In a "Special Meeting" held last January in Toronto, VC's Board of
Directors passed a motion to accept a new governance model for Volleyball
Canada. This new model has been put into effect following the VC Annual
General Meeting this past weekend in Ottawa. This meeting, and the
election of the new Board of Directors, was the culmination of an
extensive review and consultation process that took place over a full year
under the leadership of an Ad-hoc Governance Review Committee, lead by
current President Dave Carey, with assistance from Rose Mercier of
Maverick Consulting Services.
The new governance model is comprised of a President, five
Members-at-Large and one National Team Athlete Director, elected by the
delegates of the Annual General Meeting for two-year terms. This reduced
the Board from its former 13-member size (13 Provinces and Territories),
and eliminated the three additional Executive Committee positions. The
members of this new Board of 7 Directors including the President, was
recently elected by the Regional Association delegates at the Annual
General Meeting held June 10th, and are as follows:
Dave Carey, President: Dave has been a member of the VC Executive
Committee for the past 7 years, and was President of Volleyball Canada
over the past year. He was a member of the VC Board of Directors and
President of the OVA for an additional 4 years prior to joining the
National Executive. He is also President of the Scarborough Solars
Volleyball Club and has extensive experience in coaching. As a Manager of
Account Development for Iron Mountain, Dave brings a strong business and
sales background to the table.
Kristine Drakich, National Team Athlete Director: Kristine has been
involved in volleyball at the local, provincial, national and
international levels as an athlete, volunteer and coach. She is a former
member of both the Indoor National Team (1984-88) and the Beach Volleyball
National Team (1995-2000) and was the Women's Player Representative on the
FIVB's Beach Volleyball World Council and Permanent Committee from
1997-1999. She is currently employed as Head Coach of the University of
Toronto's Women's Volleyball Program. Kristine's nomination for this
position was put forward by the VC National Team Athlete's Council, which
is comprised of Player Representatives from all VC National Teams.
Hugh Wong, Member-at-Large: Hugh has been involved with volleyball for
over 27 years as a Coach, Official and Administrator. Over the past
decade, he has taken an active and increased role in the administrative
side of the sport, including terms as Board of Director for the BCVA
(1989-1991), President of BCVA (1991-1994), VC Board of Director
(1992-2000), C.O.O. for the Kelowna Volleyball Club and Chair of the
Athlete Development Committee for BCVA. Hugh is a teacher by profession,
and has also recently gained added experience in the business world as a
property developer.
Gilles Lepine, Member-at-Large: Gilles has been a volleyball player for 31
years, a volleyball coach (high school to University levels) for 12, a
Referee for 4, and a sport administrator for 23 years. He has played a
key role in the development and promotion of mini-volleyball, and has
played an active role in the development of beach volleyball, including as
a VC Beach Volleyball Committee member for 4 years. Gilles was a key
leader in the organization of VC's first International Volleyball
Symposium, "Volleyball at School" in 1995. He has also been the "voice" of
volleyball in the French community since 1980, as a television analyst for
several national networks.
Pat Thorne, Member-at-Large: Pat Thorne is a National level Referee who
has been volunteering in the volleyball community for many years. She is
a past President of Volleyball New Brunswick (VNB) and in that capacity
has also acted as a Director for VC. She is currently a Referee
Supervisor for the National Officials Committee and was part of the New
Brunswick Team's Coaching staff for the 1999 Canada Games. She is a
teacher by profession and remains very involved in the activities of
Volleyball New Brunswick.
Tom Jones, Member-at-Large: Best remembered by the volleyball community
as a National Team setter from 1977-1984, including at the Los Angeles
Olympic Games where Canada finished 4th, Tom's volleyball background is
impressive. He has coached, refereed, volunteered (National Team
Committee Chair 1996-98) and been an administrator. He was recently the
Executive Director for Volleyball Victoria in Australia, an Event
Organizer for the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour 1999, and was the
Technical Operations Manager for Indoor Volleyball at the Sydney 2000
Olympic Games. He was also previously a Manager with the BC Government,
and has had his own Sport Management and Consulting firm. He is currently
moving to Ottawa to take on the position of Executive Director for
Athletes Can.
Barry Mutrie, Member-at-Large: A former Vice President of Volleyball
Canada for the year 2000-2001and VC Director since 1993, Barry is no
stranger to the VC community. He was a member of the OVA Executive from
1989-1999, including OVA President for his last six years on the
Executive. He is President and Coach of the Big Bruce Volleyball Club,
and a level 3 Coach as well as level 1 clinician. Teaching is his
profession, and he is currently a Physical Education Department Head. In
recent years, he has taken on other leadership roles in the sport
community, including as Chair of the Ontario Fast Forward Committee, a
Director of the Sport Alliance of Ontario, and President of CWOSSA.
While terms for all positions will eventually be two years in length, the
position of National Team Athlete Director and three Member-at-Large
positions will serve only one-year terms in this first year of the new
model to ensure continuity in Board membership in the future. Members
serving one year terms at this time include; Kristine Drakich as National
Team Athlete Director, Tom Jones, Barry Mutrie and Pat Thorne as
Members-at-Large. VC's new Board of Directors will have their first
meeting in August, and a transition plan has been designed to assist the
group in their first meeting.
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