taking a master’s degree in sport management to give her a leg up to a paid position with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, leveraging her knowledge of Canada’s culture and business climate to help a national organising committee from another country successfully orchestrate its visit here. “In Athens I became interested in the details of how major sporting events like this are administered,” she says. “I got a glimpse of it, but there are many closed doors.

It was hard to find stuff out.”

You know there’s no stopping her. She pauses momentarily, looks up, eyes gleaming with her trademark chutzpah: “But then again it’s hard to get a university to give you credit to go climb a mountain, so... see you in Vancouver!” a Zalie Cervenan invites former classmates and friends to contact her at akazalie@hotmail.com.

More information about Neige Aventure Ski and Snowboard School in Haute Nendaz in Switzerland at http://cactus.ch/ and http://www.nendaz.ch/ Summer 2007

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Reunion 2007!

You’re invited!

Reunion 1 6

EVENTS

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Friday, September 28 Student/Alumni Career Panel Noon to 1 p.m.

Van Vliet Centre

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Pub Night 7 – 10 p.m.

Saville Sports Centre Saturday, September 29

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Welcome Back Lunch with the Dean Doors open 10.45 a.m.; lunch at 11.15 a.m.

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E-19, Van Vliet Centre Golden Bears and Pandas Soccer Pandas vs. Manitoba 12 p.m.

Golden Bears vs. Huskies at 2.15 p.m.

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Pandas Rugby

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September 28, 29 and 30, Time TBA

PLEASE JOIN US! For more information contact Bob Kinasewich, director, Alumni Affairs and Development 492-1002 or bob.kinasewich@ualberta.ca 12

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2006

1 Dru Marshall (PhD ’89, MSC ’82) and Art Quinney (PhD ’74) unveil the master’s degree wall 2 Carmen Jochmann (BA Rec Admin ’96) and John Jochmann 3 Mel Davidson (BPE ’86) and Dean Mike Mahon 4 Former dean Herb McLachlin (left) and Norm LaVoie (MA ’70, PhD ’72)

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5 Gerry and Erin Inglis (BPE ’76, MSc ’78, MBA ’89), Darlene and Dr. Dan Syrotuik (MSc’75, PhD’84) and Penny Stewart 6 Dave Mitsui (MA ’83) and Barb Hill (BA Red Adm’76) 7 Elsje and Tom Brunt (BPE ’64, MA ’69) and Gerrie Baycroft (BPE ’62, MSc ’65)

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8 Norma Jean Rodenburg (MSc PEK ‘03), Mike Chow (BPE ’98), Scott Grevlund (BA Rec Admin ’97) 9 Joanne Gauf, Rod Gauf (BPE ’66) and Ralph Beerwald (BPE ’66) 10 Ted Wall (PhD’ 78) and Stewart Petersen (PhD ’78) 11 Donna Enger (BPE ’59), professor emeritus Gerry Redmond (PhD ’72) and Laura Steadward

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12 Drs. Wendy Rodgers and Mike Mahon 13 Ann and Alfred Nikolai (BPE ’73)

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14 Zalie Cervenan (BPE ’02) and Dr. Brian Maraj 15 Bob Bennett (BPE ’66), Clare Drake (PE ‘41), and Len Zaichowsky (BPE ’66) 16 Professors emeritus Pat Conger and Jane Watkinson 17 Hai Ren, PhD ‘88 18 Barry Strangford (BPE ’81) and Dean Mike Mahon 19 Pat Bates and professor emeritus Pat Conger

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20 Maryann Waslynchuk (BPE ‘72). athletic director, Dale Schulha (BPE ‘72, MA ‘74) and Bonnie Schulha (BPE ‘72)

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Sport’s Stand-up Lloyd Bentz and a career

dedicated to partnership, engagement

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Active Alumni

“Good coaches… engage team members to take action to achieve the goals.”

Guy & leadership

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hen Lloyd Bentz (BPE ’74, MA ’85) thinks of Japan he thinks of sushi, samurai, and.... curling. Curling?

Most would not consider this a national sport of Japan but now, curling teams represent Japan internationally and will be competing at the 2010 Olympics.

This transformation in Japanese sport, like so much else in Bentz’s career, came about because of his dedication to partnership, engagement and leadership. In his current role as the director of Sport and Recreation Branch for Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture, and general manager of the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation, the themes of partnership, engagement and leadership are put into daily practice.

But first, let’s go back to 1996 when Bentz, in his role as senior manager for Alberta Community Development, went with the Alberta Curling and Sports Medicine delegation to visit the Province of Hokaido. At that time, there were only two dedicated curling facilities in the entire country of Japan. Japanese officials wanted to get local curlers up to speed for the 1998 Olympics held in Japan. No small task for a ten-day assignment. Bentz advocated for a strong coaching component. It paid off. This would not be the first (or last time) Bentz would advocate for strong mentors.

Three people within the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation have inspired Bentz over his career: Dr. Art Quinney, Dr. Jane Watkinson and Dr. Bob Steadward. Each mentor introduced a theme: partnership, engagement and leadership. To begin, there was Dr. Quinney and the theme of partnership. Bentz worked with Dr. Quinney (now Deputy Provost for the University of Alberta), in the development of the Fitness Leadership programs, a network of

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provincial fitness centres and in the Alberta Centre for Wellbeing. It was Dr. Quinney’s ability to develop partnerships with university, public, private and government partners that left an impression on Bentz.

The theme of partnership appears often in Bentz’s career portfolio. It was thanks to a creative partnership forged by Bentz as executive manager for Alberta Community Development in 2004 that lead to the major upgrade to the Canmore Nordic Centre for cross country skiing and biathlon. This $25 million upgrade was completed in a very quick turnaround to host the 2005 Centennial World Cup in cross country skiing. Fifty million television viewers throughout North America and Europe watched the broadcast of this event.

The ability to engage others to reach a common goal was reinforced by another of Bentz’s mentors, Dr. Jane Watkinson, his master’s thesis advisor.

The theme of engagement was put to the test in the redevelopment of Alberta’s Olympics facilities. Bentz again worked with diverse groups: the Calgary Olympic Development Committee, Canadian Olympic Committee, the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the Canadian Ski Jumping Association together with the provincial government to ensure that ski jumping athletes would continue to train for the 2010 Olympics. In addition Bentz has worked with the Calgary Olympic Development Association to develop a proposal for the first Canadian Centre of Sports Excellence to renew the other Olympic facilities at Canada Olympic Park and at the University of Calgary.

A third mentor added to the themes of partnership and engagement. From Bob Steadward, Bentz learned the power of leadership. For throughout Bentz’s career there have been issues faced by a diversity of individual interests, community groups, governments and

stakeholders. How to get all parties, with varying agendas, focused on a common goal? For Bentz, it all comes back to his education in leadership that he received at the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. Dedication to partnership, engagement and leadership has as much application to the work environment as it does in the sports environment, according to Bentz.

“Good athletes and coaches have attributes that make good leaders,” says Bentz. “They have analytical skills and put strategies and plans in place to ensure that the team achieves future goals and objectives. Good coaches engage team members to take action to achieve the goals. They are able to communicate a compelling vision which generates enthusiasm and a commitment to action.

They act as positive role models through their commitments and actions. They adapt these plans and strategies as they go along, in response to the challenges they face.” a

AWARDS • 2005 Premier’s Award of Excellence for the Alberta Future Leader Program • 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal

CALLING ALL ALUMNI...

EXPERIENCE THE GAMES!

From August 3-11, Strathcona County (Sherwood Park) will play host to 2,300 athletes, coaches and performers from the three northern territories and four western provinces. This will be the largest multisport event the community has ever hosted and will feature nine days of sporting and cultural events. The Games need 3,000 volunteers to help make the athletes dreams into reality.

The Board of Directors and Staff, which includes eight PER grads and a BARST ’08, encourage you to be a part of it. To find out how you can volunteer, visit our website at www.2007westerncanadagames.ca, email volunteer@2007wcsg.ca or call 702-2007.

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Active Alumni

“If you’re going to have any kind of success, you have to have some people who aren’t only committed to improving, but they’ve got to be good athletes to start.”

Beginning of a legend: a young coach Drake on the bench with players of the Golden Bears men’s hockey team

Legendary Coach Geoff Gowan Award for Clare Drake

by Caitlin Crawshaw

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he University of Alberta coach known for transforming the Golden Bears hockey team into the best collegiate program in the country has earned the Coaching Association of Canada’s top award.

Clare Drake, former U of A professor and Golden Bears coach, has received the prestigious Geoff Gowan Award from the Coaching Association of Canada. Named after the former athlete and CBC commentator Dr. Geoff Gowan, the award recognizes Drake’s lifetime contribution to coaching development.

During his 28-year tenure at the U of A, the Golden Bears posted a record-setting 697 wins, 296 losses and 37 ties, and won six University Cup titles and 17 Canada West conferences. Drake also led the Golden Bears hockey and football squads to the University Cup and Vanier Cup championships in the 1967-68 season.

Despite his legacy, Drake says the award “came out of the blue.”

“I’ve been very fortunate at the University of Alberta, because the university has a great reputation both athletically and academically, and it attracts a lot of good student athletes to the programs, which you need. If you’re going to have any kind of success, you have to have some people who aren’t only committed to improving, but they’ve got to be good athletes to start,” he said.

“It’s been a great advantage to work at the university... it’s been a great environment to work in.”

The former Golden Bears hockey coach was a professor in the U of A Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, and wrote numerous research articles on the technical aspects of hockey. He was also actively involved in Hockey

Canada’s coaching initiatives and was one of the developers of the National Coach Mentorship Program.

Drake is well-known for his “We, not me” coaching philosophy.

“I’ve always stressed using the team approach, where the team as a group is much more important than the individual.

And I think with any kind of success with a team activity, you’ve got to put any kind of selfish inclinations you might have in the background, and work towards team goals,” he said. “Which doesn’t mean you can’t strive for personal goals yourself, but as long as they kind of stay within the framework of what the team is trying to accomplish.”

Drake is no stranger to recognition. The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Rookie of the Year Award and the Golden Bears rink are named in his honour. He has also been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, earned the University of Alberta’s Distinguished Alumni Award and was the first coach to be inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.

But despite the glory, Drake’s favourite part of coaching has been working with enthusiastic young people who work hard to achieve both athletically and academically.

“That’s quite a combination. I’ve always said it’s one of the toughest environments to play in. Because the demands of school don’t change and there are lots of athletes who are in medicine, engineering, dentistry and everything, and they’ve got the full demands of their course load, and then we ask them to work very hard... it’s a very demanding schedule.” a This article originally appeared in ExpressNews.

Summer 2007

17

Watching the Suzanne de la Barre loves the wild, wide open spaces of the Yukon

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Active Alumni

Sustainable tourism development key as Canada’s Yukon seeks to lure more visitors to pristine wilderness says PhD student

Wild

W

hen most of us think about tourism in wilderness places and natural areas, we often think of Banff in the Canadian Rockies where oversized buses disgorge masses of people at every attraction, the town throngs with people and vendors; there’s overcrowding, overused facilities, trampled vegetation and yes, traumatised locals who sometimes wish everyone would go away.

PhD student Suzanne de la Barre, who lives and does research in the Yukon, says tourism development in wilderness areas needn’t be a bad thing if the upfront planning is done with sustainability and resilience in mind. Her work in the Yukon is getting some attention as the conversation of diversifying the economy and attracting more visitors to the area gathers speed.

“There’s a lot of talk about marketing,” she says. “But I’m trying to make it understandable that place values – how and why we value a place, and the meaning we find through our relationships to them – should be just as important as the economic side of the equation.”

“Many people live in the North because of what this place is, so they understand what kinds of values can be associated with the North – for instance they are attached to values like freedom and self sufficiency, and they feel that being in the Yukon brings them closer to these values. And even though people may get attached to a place differently and want different things for it, there is still some basis to believe that some common ground can be found.

I want to make the voice that says, ‘Let’s look at sustainability for the value of where we live’ be heard and keep that in mind when we plan (to develop the tourist industry.)” continues page 21

Summer 2007

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photo by: Zoltan Kenwell

“The research shows that increasing recreational activity – by even just small amounts – has enormous benefits, but the barriers to this have increased over the last couple of decades.”

Re-creating Alberta Carol Petersen works to make Alberta communities active

by Wanda Vivequin

F

or many young Albertans these days, recreation involves being slumped in front of the television as they exercise their fingers on the controls of an X-Box, or catching the bus to a mall to meet friends and “hang out“.

Their parents may well be working the long hours that fuel the provincial freight-train-economy, but, for someone like Carol Petersen (BA Rec Admin ’81) this erosion of traditional recreation patterns will ultimately create a future full of inactive, unfulfilled, unhealthy people.

Vibrant and active, Petersen has over a quarter of a century of experience in the recreation field and says there are many reasons for the current state of poor health and obesity being seen among young people.

Petersen likes to remind people what the word

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Active Alumni

‘recreation’ means.

“Recreation means to re-create and there is enormous potential to support healthy lifestyles through community recreation assets such as parks, programs and leadership capacity,” says Petersen.

“The research shows that increasing recreational activity – by even just small amounts – has enormous benefits, but the barriers to this have increased over the last couple of decades,” says Petersen.

“I think too many people forget that to be active one needs a place (park, playground, recreation/sport facility or trail) to be active,” adds Petersen.

“Recreation and parks can provide opportunities for all types of community activity but the provincial system has

continued from page 19 been substantially impacted largely through public sector reform and fiscal restraint measures,” she says.

So how do you go about re-building active healthy communities in a province where the recreation ‘infrastructure’ has been aging and deteriorating for the past decade and a half?

Petersen sees recreation and parks as an essential area of investment for improved community health. Through the advocacy and leadership efforts of ARPA (Alberta Recreation and Parks Association), Petersen is now responsible for implementing an exciting $1.5 million initiative called Alberta Active Communities. This initiative will help communities refocus on their values, and encourage them to engage more people to be more active in terms of physical activity, citizen engagement and quality of life.

“It’s a daunting project, but it will provide incredible opportunities for those working in, and studying, recreation and parks,” says Petersen. In addition to broad provincial engagement and support through the initiative, ten partnered communities will be selected throughout Alberta in which specific strategies will be developed to demonstrate the benefits of investing in recreation and parks.

“We want to start the dialogue in communities, provide them with assessment tools, planning and programming assistance, and experienced people so that as a community, they can support healthy, active living,” says Petersen.

Linked with the project are two already-successful initiatives that Petersen and her project team have managed for the last couple of years.

One specifically focuses on low income children and their families and is called “Everybody gets to Play.”

Petersen says this program involves a simple seven-step process that helps communities tackle the barriers to children’s play. This program is fairly new to Alberta, but has proved highly successful in a number of Canadian communities.

The Community Choosewell Challenge that ARPA manages on behalf of Alberta Health and Wellness has also been successful at engaging communities in the pursuit of healthy living. The Challenge – part of the Government of Alberta’s Healthy U initiative – is a simple way of getting communities to spread the “eat right and be active message,” while competing for the title of “Choosewell Champion,” says Petersen.

The number of communities involved in the 2006 Challenge grew from 63 to 112. The goal for 2007 is to continue to engage these communities at a deeper level, influence a wider community audience and seek greater interagency involvements.

“We see that the recreation and parks sector has huge potential to impact health and quality of life in Alberta,” says Petersen, “and we are taking a leadership role, especially as it relates to community, because this is what we do best,” a

De la Barre is also involved in community development and tourism product development, in essence designing tourism experiences for travellers who want to do more than just visit a place. In January this year, she co-led the “Nature and Wellness Tourism Innovators’ Workshop” for NGOs and business entrepreneurs in the nature tourism and wellness sectors, showing them how to build and package complementary products and create relationships in the tourism industry.

Her own attachment to the North evolved through her father’s work. From 1969 to 1975 he was the Canadian director of the Arctic Institute of North America, and he brought the family to the institute’s Yukon-based Kluane Lake Research Station for the summers.

“The North was a huge presence in our lives,” says the Montreal native, who admits to finding the Yukon intimidating when she arrived as a reluctant 11-year old whose life till then had revolved around the attractions of the South Shore and the Laurentians. “My reference points got disturbed. But getting up here and discovering a whole new world – that was my first realisation that you could be many different people depending on where you were, that there were different sides to yourself,” she says.

De la Barre has explored those other selves in other places extensively, travelling around the globe, working with NGOs in Africa, and living and working in Oceania and Europe. A woman of many interests, she was also the co-editor of “SHE travels”, the first women’s travel magazine in North America. And while her interests are diverse, they have coalesced as she’s focused on her doctoral degree. “It was only when I came back from Africa in ’99 that I realized I wanted to tie all my interests together in a PhD. My research brings all of my interests together.”

The impact of her work is garnering attention: last year she earned the 2006 Tourism Cares for Tomorrow award for sustainable tourism. Her work has also been supported by the Association for Canadian Universities for Northern Studies’ Northern Resident Award (ACUNS), the Department of Indian Affairs’ Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP), and the Yukon Foundation. She also received a grant from the Northern Research Institute at Yukon College where she teaches human geography and ecological tourism.

Ultimately, she says, tourism – responsible, sustainable tourism – is about learning and being respectful of where you are. “My ideas and values about tourism are largely a result of my experiences as a traveller and as a development worker with WUSC (World University Service of Canada),” says de la Barre. “I realized how travel made me aware of the world and contributed to my becoming a better global citizen. That’s really the basis of my work: helping people become better citizens of the world through travel and tourism.” a Summer 2007

21

“My number one job as coach is to develop the person... what they do in their sport is secondary.”

Left: Mel Davidson. Right: On the ice with Canada’s national women’s team.

Golden Coach “Overall, I’ve been groomed and mentored and looked after pretty well by the powers that be.”

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Active Alumni

Mel Davidson credits mentors, life lessons and talented athletes with her success behind the bench

by Bev Betkowski

M

el Davidson (BPE ’86) believes a coach is only as good as the people she works with, and on that count, she considers herself fortunate.

“It’s the quality of people around you, their commitment. I have people who follow blindly when it takes time to understand my decisions. They may not understand but show enough respect to let it play out. That’s what makes you successful as a coach.”

The kid from Oyen, Alberta has come a long way from hanging around the rink as a tag-along sister hankering after the only game in town: hockey. The dads coaching her brother’s team “invited me on the ice and then couldn’t get rid of me,” Davidson recalls.

She morphed into a coach over the next four years, liked the feeling it gave her and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, the 42-year-old has two Olympic golds under her belt, scored in 2002 as an assistant coach at the Games in Salt Lake City and again in 2006, when she spark-plugged the Canadian women’s team to their win in Torino, Italy. Enough on its own, but add a potential trip to the 2010 Olympics, and her gender-defying career could turn into a hat trick.

“Overall, I’ve been groomed and mentored and looked after pretty well by the powers that be,” Davidson muses.

She’s also taken care to learn from life’s lessons. Those include nine rewarding years as recreation director for the town of Castor, Alta., but before that, a bumpy academic career. Davidson got a rough start when she arrived at the U of A in 1981. Overwhelmed by the rigorous treadmill of study and sports, she dropped out. Red Deer College’s transfer program offered a second chance, and she went on to earn a diploma in coaching from RDC and then a degree in physical education from the U of A. It was those tough times that later came in handy behind the bench. “It helped me relate to the kids I coached, to the fears they have. And my number one job as coach is to develop the person...what they do in their sport is secondary.”

After doing all she could do in Castor, she turned full-time to coaching in the land of opportunity: the U.S. She landed a job at Connecticut College, then for Cornell University’s Big Red, then eventually came home as assistant coach to the Alberta Junior Hockey League Calgary Canucks.

Now her ongoing junior league and Olympic duties each offer their own lessons; she’s only got four to six weeks to shape the golden girls, so “there’s a lot of day-to-day visioning.” The Canucks, on the other hand, keep Davidson grounded with a 60-game season. “If you don’t show up, you lose. It keeps you not taking anything for granted in making your team better.”

After seeing what 2010 brings, Davidson wants to stay in Alberta, and has an eye on full-time scouting. “One of my strengths is evaluating talent. I like to sit in a rink and just watch the game.” Returning to sports administration is another option.

A career in coaching has meant some sacrifices, Davidson admits.

“The biggest challenge is probably your day-today life. The relationships and family tend to go by the wayside. I still have a good core of people in my life, but they only ask you to do so much so many times, and then you fall off the radar screen. Even for those people who understand what you are doing, you’re a woman coaching hockey. In the United States, it’s held on the same level as being a doctor or a lawyer, but in Canada, it’s ‘What do you do for a real job?’ When it’s not recognized as a profession, it’s hard for people to understand why you choose it.

“At the same time, I feel it’s been rewarding for the people who have stuck by me. They go to events they never would have gone to.”

She has no regrets about her chosen career, and sums up success this way: “I get to do what I love to do, and if you do it right, you make a difference in someone’s life.” a

Summer 2007

23

Faculty Retirements

photos by: Zoltan Kenwell

Retirement opens door to great possibilities, opportunities for Nielsen, Barry and Watkinson

Jane Watkinson

Jane Watkinson “I’ve known for three or four years that I was ready for another challenge,” says Jane Watkinson, who won’t be taking a well-earned break from work, but starting a new job instead!

After 33 years at the University of Alberta, Watkinson, who enjoyed a stellar career here as both scholar and senior administrator, heads to the University of Manitoba in July to become Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies there. “You learn a lot at the University of Alberta,” she explains, “and when you talk to people at other universities, you realise there are some things you might be able to contribute to them.”

It’ll be a home-coming of sorts for Watkinson whose career was launched at the Winnipeg institution. “I was there for a year, as a lecturer and coach of the women’s volleyball team, the Bisonettes!” she says. “I know many of the academics there too because many did their PhD’s here, at the U of A and I have always kept in touch.”

“I am looking forward to the fund-raising aspect of my job as Dean,” she muses. “I never thought I would have thought that, but now I’m looking forward to it – so I’m going to have to work on my golf game.”

It won’t all be hard work either. “I promised myself I’d learn a new sport or activity each year until I turned 60 – and I’m two behind,” she says.

Has she thought about life beyond her five-year term as 24

Active Alumni

John Barry

Brian Nielsen

Dean? “Oh yes,” says Watkinson. “I’m going to invest in my cottage at Shebandowan Lake near Thunder Bay over the next five years so it’s liveable for six months of the year. I will probably stay in Winnipeg in the winters and I want to have time to play all the sport and games and activities that I haven’t had time to enjoy in the last 20 years while I was working and being a single parent.”

“I want to golf and curl, play tennis and racquetball. I want to dance. I want to do some canoeing. I just hope my body will hold up!” she laughs.

Also a musician and singer, Watkinson says she’ll play her piano more often, maybe learn a new instrument. “I haven’t been involved in music for five years. I used to sing in a choir,” she says, “maybe I’ll do that again too.”

She has travel plans as well. “I want to go to France, Italy and Greece because I love to travel.”

“I can foresee taking one major trip per year because I want to have dogs and cats and it can be difficult going away more often when you have pets.”

Leave-taking has been easier than she’d thought, she says.

“I’ll miss the people when I leave the University of Alberta, though more and more of my friends have gone. It’s wonderful that there are two former students – Donna Goodwin and Janice Causgrove Dunn – on staff. But it’s surprisingly easy to put the rest behind you. Suddenly you say, ‘It’s not mine to worry about anymore and off you go. It’s quite an amazing process.’”

John Barry

Brian Nielsen

“To me retirement is a dirty word,” says John Barry. “It has the connotation that you work till you’re 65 and relax for the rest of your life. I don’t see it that way. For me it just means that I’ve changed jobs.”

After 32 years at the university, you’d think he’d like to put his feet up for a bit, but Barry says he’s teeming with ideas for future projects! Before he goes at them full-tilt though, for the next two and half years he’ll continue to work on bringing the faculty’s capital projects – the physical activity and health centre and laying the foundation for 20 years’ planning and development at South Campus – on stream. “That will keep me very busy for my half time work here,” he says.

Off the job Barry says he and his wife, Pam, will buy another rental property to fix up. “We’ve bought and sold two now, so I’d like to buy another and look at it as a rental property or as a home renovation project, fix it up and sell it.”

“I’ve also been offered landscaping jobs and consulting jobs in project and business planning,” he says. “I’d do the hands-on work if I took on any landscaping projects because I had a landscaping company when I first started university, and I’ve taught myself to be handy because I never had the money to pay someone else to do the work – and I like to work outdoors.”

“When Pam retires we plan to travel,” he says. “We’d love to go to Asia, Africa, Europe, South America. I can see us going to Guatemala and working with Habitat for Humanity to build houses or to Africa to work on projects helping people with HIV.” “I’m pretty excited about the next phase – whatever that brings!” says Barry, noting he’ll still play hockey with the guys every Thursday at the Clare Drake Arena, golf with old friends during the summer and drop round for coffee or lunch with former colleagues occasionally. “I’ll miss the day-to-day camaraderie. I like being surrounded by bright, energetic people who have things on the go, but I won’t miss the rush-hour traffic or getting up early in the winter!”

Projects at home include cataloguing 30 years of family photos languishing in shoe boxes, transferring old Super 8 videos to digital format – “and learning how to program my IPod!” he quips.

Barry says finding the time to plan for the future is tough when you’re working full-time. “You think about it but it’s hard to actually plan it. We thought about starting a business – but it’s easier to put it off until you have time to do it.”

Is he really ready to retire? Maybe. “I question whether 57 is the right age to retire. But at this age I’m not too old to do other things, so it’s time. And if it’s not, I’ll make it the right time. It doesn’t scare me; I’m not apprehensive because I know there are so many other challenges that I can take on.”

“The main thing is, I want to do something different,” says Dr. Brian Nielsen, leaning back in his chair. It’s not that he’s regretted the more than 30 years of his career he’s dedicated to the fine art of teaching – and for which he’s pretty much famous as one of the best-loved educators on campus – but now, he says, “I want to take the things I’ve been putting on the shelf for years, sometimes decades, and do them.”

A military history enthusiast, Nielsen has collected books on the subject for years; he’s also amassed a collection of more than 30,000 toy soldiers over a lifetime. “I’ve gone from being a toy soldier collector to becoming an acquirer.

I want to catalogue my collection, display it, write about it and get other people interested in it.”

“I’d like to instil an interest in history in kids,” says Nielsen who almost chose elementary education after completing his undergraduate degree.

“I want to read my military history books and I want to stand on a battlefield and really feel the battle - or experience a paddle wheeler or follow the path of Lewis and Clark or Anthony Henday,” he says, “or wagon trains or Indian encampments where turning points of history occurred.”

He’s a handy kinda guy too. “I have lots of things around my house that need looking after and I want to do that myself – same with landscaping.”

“I want to take the time to do those things and gain enrichment from them now instead of, when I’m gone, everybody opening up my tools or boxes of toy soldiers for the first time...”

A heart attack a few years ago turned out to be a lifechanging experience for Nielsen. “I’ve had a glimpse of the fact that my time is finite, and I’m very aware that the window of time I have left is always closing. I don’t want to wait till it’s too late to do the things I’ve always wanted to do. And no one on their deathbed says, “I wish I’d spent three more days at the office!”

It’s been a wonderful time at the university, he says.

“I’m probably one of the last guys here who has built my career on teaching. I won’t leave a legacy but I believe I have enriched this place. Two things I’ve really liked about working here: the people I work with – they’re intelligent and caring, and I’ll miss the freedom to think and to have that recognised as valuable.”

Nielsen says he may teach at a college or university – or work as a picture framer if he needs company or something more to do, “but I don’t want to get tied down too much,” he cautions.

He wonders whether he’s retiring too early, but says, “It’s probably the right time because almost everyone I know who is retired says ‘I wish I’d done this sooner.’ I’ll have to find out if that’s the case for me. But if you don’t push yourself off the edge, you won’t learn to fly.” a

Summer 2007

25

Alumni Awards University of Alberta Alumni Awards recognize outstanding contributions by PER grads

Melody Davidson

Terry Danyluk

Nat Indrapana

Dennis M. Kadatz

Alumni Award of Excellence

Alumni Honour Award

elody Davidson, BPE ‘86, was the head coach of Canada’s 2006 Olympic gold-medal winning women’s hockey team at the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. She is a tremendous role model for all those who aspire to coach at the highest level in any sport and for all those determined to make lasting contributions to international competitions.

A key member of Hockey Canada for many years, she has served in various coaching, scouting, and hockey development capacities. Currently, she is the general manager and head coach of Hockey Canada’s Women’s High Performance Program. She is highly respected for her support of the sport, including the development of coaches, and for generously donating her time to give back to the game.

Terry (Taras) Danyluk, BPE ‘91, MA ’04, is an awardwinning head coach of the University’s Golden Bears Men’s Volleyball team. Under his guidance, the team has won two Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National Championships and four Canada West titles. He has been named CIS and Canada West Coach of the Year three times, and he received the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation’s Excellence in Coaching Award in 1997 and 2005. His dedication to the sport extends beyond the U of A. He is a program coordinator for Team Canada Junior Men’s Volleyball and has served as an assistant coach for national and international teams. In 2005, his contributions to the sport as an athlete were recognized by his induction into the Alberta Volleyball Association Wall of Fame.

at Indrapana, PhD ‘73, is one of the top sports officials in Thailand. A distinguished member of the International Olympic Committee since 1990, he has dedicated his career to transforming sports programs in Thailand. The former deputy governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand and dean of the Faculty of Physical Education at Thailand’s Srinakarinwirot University, he is the vice-president of the World Taekwondo Federation and serves on the Coordination Commission of the XXIX Beijing Olympic Games.

Dennis M. Kadatz, BPE ’60, Dip(Ed) ’61, MA ’65, has taken on a leadership role in Alberta’s sports community as both an athlete and a builder. A respected coach and administrator, he served as director of athletics and an associate dean of the kinesiology faculty at the University of Calgary. He served as general manager and president of the Calgary Olympic Development Association, recognized as one of the most successful post-Olympic organizations in the world. In 2005, he was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and is an inductee of both the University of Calgary Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame.

M

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Active Alumni

N

Faculty Notes New to the Faculty

D

r. Constance Lebrun has been named Director of the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic. Lebrun’s research specialization is in medical and orthopedic issues of physically active girls and women, and the Female Athlete Triad – Disordered Eating, Amenorrhea, and Osteoporosis.

Dr. Elizabeth Halpenny joined us this year as a professor of recreation and leisure studies. Her research is focused on parks protection, environmental attitudes and park tourism.

Dr. Pirkko Markula-Denison, recently of the University of Bath in England is a professor of sociological and cultural studies of sport and leisure. Her research is focused on poststructuralist theory, fitness and health, feminism, body, physical activity and dance. Her latest research project is titled Global Women in Sports Media Project: An International Project.

Athlete health professor Dr. Michael Kennedy is a crosscountry ski enthusiast and he has been involved as a coach, wax technician, a race service manager for a pro team, technical representative and volunteer. He has also begun marathon mountain biking races.

Sport psychology professor Dr. Bradley Young joined the Faculty from Queen’s University. Young, a former track athlete and varsity coach, received his PhD in sport psychology in 2005 from McMaster University.

Dr. Jim Denison has joined the faculty the University of Bath in England. His teaching and research interests focus on the coaching process from a socio-cultural perspective. A former middle-distance runner and high school and university track coach, Denison is also the academic liaison between the Faculty and the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre.

Round and About Dr. Dru Marshall, MSc ’82 PhD ’89, vice dean in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, has been appointed deputy provost of the University of Alberta, effective June 1, 2007, for a five-year term. Marshall has a distinguished 26-year career at the university, serving in a number of senior administrative capacities, including her appointment as the faculty’s first vice-dean. Marshall earned distinction as a coach in a stellar 21-year run as Canada’s national coach in women’s field hockey and Pandas hockey.

Dr. Gordon Bell, PhD ’89, a multi-award-winning educator and one of the University’s leading scientists in exercise physiology, is one of the recipients of a prestigious Killam Professorship award, which recognizes Bell’s significant contribution to fitness and health promotion in the community.

Faculty alumnus and long-time employee, David Mitsui, MA ’83, received high praise from the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association when it awarded him its Citation for Outstanding Achievement, in recognition of his contribution and leadership in the field of recreation in Canada.

Dr. John Spence was awarded a one-year CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) grant for $91,860.

The grant, which includes $2000 for equipment, is titled, “Determinants of physical inactivity among older adults in rural Atlantic Canada.”

Jennifer Peco, MA ’06 won the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association’s 2006 Legacy Graduate Scholarship – an award for $3000 for full-time study with an emphasis on recreation for persons with a disability.

The results of Dr. Vicki Harber’s Health 1st Study (with Drs. Wendy Rodgers, Kerry Courneya and Gordon Bell) presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado last summer struck a chord all around the world, garnering widespread media attention from the US to Saudi Arabia, from India to Australia to England.

Dr. Gordon Walker received an Alberta Gaming Research Institute award for $55,098 for his research proposal for a study entitled “The effects of ethnicity, participation in gambling and other leisure activities, and leisure satisfaction, on quality of life”; this on the heels of a $84,761 SSHRC grant for a standard research grant entitled “Ethnicity and leisure constraints: A sport tourism context”.

Gordon is co-investigator with Simon Hudson from the University of Calgary. Fellow co-investigators are Dr. Tom Hinch, PhD ’84, from our faculty and Ed Jackson from Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Alex Game BPE ’97 MSc ’99, a lab Coordinator with the Faculty, was presented with the Dr. E. E. Bako Award at the 2006 annual CSEP conference for his contribution to fitness appraisal and certification.

Liz Jepsen, coach of the Pandas soccer team, was named Canada West Coach of the Year, as was Len Vickery, Coach of the Golden Bears Soccer team who won the CIS championship last November. Additionally, Carla Somerville, BPE ’86, Coach of the Pandas Field Hockey Team, won two coaching awards this year when she was named coach of the Year by both Canada West and CIS. Scott Edwards, who stepped in as head coach for Pandas basketball this year for Trix Baker, was named CIS Coach of the Year (Peter Ennis Award). The Pandas netted a silver medal in the final against Simon Fraser University.

Coach Terry Danyluk, BPE ’91 MA ’04, was honoured as CIS Coach of the Year in men’s volleyball, coaxing a second consecutive silver medal performance from the team this year. a Summer 2007

27

Class Notes Barb Murphy with her sister Eleanor

60’s

80’s

Allan Cox, MA ’67 PhD ’69 is living in Minnie Water, New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Cox is a retired Head of School and teacher and recently retired from Masters’ Track and Field pursuits. Cox continues to be very active – walking, camping, and fishing regularly.

Barb Murphy, MA ’69 has lived in Australia since graduating from U of A, splitting her time between Ottawa caring for her sister, Eleanor, who has Down Syndrome, and Yorke Peninsula, Australia. Murphy pioneered Outdoor Education for the Education Department of South Australia, and is now a specialist travel consultant. Murphy’s email is BMtracks@aol.com.

Wendy Dahlgren, BPE ’62, MA (PE) ’65 completed a PhD at the University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Medicine and spent most of her career there. After being seconded from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dahlgren spent 15 years in administration. Prior to retiring last year, she was Associate Head of the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Sciences and Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Medicine.

Bob Schutz MSc ’86 retired from the University of British Columbia five years ago, but only recently completed his final publication. Schutz has also been teaching a graduate course in statistics at Simon Fraser University for the last five years.

Gord Syme BPE ’82 is vice-president and managing director of the TD Private Client Centre in Edmonton. He has been with the TD Bank for over 21 years in a variety of positions in both Alberta and Toronto. Syme also chairs the Prairies/Northwest Territories Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Chapter.

70’s Rick Butler, BA Rec Admin ’77 is Executive Director of the Calgary Regional Partnership – a corporation of eighteen Calgary area municipalities. Butler, his wife Gwyn and their two teen-age daughters live on their hobby farm near Cochrane.

Susan Green, BA Rec Admin ’74, has been appointed by the Government of Canada to the Northlands Board of Directors for a one year team.

Barb (Smith) Pedersen BA Rec Admin ’78 lives in Calgary and enjoys the nearby mountains with her husband and two children, both of whom attend the University of Calgary. Pedersen formed a facilitation and consulting business in 1994 (Barbara Pedersen Facilitation Services Inc.).

Bob Sharp MA ’71 completed a PhD at Leeds University and joined the Scottish School of Physical Education at Jordanhill College of Education. Sharp has retired from academic life but is writing books on mountain rescue and continuing his work in mountain rescue in Scotland. Sharp has also embarked on a car building project — a replica AC Cobra! He and his wife, Guyda, remain very active together, walking their border collie.

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Active Alumni

90’s Steven Patrick BPE ’97 is a sport consultant with Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture in Edmonton. He’s an active father with two sons, aged four and three.

Jill Schulte BPE ’97 works as a monitor on clinical research trials for PAREXEL International. She and her fiancé, Jeremy, will marry in June and honeymoon in Greece.

Schulte coaches high school girls’ rugby at Harry Ainlay High School; she skis, plays ice hockey, squash and golf. She also provides athletic therapy services to the Alberta rugby community.

00’s Chad Bailey Bed, BPE ’00 works in Edmonton with Big Rock Breweries.

Holly Higgins BPE ’05 works at Lulu Lemon Athletica as its manager of Marketing and Community Relations in Calgary. Higgins helped organize our Calgary Alumni Wine Tasting Social held in February. Higgins can be emailed at hhiggins@lululemon.com.

Jacqulynn Mulyk BA PEL, BA Rec Admin ’02 has opened her own art studio-gallery in downtown Calgary. Burst and Bloom Studio-Gallery opened last December in ArtCentral.

Visitors to the studio-gallery can watch Mulyk paint, and browse or purchase other works in the rest of the gallery.

Mulyk’s gallery can be reached by calling 403-852-ARTS.

“My education became my passport to the world.”

Postcards from the Edge Dr. Colin P. Davey writes about making his mark Down Under

“

I was the first Australian to graduate with a doctorate in sports psychology making me an anomaly. When I returned from Edmonton in 1973 I became a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, where in addition to teaching sports psychology, I taught various applied practical sports: cricket, Australian football, tennis, and squash. I also supervised teaching practice.

Eventually physical education was phased out at the University of Melbourne and I was appointed as Head of Physical Education at Deakin University, where I supervised the introduction of a four year bachelor of education degree in physical education and introduced the first post graduate degree in sports sciences, including sports psychology! I was fortunate to be able to send two of my staff from Deakin to study master’s degrees at Alberta, namely Geoff Bond (now a sports psychologist at the Australian Institute of Sport) and Rob Sands who studied social psychology (unfortunately Rob passed away).

Additionally the demand for my services as a consulting sports psychologist was increasing. I began working with many Australian sporting teams and eventually helped several teams reach championship status. I worked in squash, cricket, Australian football, Davis Cup tennis, golf, basketball and netball.

Having been lucky enough to attend many Commonwealth / European Games I have had the opportunity to deliver over 100 papers in sport psychology, physical education and sports medicine in many countries including Czechoslovakia, England, Portugal, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, and across Australia.

I was also at the Seoul Olympic Games in South Korea where I was elected as the Australian representative to be vice president of the Asian and South Pacific Association of Sport Psychology (ASPASP) and eventually invited to be a guest speaker at both China’s and Japan’s sport psychology conferences in their countries. I eventually became president and chairman of the first Asian South Pacific Association of Sports Psychology International Congress held in Melbourne in 1990.

My education became my passport to the world, however I have recently retired from the university and although I was a consultant for a few years, it interfered with tennis and golf so I have finished completely! There is no doubt I would not have had the opportunities, could not have been as successful, without starting at the U of A under professor Richard Alderman, Dean Van Vliet and Max Howell, together with students Len Wankel and Terry Orlick. My gratefulness to the Faculty has already been expressed in my will.” a

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Meeting Post Larry Dufresne has a 1967 Grad Flashback

O

ld grads need only take a return stroll through the U of A campus to stir blurred memories.

The landscape and buildings still stand majestically like a long-lost city.

As physical education undergrads, we felt safe and privileged to have what we felt were the best professors and mentors. Dean Van Vliet, Associate Dean Herb McLachlin and Athletic Director Ed Zemrau provided stability. A supporting cast made up of the likes of Gino Fracas, Murray Smith, Pat Conger, Don Smith, Steve Mendryk, Geoff Elliott, Max Howell, Ruby Anderson, Pat Austin, Clare Drake, Ross McNabb, Al Affleck and many others provided us with the skills, strategies and confidence in our quest for a degree.

Our athletic programs flourished. The 1963 Golden Bowl, which pitted the powerful Queen’s Golden Gaels Football Team against our underdog Golden Bears Football Team, was won by the Bears (25-7) and really helped to elevate the status and respect for Western Canadian Universities and to establish the true potential of our school’s athletic program.

A few humorous and notable memories and experiences stand out for me: • The infamous early-morning mile swim test the morning after a wild physed party. A bunch of one-legged swimmers (too tired to kick with both legs) swam their laps. In the diving tank, a fellow jock completed the survival/tread-water test sans swimsuit, unaware he was being watched by Murray Smith through the underwater observation window.

• While walking through the cafeteria in the old Students’ 30

Active Alumni

Union Building, females ran the gauntlet and were scrutinized. At the Block A, or jock table, sat a gaggle of leering eyes that moved in unison once their prey was spotted. We felt proud to wear our Block A sweaters and even slept in them, often not by choice.

• The phantom transformation with paint, of the first letter of the large white “TUCK SHOP” sign located on the roof of the old Tuck Shop.

• A row of “flashers” presenting themselves at the back of our earlymorning Chemistry class.

• The infamous Dutch Club Stag had a two-year run, until the intervention of Edmonton’s police vice squad. The club even supported a secret hand-clap and an identifying T-shirt with logo.

• Chuck Moser and Pat Bates (in my view) were, and remain, the epitome of the ideal campus supporters and organizers for us and our Faculty. I cannot imagine the U of A without their influence on keeping the past alive.

We finally donned our caps and gowns and graduated. A few of us enrolled into the graduate program.

We were the lucky ones. Never again will we experience such a time on campus - the comradeship, high spirits, and energy, along with the pure innocence of our youth. Yet we can relive the old memories by spending some time back on campus, even for a short visit through the “little city.” a Larry invites former classmates to contact him at ldufresn@telusplanet.net

Dr. Peter Lindsay (1934-2006) first doctoral graduate of the Faculty

In Memoriam

by Dr. Gerry Glassford

W

e have lost a great scholar, a gifted teacher, a fine administrator and a wonderful friend in June, 2006 when Peter Lindsay passed away after an intense battle with cancer. Peter was born in Brisbane, Queensland. He completed his initial degrees at the University of Queensland, taught in both the school system of his home state and then joined the faculty in his alma mater. He was lured to the University of Alberta by Dr. Max Howell and, together with his wife, Berrice and seven children, arrived in Edmonton in 1966. He enrolled in the Masters degree program, completed his thesis defence the next year and became one of the first students admitted to the newly-established PhD program. In 1969 Peter successfully became the first graduate of this program and headed to Dalhousie University, but the U of A gave away a number of future draft choices to bring him back to Edmonton.

Peter returned to Australia in 1972. Never a Faculty to give up easily, when the chair of the Department of Physical Education opened in 1977 he was recruited again. And here he remained until he retired in 1993. Peter served our Faculty brilliantly as a fine teacher, a scholar, a department chair and as an associate dean.

Peter was a superb athlete. His prowess on the golf links is remembered by all with whom he played. He was an excellent tennis player, a graceful skier, a limber gymnast as a youth, and a superlative board sailor. Peter loved his family and always found time to enjoy life experiences with them.

Most of all he loved his wife, Berrice, who was his constant companion. Berrice would want us all to know that the two

things in his professional life of which he was most proud were that he served as chair of our Department of Physical Education and that he was the first student to receive a PhD degree from the first such program in the Commonwealth.

We Will Remember Peter in freshening breeze, Or on the fairway deep-lined with trees, Or by the way full life he seized.

He loved us all.

The Faculty deeply regrets the passing of these alumni and friends.

Shelley Bibby, BA PEL ’03 Evelyn Hage, BPE ’54 Dr. John Utendale, BPE ’65 Peter Milner, BA Rec Admin ’74 Peter Lindsay, PhD ’69 Philip Richter, BPE ’05 Rob Sands, BPE ‘74 Carol Wheeler (wife of Dr. Garry Wheeler, formerly of the Faculty) EDd ’82, Med ‘99 A memorial award has been established in the name of the late Carol Wheeler in the Faculty of Education.

For information on the award or to make a donation, please contact Michele Shea at 780.492.3680.

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active alumni in touch with you

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation University of Alberta E415 Van Vliet Centre Edmonton AB T6 G 2H9 email: jane.hurly@ualberta.ca

Lending a hand Help support Physical Education and Recreation students Please contribute to the Physical Education and Recreation Alumni Association (PERAA) Citizenship Award

photo by: Zoltan Kenwell

PERAA has established an award to assist students in our Faculty in their quest to become field professionals, future leaders of our communities, and global citizens for life.

This award is funded solely by generous donations of our alumni. Please consider contributing. Gifts of any size are appreciated. Your support will have an immediate and direct impact on the lives of students.

Dianne Buyks is a third year BSc Kinesiology student, and the first to be awarded a PERAA scholarship for $500

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Please return to: Office of the Dean, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation W1-34 Van Vliet Centre University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H9