An architect of the Long-Term Athlete Development Framework, Richard is the founding CEO of Sport for Life Society – a non-profit organization formed in 2014 to improve sport and physical activity experiences for everyone through the advancement of quality sport and physical literacy development.

Richard has facilitated the use of Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity for over 60 sports in more than 100 countries. He has contributed to more than 200 resources on sport and physical literacy development, including Canada Soccer’s first strategic plan (2009-2013), and co-authored the book, Long-Term Athlete Development, with Istvan Balyi and Dr. Colin Higgs. Richard was also a catalyst for the development of the Indigenous Long-Term Participant Development Pathway.

Richard was instrumental in the introduction of physical literacy in Canada. He is a founding member of the UK-based International Physical Literacy Association, and of the International Physical Literacy Conference, which has been hosted on six occasions drawing in delegates from more than 50 nations.

Throughout his career, Richard has been a catalyst for advancing quality sport and developing physical literacy. In 2005, to mobilize knowledge, Richard created the Sport for Life Canadian Summit, an annual conference bringing together practitioners and leaders in diverse sectors including sport, recreation, health, and education. Since relocating to Victoria in the early 1990s, he has been involved in the founding of several other knowledge transfer opportunities within the sport and physical activity sphere, including the International Coaching Conference, the BC Regional Sport Network, the Olympic Youth Academy of BC, and the Coaches Association of BC.

Under Richard’s innovative leadership, the Sport for Life team was awarded the Canadian Medical Association's National Award for Excellence in Health Promotion, and the team was a finalist in the 2021 Global Design Challenge to find solutions to the challenges facing sport and physical activity due to COVID-19.

Richard has been involved in the successful garnering of several multi-million-dollar multi-year contracts to advance sport and physical literacy development both in Canada and internationally. In 2013, Richard was involved in the conception of Sport for Life’s Physical Literacy for Communities which has now positively impacted more than 175 communities throughout Canada. Internationally Sport for Life, under Richard’s leadership, is designing a school-based curriculum for the Apex Academy in Cairo, Egypt. Prior to incorporating Sport for Life, Richard was the Director of Sport for Vancouver’s successful 2010 Winter Olympic Games Bid Corporation.

Richard’s significant contributions to the sport and physical activity sector are fueled by his immense passion for sport. In addition to being the proud father of three sporty young adults, he has represented Canada in nine Natural Luge World Championships and was an All-Canadian West in soccer for the University of Calgary. Richard has served as a Commission member of the International Luge Federation, as a Board member of the Canadian Luge Association and is the founder of the Calgary Luge Club and the BC Luge Association.

Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Lance graduated from high school in Nanaimo in 1986. He moved to Vancouver in the late 80s where, still a teenager, he began competing in the sport of triathlon with some success. Triathlon was still in its pioneer years and there were few coaches available. Lance identified an early need for creating a structured training environment and so began coaching during the late 80s.

Lance attended the University of British Columbia in the early 1990s and graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics, all the while being mentored as an Assistant Coach of Track and Cross Country at the University. This early high performance coaching experience helped Lance model a framework for coaching his own triathlon training team, which was having increasing success.

In the mid- to late-90s, Lance independently led his professional athletes on competition tours throughout Europe and Australia and started placing athletes on podiums internationally. Triathlon was included into the Olympic Program for the first time in 2000 so, early that year, Lance moved to Victoria to help found Canada’s National Triathlon Centre. There he was named the Centre’s Head Coach, and co-authored Triathlon's first ever Level IV Coaching Certification Diploma at the National Coaching Institute.

2000 was a milestone year for Lance as he coached Victoria’s Simon Whitfield to capture the first ever Olympic Gold Medal in triathlon. That same year, he coached three different athletes to Ironman victories, including Canadian triathlon legend Lisa Bentley, who went on to win an impressive 11 titles.

Continuing his legacy of excellence within the Victoria community, Lance has coached locally-based triathlete Brent McMahon for his entire career of more than 25 years – a career that includes medals at World Junior Championships, representing Canada at two Olympic Games (Athens 2004, London 2012) and winning four Ironman titles while setting record times. Lance also coached Victoria athlete Matt Sharpe to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

Throughout his career, Lance has placed athletes on podiums at every major Triathlon World Championship including Ironman, Ironman 70.3, and World Triathlon Series (formerly ITU). As of 2022, he has coached Canadian athletes to five Olympic Games and over 50 World Championships.

Lance has coached Canadian National Teams to Gold medals at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. He was Triathlon Canada’s “Coach of the Year” for five consecutive years and was inducted into the Triathlon Canada Hall of Fame in 2015. Lance is one of only four Ironman Master Coaches worldwide. Based in Victoria, he continues to coach world-class athletes while concurrently pursuing his career as a coaching educator through his personal business and as a co-creator of Ironman U, a global coaching education platform for Ironman.