December 1/07 1:38 am - CCA AGM

Posted by Editoress on 12/1/07
 

CCA AGM - Day 1 Calgary, Alberta

Photos

Yesterday, the CCA AGM got underway in Calgary, Alberta. The afternoon was an open session for both the Board and provincial delegates to hear from a number of speakers on programs under development. National team sponsors H&R Block, Tim Hortons and Louis Garneau all spoke of their reasons for being involved in the sport, and reiterated their support.

There were two other speakers worthy of note: Louis Barbeau from the FQSC spoke of the Drug Free Sport (Roulez Gagnant au Naturel) program the FQSC instituted this year, which a number of other provinces are now looking into, and BC Coach Richard Wooles gave a strong presentation on the strategy he has begun to implement on the High Performance Program in British Columbia - it has already paid dividends with BC taking 5 of 6 endurance titles in the junior ranks for 2007.

And then it was time for the annual banquet...

Apart from being an opportunity for provinces to get together and discuss best practices in an informal setting, the CCA also hands out its awards. However, before the awards presentations took place, Alberta-based Paracyclist Brayden MacDougall spoke about his road to competition, which is likely to include representing Canada at the Paralympics in 2012.

MacDougall, who has had Cerebral Palsy since birth, gave an extremely inspirational talk on what he had to overcome just to ride a bike (initially, his parents were told by doctors that he would never walk). However, he persevered, and said "riding a bike [without assistance] was the most thrilling moment of my life ... when you ride a bike, people can't tell you are different."

Awards

Events of the Year

Road - Tour of PEI
Mountain Bike - St-Felicien World Cup
Track - Elite Championships at Atlantic Cycling Centre
BMX - Abbotsford pre-BMX Worlds meet
Cyclo-cross - Midweek Club's Centennial Park race
Paracycling - Defi Sport, Quebec

Official of the Year - Claire Bonin

Torchy Peden Award - Manitoba

Russ Coupland Award - Monique Sullivan

President's Award - Svein Tuft

Builder of the Year - Newmarket Eagles Cycling Club, Ontario

5 Year Volunteer Service Awards

Pierre Blanchard
Lister Farrar
Denise Kelly
Kevin MacCuish
Francis Paradis
Dominique Perras
John Tolkamp
Lesley Tomlinson

15 Year Volunteer Service Award - Bill Kinash