Roger has had a long and storied career in sport, both as an athlete and as an administrator. In 1974, while teaching physical education, Roger became the mid-Island High School Athletic Association volunteer Vice President. A few years later in 1977, he was hired as the Racquet Sports Coordinator at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre, a post he held until 1980 when he got his start in the provincial government’s Recreation and Sport Branch. In 1986, Roger became the Assistant Director of Recreation and Sport, and the following year he became President and CEO of the BC Games Society.

 

Roger travelled extensively during the following decade, hosting BC Summer and Winter Games as well as the BC Senior Games, Northern BC Winter Games, and Athletes with Disabilities Games in communities across the province. It was during this period that Roger developed a vast network of colleagues and friends in all areas of sport and government, and these associations and friendships have lasted through the years. Roger was awarded the Caring Canadian Award by former Lieutenant-Governor Judith Guichon for his significant contributions in his volunteer and professional leadership positions.

 

Through these years, Roger was also working behind the scenes to realize his vision for a national sport centre in Greater Victoria. In 1997, he became President of the Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development (CCSD) – the first iteration of the 1994 Commonwealth Games legacy organization. Under Roger’s direction, the organization evolved and grew over the following few years, becoming the PacificSport National Sport Centre in 2000 with Roger as its President and CEO.

 

In 2004, after combining the National Sport Centres in Vancouver and Victoria, Roger’s role changed again when he was named CEO of the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific. During this time, Roger worked closely with Liz Ashton, former president of Camosun College, to develop the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence at the Interurban Campus of the College. By 2008-9, the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific had offices and athlete training centres in Whistler, Vancouver, and Victoria. Roger was instrumental in leading a team of exceptional individuals at these sites to help prepare the winter games athletes for the 2010 Winter Olympics - a hugely successful Games for Canada.

 

Roger retired in late 2009, but he continued to be involved heavily in volunteer provincial sport administration. He joined the Board of Directors of Tennis BC in 2011 and became its president in 2014. Roger completely turned around the struggling organization over the next two years, and eventually left the board in 2018. As an athlete, Roger always maintained a very high level of competitive play, and he holds two junior national tennis titles. He has also coached tennis extensively throughout his lifetime, and he is widely regarded as one of Victoria’s true “Champions of Sport.”

 

SPONSORED BY 94 FORWARD

Peter has devoted his life to the Olympic and Paralympic movements, helping athletes realize their potential and achieve their dreams. As an athlete, a Chartered Professional Coach and administrator, Peter believes in the power of sport to change lives.

 

Working with athletes and coaches at every level from grassroots to high performance, Peter is one of the most respected coaches in Canadian sport. He is a four-time winner of the National Coaching Excellence Award, was twice selected BC’s “Coach of the Year” (2012, 2016) and is a recipient of BC’s Medal of Good Citizenship and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

 

Peter’s love for sport began when he learned to sail with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, becoming an instructor and coach in 1985. Moving to Victoria for university, he found a summer job as the Head Instructor of the Disabled Sailing Association. Recruited to be the Provincial Coach for para-athletics, he attended the National Coaching Institute, becoming one of the first two coaches to obtain NCCP level 4 certification in Wheelchair Athletics.

 

A coach with Team BC in the 1990s at both the Western Canada Games and Canada Games, Peter was soon coaching athletes on the national team. The 2002 World Championships began a remarkable streak where Peter’s wheelchair athletes competed at every Paralympic Games and World Championships for 15 consecutive years, winning more than 21 World Championship medals and six Paralympic Games medals (including five Gold). His Victoria-based training group produced several Paralympians including Karen March, Teri Thorson, Alan Bergman and Michelle Stilwell. In addition to winning medals, his athletes broke over 28 World Records.

 

Peter also excels with para-cycling, coaching Mark Ledo to successive Bronze medals at the 2010 and 2011 Para-cycling World Championships and 2012 Paralympic Games, and Karen March to the overall World Cup Championship title in 2011. His athletes have won numerous World Cup medals and national championships. Peter has also coached able-bodied athletes including a World Tour pro.

 

Peter was a member of several Canadian Invictus Games Teams, including being Canada’s Head Coach, and led the bid to bring the Invictus Games to Victoria. He has been deeply engaged in sport at every level for over 30 years, with a decade on the Canadian Olympic Committee Board including six years as Vice President, and serving on the Boards of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Cycling Canada, ViaSport, Cycling BC, Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, and PacificSport. Locally, he was the founding president of the Tripleshot Cycling Club.

 

Professionally, Peter is a highly respected lawyer publishing articles on harassment and morality in sport and teaching post-secondary courses in sport law and ethics in sport. He has acted for organizations, athletes and coaches involved in various sport disputes and argued before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. Peter has served as Ombudsperson for the Canadian Paralympic Team and is an arbitrator for the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

 

SPONSORED BY PISE (PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR SPORT EXCELLENCE)