Racquetball Canada Recognizes Significant Contributions
Winnipeg, June 5, 2019 – Racquetball Canada congratulates those who were recognized as the recipients of Racquetball Canada Awards for 2019. Awards were presented at the Junior Canadian Championships held in April and the Canadian Championships held at the end of May.
Those recognized by Racquetball Canada during 2019 were Bob Fong (Vancouver), Mike Green (Hamilton), Cheryl Adlard (Winnipeg), Rino Langelier (Brossard), Andrew Dick (Leamington), Cassie Prentice (Macrorie) and Sean Sauvé (Valleyfield).
Bob Fong – Ivan Velan Award
Bob Fong has served as the physiotherapist for Team Canada at international events for many years. Fong first started travelling with the National Team in 2002. He became an integral part of the success of the team while being on the team support staff for at least ten international events including World Championships and Pan Am Championships, taking time away from his own business. As Team Physiotherapist, Fong brought his vast experience and “whole body” approach to the team at every competition. He also brought a positive attitude to each event and was always in tune with the mental health of the team and worked hard to ensure everyone was ready to deal with the next stage of competition. As an avid fan and self proclaimed B player, Fong also attended many Selection Events and Pro-tour events on his own time helping players from Canada at no cost. He has also made himself available to advise national team athletes outside of the competition environment. Racquetball Canada and its national team athletes have been fortunate to have the professional expertise and amazing talents of Bob Fong on their side for the last seventeen years.
The Ivan Velan Award recognizes the efforts of those persons who have made a significant contribution to the sport of racquetball in Canada.
Mike Green – President’s Award
Mike Green recently retired from national team competition, ending his twenty-three year career as a national team athlete who represented Canada proudly at the international level. Green is a four time World Champion. He competed for Canada at thirty two international events, amassing twenty podium finishes including two Pan Am Games medals, seven World Championship medals and eleven Pan Am Championship medals. At the national level, Green holds twenty-one Canadian Open Championships titles. In addition to his incredible success on the court, Mike played a significant role in profiling the sport over the years. This was particularly evident in 2015, when Mike spent considerable time with the national and Toronto area media leading up to and during the Toronto Pan Am Games while also preparing himself to represent Canada at home. Green also has played an important role in building the future, working with young athletes with international potential, mentoring them related to skill development, mental toughness and preparing for high level competition.
The President’s Award is to honour significant contributions to Racquetball Canada on an ongoing basis. An individual is noted for going that extra mile for the sport.
Cheryl Adlard – Susan Livingston Award
As Executive Director of Racquetball Canada from 2010 to 2018, Cheryl Adlard was a role model for Women in Sport, in particular for those working in roles as sport administrators and as board members at both the national and provincial level. She valued the contribution of women and encouraged their involvement in all areas of the organization. Adlard was an advocate for women athletes and programs for women and girls, challenging all those involved to continue to work towards increasing involvement. She worked hard to support female high performance athletes, with extra attention given to national team members. Through all this work, Adlard embodied the spirit of Susan Livingston who this award is named in honour of.
The Susan Livingston Award is presented to a person who exemplifies sportsmanship and the promotion of women in sports.
Rino Langelier – Coaches Award
Rino Langelier has been involved as a coach since 1993 when he began coaching juniors at Nautilus Plus in Brossard, later moving to Sani-Sport. He is a chartered professional coach. In his history as a coach, Langelier has given generously to Canada’s national team programs. He has coached Team Canada at ten Junior World Championships and two Pan Am Championships. Langelier is a coach of both development and high performance athletes. He has placed several athletes on national teams, many of which have had podium success at the international level and recently on the pro-tour. His athletes hold Canadian Championship titles at the junior and elite level.
The Coaches Award is presented to a person who demonstrates commitment and dedication to coaching Racquetball in Canada.
Andrew Dick – Marc Caouette Award
Andrew Dick became involved many years ago as an enthusiastic parent of a junior racquetball athlete in Leamington, Ontario. Over the years he has shown his willingness to participate in the development of many young racquetball athletes. Dick gradually became more involved and was always eager to learn. He is understanding, compassionate and completely interested in ensuring the junior athletes have fun and are constantly learning more about the sport. Although Dick is a very busy man outside of racquetball, he recently agreed to take on the role of Head Coach of the Ontario Junior Team. Dick is a very worthy recipient of the Marc Caouette Award as shown by his contributions to the junior racquetball program in Ontario, which in turn benefits the sport across Canada.
The Marc Caouette Award is presented to a junior level coach who contributes significantly to the development of youth programs and athletes.
Cassie Prentice received the Heather Stupp Award and Sean Sauvé was the recipient of the Sherman Greenfield Awards. These two awards are named after Racquetball Canada Hall of Famers and are given to a female and male athlete, respectively, who exemplify excellence and good sportsmanship on and off the court.
Racquetball Canada is the national sport governing body for the sport of Racquetball in Canada. Along with the support of the Government of Canada and many valued partners, Racquetball Canada develops competitive national teams and oversees programs that grow the sport of Racquetball in Canada. For more information visit our website at www.racquetball.ca.
Please direct any questions to:
Jan Hanson
Director of Communications & Marketing
Racquetball Canada Board of Directors
RballCanadaComms@outlook.com I 306.502.4422
