The 40th U SPORTS Annual Meeting and 2017 Conference kicks off Monday at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale Hotel, where athletic directors from all 56 members will gather for three days of thematic presentations and workshops.
This year’s conference will be highlighted by keynote addresses from Oliver Luck, executive vice president of regulatory affairs for the NCAA; former Olympic women’s hockey coach Danièle Sauvageau, who led Team Canada to a gold medal in 2002 in Salt Lake City; and Tricia Smith, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Luck will examine the state of the NCAA in the 21st century on Monday, while Sauvageau will deliver the keynote address at the U SPORTS Awards Gala Wednesday evening, where the Austin-Matthews Award, Jean Marie De Koninck Award, L.B. Mike Pearson Award and Fred Sgambati Media Award are presented. Smith is slated to speak on Thursday.
Other key presenters include:
- Chris Black and Dan Fernandes, Sportsnet – Elevating the broadcast quality of university sport in Canada
- Steve McAllister, HipCheck Media and former managing editor at Yahoo Sports Canada – Statistics in Canadian university sport
- Mike Chu, NZ Rugby – An insight into New Zealand Rugby
- Tim Fleiszer, Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada – Student-Athlete welfare
- Cyril Adjeitey, Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative
- Chris Dawe and Peter Mumford, CCRA – Sharpening recreation’s strategic focus & impacts
An exhibitor tradeshow featuring over 30 vendors offering new business opportunities to U SPORTS members will also run all day Tuesday.
The Awards Gala begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening and will be livestreamed by Sports Canada.TV on USPORTS.ca
For more information, please visit the Annual Meeting Website here.