OTTAWA, ON – The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) today announced the members of its 2009-2010 Board of Directors.

Returning members are board chair Jean-Marie De Koninck of Lac Beauport, Que., Dean McIntosh of Calgary, Jean Blackie of Gander, N.L., Nathan Cross of Edmonton, Roger Duval of Fredericton, N.B., Gérald Janneteau of Boucherville, Que., Susan Kitchen of Toronto, Michael Mahon of Edmonton, and Gordon May of Richmond, B.C. Also on the board is John Bales of Ottawa, CAC's Chief Executive Officer.

Newly elected to the board are Martin Cléroult of Boischatel, Que., Gail Donohue of North Vancouver, B.C., Danielle Goyette of Calgary, André Lachance of Gatineau, Que., Larry McMahon of Victoria, B.C., and Ranil Sonnadara of Hamilton, Ont.

Jean-Marie De Koninck is a professor of mathematics at Laval University. A former competitive swimmer, he coached the sport for 28 years at the national level and is president of the Club de natation Rouge et Or Université Laval. He is the founder of the Quebec Swimming Coaches Association and has been a swimming analyst for Radio-Canada and TVA for eight Olympic Games. He is also the founder of Operation Red Nose, a program that fights impaired driving in 92 communities in Canada and now operates in France, Switzerland, and Portugal.

Dean McIntosh, a National Sport Organization (NSO) member and newly appointed vice chair, is Hockey Canada's Director, Marketing Services and Events. Formerly the senior manager, coaching, he was is responsible for hockey's transition to the NCCP and for the development of its Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) program. He is the co-author and editor of Hockey Canada's Community Coach program and its Competition – Introduction curriculum. A volunteer community soccer and hockey coach, he is an administrator and facilitator of the hockey segment of CAC's “We are coaches” campaign.

Curling coach Jean Blackie is the board's community coach member. She is a National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) Level 3 coach, a Master Learning Facilitator, and a Learning Facilitator. She has been involved with the Canada Games as team manager, coach, and mission staff member since 1991. For many years she was junior coordinator and technical coordinator for Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2006, she won the Investors Group National Volunteer Sport Administrator Award.

Nathan Cross, bobsleigh 2008 World Championship Silver Medallist and former track athlete, has been involved in elite sports for over ten years. He has a wide-ranging network established throughout Canada's high performance athlete community and has first-hand experience of the benefits from working with accomplished and trained NCCP coaches. He serves as the athlete member on CAC board.

Roger Duval, a provincial/territorial government representative, is the Director of the Sport and Recreation Branch of the New Brunswick Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport. He serves on the Federal-Provincial/Territorial Sport Committee and is a member of the Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council. Internationally, Roger is a member of the CONFEJES, an inter-governmental Francophonie organization responsible for the development of youth and sport.

Gérald Janneteau, a member-at-large, was a broadcaster whose career spanned 27 years, including 10 years as president and general manager of RDS (Réseau des sports). He is a member of the COC, the president of Sportcom, and a vice president of the Centre national multisport-Montréal. He served as the chair of the Fondation Sport-Études for several years.

Susan Kitchen, a Provincial/Territorial Coaching and Sport Leadership Councils (P/TCSLC) representative, has been the executive director of the Coaches Association of Ontario since its formation in 2002. As a Ministry of Tourism and Recreation consultant, she handled the coaching program portfolio and represented Ontario on the National Coaching Certification Council. She has served on the boards of Coaches of Canada (C of C), the Sport Alliance of Ontario, and the Argonaut Rowing Club, and has been involved in the sport of rowing as a competitive athlete, coach, official, and volunteer.

Michael Mahon, the dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, represents the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology (CCUPEKA). He was the chair of the federal government's Coaching Implementation Group and is the past president of CCUPEKA.

Gordon May is the board's other P/TCSLC representative. He has been executive director of the Coaches Association of British Columbia for the past 12 years. His responsibilities include managing the NCCP for the province. His previous experience includes 11 years as a sport consultant with Alberta Recreation and Parks. He has served on the mission staff for the Canada Games and the Western Canada Games and was a staff member for the Commonwealth Games. May is a member of the BC Sport Leadership Council, the Provincial/Territorial Coaching Council, and the Special Olympics BC Leadership Council.

Martin Cléroult, sport consultant for the Quebec Minister of Education, Sport and Recreation, joins the board as P/TCSLC representative. In 2004, he became a Learning Facilitator for the NCCP Competition stream after retiring from being a Level 4 certified swimming coach for 11 years and former athlete. He replaces Luc Denis, whose term has expired.

Gail Donohue is replacing Steven Sugar as the Coaches of Canada representative. She brings more than 15 years of progressive experience in all phases of sport development from local to international levels as an administrator, coach, and former athlete. A Level 1-4 master course conductor and 1984 Olympic coach for the New Zealand Synchronized Swimming Team, Gail is Coaches of Canada's board vice president.

Danielle Goyette was appointed as federal government representative to CAC's board of director. She is head coach for women's hockey at the University of Calgary. She played 16 years for the women's national team participation in 9 world championships. A three-time Olympian, Danielle was Canada's Flag bearer at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. In 2007-2008 she was assistant coach with the U18 women's national hockey team and currently works as a skating instructor with the national team programs. She is a Level 3 certified coach in ice hockey.

André Lachance joins the board as an NSO member. He is Baseball Canada Manager of Baseball Operations and Head Coach of the Women's National Team since 2003. He is responsible for baseball's transition to the NCCP and for the development of its LTAD program. André is also a Professor at the University of Ottawa at the school of Human Kinetics and received the university's 2007 Part-Time Professor of the Year award. He also serves on committees with the International Baseball Federation and remains today the only level 5 certified baseball coach in Canada. He replaces Anne Merklinger, whose term has expired.

Larry McMahon, a new NSO member, is a recently retired 40 year career Banker with the Bank of Montreal, primarily in the fields of corporate risk management and general operations management. He has been a board member of Triathlon Canada for the past 10 years and is currently their Vice President and Director of Coaching and LTAD. In this role over the past several years, he has been responsible for leading the development of and implementation of the Community, Competition – Introduction and Competition – Development contexts within the New NCCP framework and Triathlon's LTAD program. For many years, he has coached distance running at all athlete levels as a Level 3 NCCP coach and is an active age group distance runner. Larry is replacing Lorraine Lafrenière on the board.

Ranil Sonnadara completes the board team as a member-at-large. He is a Research Scientist at the University of Toronto where he studies, amongst other things, skill acquisition, and the implementation of proficiency-based models of training and evaluation. Ranil is also an experienced fencing coach, whose coaching career includes several world championships and major games. He has been involved with the sport for over 25 years, and is a Referee, Master Learning Facilitator and Master Evaluator for the Canadian Fencing Federation. In his 'spare time', Ranil is President of the Ontario Fencing Association, and is Head Coach of Westdale Fencing Club. He replaces Kelly McGiffin who was on the board for the last 4 years.

About the Coaching Association of Canada
The Coaching Association of Canada is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mission of enhancing the experiences of all Canadian athletes through quality coaching. CAC and its partners deliver a leading-edge coaching system whose goal is to have an impact on 1,000,000 athletes through the training of 100,000 coaches each year in the National Coaching Certification Program. Visit www.coach.ca for more information about coach education and training.

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For more information, contact:

Michèle Dion
Communications Coordinator
Coaching Association of Canada
613-235-5000, ext. 9-2384
mdion@coach.ca