September 3rd, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
University of Manitoba Judo Club founder Moe Oye (right), with longtime student Henry Fast.
For proof of the restorative powers of judo, look no further than Mamoru “Moe” Oye, the 73-year-old martial arts instructor who’ll be honoured tomorrow by the University of Manitoba’s Judo Club.
Oye’s longtime participation in the sport has earned him not only a weekend’s worth of kudos — including official acknowledgments at the Club’s 50th anniversary dinner, taking place Sat., Sept. 4, in the U of M’s Manitoba Room — it’s also helped him shave a few decades off his “biological” lifespan.
“I was looking at Prevention Magazine, going through a survey called “How Old Are You Really?”, where you figure out your physiological age by adding or subtracting years for whether or not you smoke, and things like that,” explained Oye, who has been teaching judo on campus since 1960.
“I went through all these questions, adding and subtracting years, and it turns out I’m really only 43. So I figure I’m good for at least another 30 years!”
A bona fide legend in the local judo community, Oye was first exposed to the sport at the age of just eight or nine, while watching his older brother train at a Japanese internment camp on Vancouver Island.
After his family moved to Winnipeg in 1946, Oye began his formal training under Tamotsu Mitani, founder of the Manitoba Judo Institute, which operated out of a number of downtown locations throughout the 1950s. When U of M officials — inspired by the first Canadian Judo Championships (which were held in Winnipeg in 1959) — contacted Mitani about providing instruction on campus, Oye was sent to begin teaching out of the old Air Force hangar that once served as the Phys. Ed. building.
The sport quickly proved popular, and when plans for the Frank Kennedy Centre got underway in the late 1960s, measures were taken to ensure there’d be space for a judo Combatives Rooom. (Dr. Kennedy even went so far as to purchase the judo mats used in the 1967 Pan Am Games.)
Over the decades, Oye was also tapped to teach judo at various clubs and schools throughout Winnipeg (he served as vice-principal of J.H. Bruns and Windsor Park Collegiates from 1972 until 1996), fostering a longtime association with his students, many of whom went on to set up clubs of their own.
“They go away and I don’t see them, and then all of a sudden they’re back 30 years later with their own kids for my Friday night class,” Oye laughs.
Among those still turning up for instruction is 69-year-old Henry Fast, the first student Oye coached to a black belt back in the early 1960s.
“He’s very knowledgeable, and very intuitive — if you’re in competition, he’s able to analyze people and tell you how to overcome them,” says Fast, now a seventh –degree black belt (Oye himself is an eighth-degree black belt) who runs his own clubs at three local high schools.
“So he’s very good as a coach, but he’s also a tremendous person. He looks after everybody in Manitoba. He’s the pillar of our judo association here.”
Over the years, Oye has also coached three Olympians (Marc Berger, Ewan Beaton and Niki Jenkins) and national team members Kevin McIver and Steve Oye (his son), instilling in each the same levels of self-discipline and respect for their opponents.
“I tell them right off the bat: You’re not here to fight — you’re here to learn confidence, and the self-defense will come with it,” says Oye, who in 2000 was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, and who served as Vice-President (Prairie Region) for national governing body Judo Canada for 16 years.
Tomorrow’s anniversary events are scheduled to include a reunion of sorts (Fast, Berger and Beaton are all expected to attend a practice session at Frank Kennedy , and Oye’s son Steve flew in from Japan a few days ago), as well as a banquet where the accolades will no doubt be flowing freely.
“If it weren’t for Moe’s leadership, the judo program wouldn’t be what it is today,” says Amanda Gill, Coordinator of Adult Wellness and Leagues for Bison Recreation Services.
“Moe’s contribution to Bison Recreation Services, and to the University of Manitoba, will be remembered for a long time to come.”
Dr. David Barnard, President of the University of Manitoba, was similarly effusive, praising Oye’s longstanding commitment to the involvement of students, staff and the community.
“Through your dedication to judo instruction, you have assisted the University in becoming what it is today — a university respected for its commitment to accessibility, its excellence in endeavours of study and research, and its service to the community,” said Barnard, in a written message of congratulations.
“The motivation and skills which you have provided to you students have encouraged personal challenge and achievement, as well as promoting health and fitness in a sport which can be enjoyed over a lifetime. For 50 years, you have infused outstanding skills, sportsmanship and leadership into the talented judo teams which have received your support.”
For more information about the U of M’s Judo Club, see http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/bsal/programs/fortgarry/martial/judo.php
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
August 13th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
- Schmeichel (back row, second from right) and his students on the Mantario Trail.
BRIAN SCHMEICHEL
Degree: Bachelor of Physical Education, Bachelor of Education
Graduate: 2001 (BPE), 2003 (B.Ed.)
Employed as: Phys. Ed./Outdoor Living Teacher, Westwood Collegiate
Most folks, upon graduating high school, try to put as much distance as possible between themselves and whatever secondary institute served as backdrop for the bulk of their adolescence.
But not University of Manitoba grad Brian Schmeichel, who — upon earning his Bachelor of Physical Education degree from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management — followed his career path right back to the place where it all began.
Schmeichel, 31, now teaches Physical Education and Outdoor Living classes at Westwood Collegiate in St. James — the same high school he attended as a teen. While a student there, he regularly attended the Legion Athletic Camp at the International Peace Gardens in the summer, which is where he first got the inspiration to pursue a job in physical education.
“I always knew that I enjoyed sports,” says Schmeichel, who played hockey, soccer, football and lacrosse as a kid.
“But it wasn’t until I went (to the Legion camp) and met a few coaches who I found out were Phys. Ed. teachers — and really looked up to them as role models — that I knew I wanted to be a gym teacher.”
Having also spent many of his teenage summers doing respite work for the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (much of which involved assisting kids with disabilities while at summer camp), Schmeichel found FKRM — or, as it was then called, the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Management — to be a perfect fit, one that afforded a smooth transition from high school and a broad spectrum of interesting coursework.
“I got to know the professors very well over the years, and most of the friends I still hang out with now were friends I met while they were either in Phys. Ed or Rec Studies,” he says.
“And I really enjoyed the breadth of the courses I was able to take — the Humanities courses, the Science courses and the Activity courses.”
After serving on SAHPER Council as the Social Coordinator, Schmeichel discovered another definite draw: The heightened sense of camaraderie between classmates in FKRM.
“Because of the Activity courses you had to take each year, you’re doing a lot of group work with each other — playing on teams, or planning events,” says Schmeichel, noting he still meets regularly with classmates for volleyball and hockey games stemming from their intramural days.
“And because of the small size of the classes — instead of sitting in an auditorium with 300 students listening to a teacher lecture, you’re sitting in a class of 30, collaborating with each other.”
Armed with both his BPE and his Bachelor of Education degree (the latter with a teachable minor in general sciences), Schmeichel was well-prepared to return to the classroom — this time as a teacher.
Luckily, one of the Legion camp coaches who’d served to inspire him in the first place was by this time the principal at Westwood. And since Schmeichel had continued to coach volleyball at Westwood all through university, he was a shoe-in for a job teaching both science and Phys. Ed.
Since being hired, he’s also taken a lead role in expanding the school’s Outdoor Living program, which has grown from about 20 students to more than 100 each year. Schmeichel says he draws on skills learned from FKRM’s Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht while teaching his charges, many of whom don’t have much experience in the outdoors, beyond their family cabin or childhood stints in the Boy Scouts or Girl Guides.
“We go over First Aid, CPR, winter survival, ice safety, knot tying, back country cooking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing,” he explains.
“And we go on two trips every year: One is a four-day hiking trip on the Mantario Trail — which is 63 kilometres, and the toughest trail in Manitoba — and the other is a three-day canoe trip in Rushing River.”
Similar to his own experience with his FKRM classmates, Schmeichel says the hiking and canoe trips often create a lasting bond between his students.
“I always say that the curriculum isn’t as important as what they learn, and the life lessons they take out if it,” he says. “When I look back at the end of the year, it’s always those two trips that are the most memorable for me, and generally if you read the kids’ yearbook comments — when they talk about their most memorable moments, it’s the hiking or canoe trips for a lot of the kids, too.”
Schmeichel says the same outcome-based teaching model delivers results in the gym as well as the outdoors, noting Phys. Ed. classes are now mandatory until Grade 12 (unlike when he was in high school).
“I think it keeps a lot more students motivated in Phys. Ed., since they know they’re not getting marked against a standard, but rather for the effort they’re putting in,” he says of the model.
“And I would say that the opportunities for kids to be active now, and the importance of that, is way more pronounced than it was 10 years ago. When we were in Westwood, the weight room consisted of a universal machine tucked away above the gym. Now we’ve got a triple-sized classroom with a teacher dedicated to wellness and fitness.”
He admits there are still students who don’t take advantage of those opportunities, but notes there are also classes tailor-made for students considering a career in Physical Education, like the Grade 12 Physical Leadership course that teaches principles of officiating and coaching, safety and First Aid, and basic kinesiology and biomechanics.
Given all the focus on leadership, it’s no surprise that Schmeichel’s favourite aspect of the job is when students learn how to tap into their full potential for the first time.
“Having a kid say, ‘I can’t do that,’ or questioning their ability to finish a canoe trip or a hiking route or a cross-country race, and then — through working hard — being able to do it, that to me is always the most rewarding thing,” he says.
For more information on Westwood Collegiate, check http://westwood.sjsd.net/
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
July 30th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
RYAN MIKUCKI
Degree: Bachelor of Recreation Management and Community Development
Graduated: 2006
Employed as: District Sales Manager (Manitoba & Saskatchewan), Collette Vacations
Turns out you’re never too young to get bitten by the travel bug.
Just ask University of Manitoba grad Ryan Mikucki, who can trace his lifelong love of travelling back to a particularly formative family vacation: A childhood trip to Hawaii, taken when he was just a toddler.
But while Mikucki, now 26, may not remember the details of that trip too clearly, he’s spent the subsequent decades traversing the globe, so he’s quick with an answer when asked about the components of a memorable travel experience.
“It’s taking in the culture of the destination,” says Mikucki, who in 2006 graduated from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, with a Bachelor of Recreation and Community Development degree. “Understanding the different customs or traditions of the country, interacting with the people, (and) taking great photos of the incredible landscape and scenery.”
Mikucki’s current job — as District Sales Manager (Manitoba & Saskatchewan) for North American travel tour provider Collette Vacations — affords him plenty of opportunity to engage in all of the above, and has already made it possible for him to visit such far-flung locales as Costa Rica, Israel, and much of Eastern Europe.
But even though his love of travel had been deeply ingrained by the time he was a teen, Mikucki says he’d originally planned on a career path that would have seriously curtailed his chances for globetrotting.
“I was actually planning on going into (FKRM’s) Phys. Ed. stream, so my first year in university, I was just trying to get into Phys. Ed. courses,” he explains.
“By mistake, I ended up in (Dr. Michael Campbell’s) Introduction to Leisure Travel course, and that’s where I ended up learning about the Faculty.”
Having always been specifically interested in tourism marketing and event planning, Mikucki found FKRM’s BRMCD degree — with its broad spectrum of course offerings — to be a perfect fit.
“It’s a fairly diverse faculty, so you definitely learn about a lot of different areas, from therapeutic recreation to marketing to event planning to tourism,” he says.
“That was something that really interested me, because all of those areas were pretty exciting.”
Particularly prescient was a class project that required Mikucki to design a comprehensive tour of Brazil, after researching popular tourist destinations, travel options and even hotels and restaurants. A four-month Fieldwork placement at a Mexican resort — where Mikucki and a classmate worked as recreation coordinators, overseeing recreational activities, organizing athletic tournaments, and perfecting their inter-personal skills while mingling with hotel guests from around the world — proved equally valuable, he says.
The experience certainly came in handy when he landed his first post-graduation job with Collette Vacations, a four-star tour operator that’s been in business for 92 years.
Based in the U.S., the company employs a small army of tour developers who spend months living in vacation spots on all seven continents, designing tour packages by immersing themselves in local culture and scouting out the best in area attractions, restaurants, accommodations and entertainment options.
The company also employs a team of tour managers who remain with clients for every step of their trip, taking care of the more tedious elements of travel (hotel bookings, meal plans, etc.) so that vacations are stress-free.
“We include a lot more, and that value is what people appreciate,” says Mikucki, who has visited 32 countries to date (with trips to Greece and Turkey planned for the near future).
“Our hotels are centrally located, the dinners are included, and we include more of the sightseeing — we’ll actually visit the Colosseum, as opposed to just viewing it.”
“We’re more in depth, we’re more inclusive, and we provide that more authentic experience.”
As District Sales Manager for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Mikucki’s job is to promote the tour packages to travelers and travel agents throughout the region. He says he relies on his own travel experiences with Collette, together with traits he picked up as a student, to ensure his message reaches the widest audience possible.
“My own travel experiences, in terms of the hotels I’ve visited, the tour guides we use, the meals and entertainment we receive and how the overall quality is,” he explains.
“Once you’ve seen the destinations and experienced the product, it makes the presentation of the destination/tour a lot easier. But some of the skills I have definitely picked up from school — just in terms of the way you present, and gaining the confidence to present in front of a large group.”
It helps that Mikucki’s background in Recreation allows him to position travelling (and vacations, and leisure-time in general) as an important component of a healthy, stress-free lifestyle, even in the wake of the recent economic downturn, which has prompted travelers the world over to demand more bang for their buck.
It’s certainly hard to put a price on the expanded worldview made possible by travel, whether as a career or a cherished pastime, he says.
“I know more about various destinations around the world then I thought I would ever imagine knowing,” says Mikucki, whose own most memorable experiences include cruising the Greek Islands, surfing in Costa Rica, hiking the Andes Mountains toward Machu Picchu in Peru, observing mosques and minarets while hearing the call to prayer in Turkey, and walking in the footsteps of the Bible in Israel and Jordan.
“The culture, the customs, the scenery, the people — you learn about all of these areas.”
For more information on Collette Vacations, see www.collettevacations.com.
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
June 15th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
LUCETTE BARBER
Degree: Bachelor of Recreation Studies
Graduated: 1984
Employed as: Program Coordinator, Schools on Board — ArcticNet
From an office in her basement to a research vessel in the Arctic: That’s the career path taken by University of Manitoba grad Lucette Barber, who for years has charted new waters by way of a ground-breaking educational initiative that places high school students on the front lines of climate change research in the North.
As program coordinator for Schools on Board, an outreach program that bridges Arctic research with science education in high schools across Canada, Barber has a hand in selecting the 12 students per year who get to spend up to two weeks working alongside scientists on board the CCGS Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker.
She’s also responsible for the planning and delivery of pretty much every other facet of the initiative, from approving and coordinating the outreach plans carried out by participants once they’re back on dry land, to the climate change youth forum held every two years to get even more students interested in environmental issues.
“There isn’t another program in the world that does this — that offers high school students the chance to come aboard a working vessel and get totally integrated in the research taking place,” says Barber, an alumnus of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management.
“And that was always the vision: How do we get high school students involved in these opportunities? Because kids are making decisions earlier than they ever have. By Grade 11, they have to decide what courses to take, if they’re going to be well-positioned to take them in university. And we’re going to be creating all this activity in Arctic research, so we need to get students into these levels. Where is the next generation of scientists that will keep it moving forward? It’s not necessarily starting at the undergraduate level anymore — it’s starting in the high schools.”
Barber got her start as a U of M student in the early 1980s — in fact, she was part of the first crop of students in the then-named Faculty of Physical Education’s inaugural Recreation Studies class.
“There was this feeling that times were changing,” she recalls. “We were always being told that we were part of this new change in society, where we were going to have all this leisure time as a result of technology and computers. When you look at it now, the exact opposite has happened!”
Fortunately, there were (and continue to be) plenty of opportunities for those with backgrounds in recreation, so upon graduating, Barber had no trouble finding work with Special Olympics Manitoba, for whom she served as a program developer in rural Manitoba.
“I had no experience working with people with special needs,” says Barber. “I remember in my interview, selling myself on the strength of my training at the University, because what they were looking for was someone with skills in program planning and working with volunteers — having vision and looking at things beyond the immediate term.”
After three years with Special Olympics, Barber moved to Waterloo, where her husband — renowned climate change researcher (and fellow FKRM grad) Dr. David Barber — was pursuing his Ph.D.
She picked up an Arts degree from the University of Waterloo, then moved back to Sanford, Man., where she volunteered “on every committee possible” while raising a family for the next 12 years.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was David’s work with the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study — the first research project involving the CCGS Amundsen — that led directly to the creation of the Schools on Board project.
“We were on the verge of launching this big study … and we were at this family barbecue celebrating, talking about how this was going to turn things around, and make us international leaders,” she says.
“(David’s brother) Sam turned around and said, ‘But how do we get high school students and teachers on board?’ And I just totally took it on. I said, ‘I can really sink my teeth into this.’”
Working from her basement office, Barber built Schools on Board from the ground up, using her program planning skills to raise the necessary seed funding, identify stakeholders’ needs, and rally support from both the scientific and educational communities.
The program was launched in 2004, and has so far proven a success in both realms, in particular with the students selected each year to take part.
“It’s a transformational program — those kids come off that boat changed,” says Barber.
“We spend a lot of time with ‘issues,’ putting science in its context. We’re giving them a much broader perspective of what science and research and environmental studies are all about.”
“Our students get a much more comprehensive experience regarding the Arctic and Arctic climate change research than they ever could from a textbook.”
Students are nominated by their schools, and are selected on the strength of their outreach plans, which find them disseminating the knowledge they’ve gathered to an even broader audience via website dispatches, conference calls, academic theme weeks, and post-expedition presentations to classmates and community groups.
“We need a kid who’s not just academically strong, but who has other skills, like curiosity and maturity and communication skills,” Barber explains, noting the biennial climate change youth forum — which is also organized by schools, in conjunction with a major scientific event — fuels the knowledge dissemination process even further.
“They might think they know what science is, but when they come on board the ship, which is like a small university in the ocean, they can be exposed to so many other disciplines.”
This year’s expedition will take participants through the Northwest Passage, allowing for the inclusion of historical component, as well. (In an interesting aside, Barber notes the Amundsen — which is named after Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to traverse the Northwest Passage — was originally named for British explorer Sir John Franklin, who disappeared while attempting to navigate the same area.)
It will, however, mark Barber’s last year at the program’s helm. She’s stepping down as program coordinator effective this month, having accepted a new position as research associate with the U of M’s Clayton H. Ridell Faculty of Environment, Earth & Resources.
“I would never leave it completely … I created it,” says Barber, who recently earned a Master’s degree from the same faculty by conducting a case study on the Schools on Board program.
“I have the passion and the interest still, but like anybody who’s been in a position for a long time, I’m at a point where I think somebody else might be able to do a better job. I think it needs to have a new set of eyes looking at it.”
To learn more about the Schools on Board program, check www.arcticnet.ulaval.ca/sb/index.php
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
June 9th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Dr. Henry Janzen (left), with FKRM’s Dean, Dr. Jane Watkinson (centre) and Dr. Jennifer Mactavish, at last week’s Convocation ceremony at the University of Manitoba.
For almost his entire life, he’s played a lead role in changing the landscape of physical education in Manitoba, serving tirelessly over the decades as a teacher, an administrator, and an activist.
So it’s no surprise that earlier this month, Dr. Henry Janzen — former Director and Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management — was honoured by the same institution from whence the majority of those changes were made possible.
Janzen, who over the course of his distinguished career has served as a football coach, a director of athletics, and finally head of the University of Manitoba’s then-School of Physical Education (later to be renamed the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management), was last Thursday honoured with a Dean Emeritus designation during the University’s annual Convocation ceremonies.
It was a fitting tribute, given that Janzen, for much of his life, has served as a true leader in the fields of health, sport and recreation. Not only has he helped to reshape people’s attitudes towards healthy living (most recently, by fighting to have physical education classes made mandatory in public schools until Grade 12), he has also ensured the people tasked with delivering those classes are qualified to make an impression that’ll last a lifetime.
“To enjoy physical activity, you must experience something meaningful. And sometimes, people don’t have that good experience — in fact, sometimes, it’s quite the opposite,” says Janzen.
“That’s why there was always this cry, that we need qualified, prepared people who can teach physical education. And we also need time, because if you only have 20 minutes or an hour each week, it’s not enough time to learn a skill.”
“We’re in a situation now where — as a profession — we’ve got the time, and we’ve got enough people who are professionally prepared. We hope that in the long run, we will be graduating physically educated children and adults, who will enjoy physical activity, and will do it for the rest of their lives — and have a richer life because of it.”
Born and raised in rural Manitoba, Janzen attended a one-room schoolhouse as a boy, and later experienced a bit of culture shock when his family moved to Winnipeg and he enrolled at Glenlawn Collegiate as a teen.
In particular, his concept of physical education — which up until that point had consisted mostly of recesses spent playing tag — changed drastically once he was exposed to the array of recreational opportunities available to him at a larger city high school.
“What a beautiful thing, to have other playmates there, and to have formal activity with some instruction,” he recalls. “I just loved it, and it was such a wonderful experience compared to what I’d had up until then.”
Having played high school football with the St. Vital Mustangs, Janzen tried out for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after graduation, though it wasn’t until the following year that he landed a spot on the team. He played for seven years (during which time the squad racked up three Grey Cups) and eventually retired at the age of 25 to take his first positions with the U of M — as Director of Athletics, and a year later, as Head Coach of the Bison Football team.
Janzen was already familiar with academic life, having earned his degree in Physical Education (from the University of North Dakota, which is also where met his wife) during his off-seasons with the Bombers. He took the U of M job in 1966, the same year the newly-created School of Physical Education began offering a three-year degree in Physical Education. (Prior to that, the U of M’s Athletics Department existed primarily to run intramural and intercollegiate athletic programs.)
Janzen completed his doctorate while working as Athletic Director and football coach, and in 1978, became Dean of the School of Physical Education. During its first decade or so, the School had existed mostly as a preparatory unit for Phys. Ed. teachers, but over the years, it developed a research program delving into such areas as exercise physiology, biomechanics and sport psychology.
In 1982, the U of M’s School of Physical Education achieved Faculty status, based largely on the strength of its continued academic success,
“As our Faculty became bigger — in terms of both teaching and research — it evolved into offering more degree programs,” Janzen recalls.
“We offered the degree in Phys. Ed., another in Recreation Studies, and then we got our Master of Science (in Phys. Ed, now the M.Sc. in Kinesiology) and our Master of Arts (in Recreation Studies). And with our research program, we established a research institute (the Health, Leisure & Human Performance Research Institute), which helped us attract scholars in the field who wanted to come and do both teaching and research.”
Janzen fundraised tirelessly on behalf of the new Research Institute, attracting support from government, the private sector, and U of M donors, and eventually amassing an endowment fund worth $1.8 million.
“The message (we put forward) was twofold,” he explains. “Part of it had to do with the importance of the role that physical activity can play in the health and wellness of our children and our citizenry, and part of it had to do with the need for facilities and the need to do research in this particular area.”
Later in his career, Janzen raised funds for the creation of the Max Bell Centre, and — while the Faculty’s academic programs continued to flourish under his leadership — championed the addition of children’s camps, and the development of Mini-University, the Bison Athletic Therapy Clinic, Bison Sports and campus recreation programs.
He also served for 24 years as a trustee with the Fort Garry School Division, which led directly to his becoming involved with the Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures Task Force — a provincial government initiative that finally made good on decades’ worth of recommendations suggesting physical education should be made mandatory in Manitoba schools.
“It’s hard to create changes in education … and this was a huge, huge change,” says Janzen of the uphill battle faced by the task force, which was led by current Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“But there will always be that struggle and that challenge of how can you incorporate daily physical education, and still meet the academic needs of students. We proved it is possible to do that.”
Looking back on his time with the Faculty (which was renamed the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management in 2007), Janzen says one of the biggest challenges was ensuring the four pillars — academics, research, athletics, and services — remained “one big happy family,” a factor he feels has played an integral role in the Faculty’s continued success.
“Some universities have separated the service areas — be it competitive athletics or casual recreation users — from the academic programs,” he explains.
“We’ve been able to keep it all within one Faculty, and I think we’re stronger because of it.”
Janzen’s Dean Emeritus designation is just the latest in a lengthy list of honours and accolades, including inductions into both the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame, a Fellow Award from the Canadian Association of Health Physical Education and Recreation (CAHPER), an Outreach Award from the U of M, and a Builder Award for Outstanding Dedication and Promotion of Physical Education for the Youth of Manitoba, bestowed by the Manitoba Physical Education Teachers Association (MPETA).
Last year, he was honoured by former students and colleagues at the U of M, who presented him with an anthology of student papers on issues affecting physical education in Manitoba schools.
Despite the many accomplishments, he remains characteristically modest about his most recent.
“I was flattered and honoured — I think it’s just a wonderful thing,” he says of the Dean Emeritus designation.
“But it took me by surprise, that’s for sure.”
For almost his entire life, he’s played a lead role in changing the landscape of physical education in Manitoba, serving tirelessly over the decades as a teacher, an administrator, and an activist.
So it’s no surprise that earlier this month, Dr. Henry Janzen — former Director and Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management — was honoured by the same institution from whence the majority of those changes were made possible.
Janzen, who over the course of his distinguished career has served as a football coach, a director of athletics, and finally head of the University of Manitoba’s then-School of Physical Education (later to be renamed the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management), was last Thursday honoured with a Dean Emeritus designation during the University’s annual Convocation ceremonies.
It was a fitting tribute, given that Janzen, for much of his life, has served as a true leader in the fields of health, sport and recreation. Not only has he helped to reshape people’s attitudes towards healthy living (most recently, by fighting to have physical education classes made mandatory in public schools until Grade 12), he has also ensured the people tasked with delivering those classes are qualified to make an impression that’ll last a lifetime.
“To enjoy physical activity, you must experience something meaningful. And sometimes, people don’t have that good experience — in fact, sometimes, it’s quite the opposite,” says Janzen.
“That’s why there was always this cry, that we need qualified, prepared people who can teach physical education. And we also need time, because if you only have 20 minutes or an hour each week, it’s not enough time to learn a skill.”
“We’re in a situation now where — as a profession — we’ve got the time, and we’ve got enough people who are professionally prepared. We hope that in the long run, we will be graduating physically educated children and adults, who will enjoy physical activity, and will do it for the rest of their lives — and have a richer life because of it.”
Born and raised in rural Manitoba, Janzen attended a one-room schoolhouse as a boy, and later experienced a bit of culture shock when his family moved to Winnipeg and he enrolled at Glenlawn Collegiate as a teen.
In particular, his concept of physical education — which up until that point had consisted mostly of recesses spent playing tag — changed drastically once he was exposed to the array of recreational opportunities available to him at a larger city high school.
“What a beautiful thing, to have other playmates there, and to have formal activity with some instruction,” he recalls. “I just loved it, and it was such a wonderful experience compared to what I’d had up until then.”
Having played high school football with the St. Vital Mustangs, Janzen tried out for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after graduation, though it wasn’t until the following year that he landed a spot on the team. He played for seven years (during which time the squad racked up three Grey Cups) and eventually retired at the age of 25 to take his first positions with the U of M — as Director of Athletics, and a year later, as Head Coach of the Bison Football team.
Janzen was already familiar with academic life, having earned his degree in Physical Education (from the University of North Dakota, which is also where met his wife) during his off-seasons with the Bombers. He took the U of M job in 1966, the same year the newly-created School of Physical Education began offering a three-year degree in Physical Education. (Prior to that, the U of M’s Athletics Department existed primarily to run intramural and intercollegiate athletic programs.)
Janzen completed his doctorate while working as Athletic Director and football coach, and in 1978, became Dean of the School of Physical Education. During its first decade or so, the School had existed mostly as a preparatory unit for Phys. Ed. teachers, but over the years, it developed a research program delving into such areas as exercise physiology, biomechanics and sport psychology.
In 1982, the U of M’s School of Physical Education achieved Faculty status, based largely on the strength of its continued academic success,
“As our Faculty became bigger — in terms of both teaching and research — it evolved into offering more degree programs,” Janzen recalls.
“We offered the degree in Phys. Ed., another in Recreation Studies, and then we got our Master of Science (in Phys. Ed, now the M.Sc. in Kinesiology) and our Master of Arts (in Recreation Studies). And with our research program, we established a research institute (the Health, Leisure & Human Performance Research Institute), which helped us attract scholars in the field who wanted to come and do both teaching and research.”
Janzen fundraised tirelessly on behalf of the new Research Institute, attracting support from government, the private sector, and U of M donors, and eventually amassing an endowment fund worth $1.8 million.
“The message (we put forward) was twofold,” he explains. “Part of it had to do with the importance of the role that physical activity can play in the health and wellness of our children and our citizenry, and part of it had to do with the need for facilities and the need to do research in this particular area.”
Later in his career, Janzen raised funds for the creation of the Max Bell Centre, and — while the Faculty’s academic programs continued to flourish under his leadership — championed the addition of children’s camps, and the development of Mini-University, the Bison Athletic Therapy Clinic, Bison Sports and campus recreation programs.
He also served for 24 years as a trustee with the Fort Garry School Division, which led directly to his becoming involved with the Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures Task Force — a provincial government initiative that finally made good on decades’ worth of recommendations suggesting physical education should be made mandatory in Manitoba schools.
“It’s hard to create changes in education … and this was a huge, huge change,” says Janzen of the uphill battle faced by the task force, which was led by current Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“But there will always be that struggle and that challenge of how can you incorporate daily physical education, and still meet the academic needs of students. We proved it is possible to do that.”
Looking back on his time with the Faculty (which was renamed the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management in 2007), Janzen says one of the biggest challenges was ensuring the four pillars — academics, research, athletics, and services — remained “one big happy family,” a factor he feels has played an integral role in the Faculty’s continued success.
“Some universities have separated the service areas — be it competitive athletics or casual recreation users — from the academic programs,” he explains.
“We’ve been able to keep it all within one Faculty, and I think we’re stronger because of it.”
Janzen’s Dean Emeritus designation is just the latest in a lengthy list of honours and accolades, including inductions into both the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame, a Fellow Award from the Canadian Association of Health Physical Education and Recreation (CAHPER), an Outreach Award from the U of M, and a Builder Award for Outstanding Dedication and Promotion of Physical Education for the Youth of Manitoba, bestowed by the Manitoba Physical Education Teachers Association (MPETA).
Last year, he was honoured by former students and colleagues at the U of M, who presented him with an anthology of student papers on issues affecting physical education in Manitoba schools.
Despite the many accomplishments, he remains characteristically modest about his most recent.
“I was flattered and honoured — I think it’s just a wonderful thing,” he says of the Dean Emeritus designation.
“But it took me by surprise, that’s for sure.”
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
May 10th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Photo courtesy Tony Austin
JASON LOUTITT
Degree: Bachelor of Recreation Management and Community Development
Graduated: 2005
Employed as: Team Leader, Service Canada Squamish
When you come from a city like Winnipeg – where a garbage dump turned toboggan run is what passes for elevation – making a name for yourself as a champion mountain runner can be something of an uphill battle.
But for University of Manitoba alum Jason Loutitt, a highly decorated mountain and marathon runner, any training time logged on the Prairies proved a lot more useful than you might think.
“Mountain running is pretty tough running. And you’re running on your toes when you’re ascending, so there are times your heels never even touch the ground because it’s so steep,” says the 36-year-old Squamish resident, who last fall helped Team Canada earn two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Mountain Running Championships in England.
“But you do get a lot of actual strength building from running in Winnipeg. And a lot of that can be turned over in the mountains.”
It’s no surprise that Loutitt displays such a passion for running, as he’s been moving around his whole life. (He figures he’s lived in almost 40 different cities and towns, settling recently in Squamish after being hired as a team leader by Service Canada.)
But he called Winnipeg home for much of his 20s, first as a member of the Canadian Forces (Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry), then as a student with the U of M’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (FKRM).
In fact, it was while serving with the military that Loutitt ran his first marathon, the Jasper-Banff relay in 1999, and there that he got his first taste of mountain running.
“They stuck me on the Columbia Icefield, which is where I passed a former world competitor in mountain running,” says Loutitt, who ran for the Bison cross-country team while a student at U of M.
“He passed me later on in the race, but at the end, he came up and made a point of telling me I should give mountain running a try.”
In the years since, Loutitt has carved out a reputation as one of Canada’s top-ranked high altitude runners, racing in 24 different countries and smashing countless records. (Among his most recent accomplishments: taking top spot in both the Canadian Snowshoe Running Championships and the B.C. Half Marathon Championship, not to mention finishing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon with a time of 2:24:38 – a mere one second slower than the personal best he posted last year.)
In 2007, he literally ran around the world, touring 16 countries as part of the Blue Planet Run relay team, whose members took turns running 20-mile intervals over a 95-day stretch, to increase access to safe drinking water in developing nations.
Loutitt – who is of Metis descent – says mountain running helps him feel connected to the healing properties of nature, especially now that he’s surrounded by the old growth forests abundant in B.C.
“Plus it’s nice to see where you’ve come from,” he quips.
“It’s tough to do that when you’re on flat ground and can go for 10 miles with no changes like you can in Winnipeg … But to look back up (at a mountain) and say, ‘Hey – I came down from there,’ is really rewarding.”
Loutitt’s career path has allowed him to scale a similar number of new heights, starting with his 2005 posting as Recreation Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association.
“I oversaw recreation funding and the creation of a youth recreation advisor program,” says Loutitt, who as a student served on the U of M’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee, and helped set the groundwork for what would later become FKRM’s Aboriginal Mentorship Program.
“Usually these volunteers are taken for granted or not looked up to, especially by the youth. But in getting the youth to step into those roles of coordinating, it breaks down the barrier and you start to get other kids saying, ‘Hey, I can do that.’
“There’s a chain effect of being able to instill positive health alternatives in Aboriginal youth and Aboriginal communities as a whole.”
Following that job, Loutitt also worked as an Aboriginal program specialist for The Banff Centre (an arts and cultural institution in Alberta), and was recently tapped by VANOC (the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games) to serve as a specialist for Aboriginal sport and youth.
In addition, he’s worked as a motivational speaker (on behalf of both The Esteem Team and The Clean Air Champions), and has coached more than 800 fellow runners through various training programs (not to mention his stints as a Pilates instructor and Bikram yoga enthusiast).
These days, Loutitt is focusing on his latest career – managing Service Canada’s Squamish office and overseeing the client service officers who administer various government programs. He’s also got his hands full raising a one and a half-year-old son (alongside his wife, Taeko, a fellow marathon runner he met while on the Blue Planet tour), and of course, training for the upcoming Mountain Running Championships in Canmore.
He credits his Aboriginal roots with keeping him grounded – which in turn helps him juggle so many different roles and responsibilities – and says his time as an FKRM student played a huge factor in providing the foundation he relies on to this day.
“The support that the actual Faculty provided for me – whether it was advice or support, running for the U of M or doing the motivational speaking, being able to meet and consult with Faculty members and get their advice – it made all the difference in the world as far as getting my degree,” says Loutitt.
“My career after graduating has shown the diversity of the degree. In fact, I’ve already worked in most of the multifaceted areas where the degree can be applied!”
For more information on Jason Loutitt, check www.runningthroughmountains.com
For more information, contact:
David Schmeichel
Communication, Promotion & Alumni Officer
Faculty of Kinesiology & Recreation Management
schmeich@cc.umanitoba.ca
Phone: (204) 474-8629
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
April 26th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
SARA PENNER
Degree: Bachelor of Recreation Studies
Graduated: 1999
Employed as: Director of Planned Giving, St-Boniface Hospital Foundation
Everyone knows it’s better to give than to receive.
But not everyone manages to build a career out of the concept, as University of Manitoba alum Sara Penner has, having spent much of the last decade helping to facilitate charitable giving.
A Bachelor of Recreation Studies grad (from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management’s Class of 1999), Penner now works as Director of Gift Planning for the St-Boniface Hospital Foundation, where she’s in charge of a fundraising program that includes bequests, gifts of life insurance and endowment funds.
“My field of work is very rewarding,” says Penner, who also helps to oversee the Foundation’s overall strategic direction.
“I have worked at organizations that I‘m passionate about. The donors and volunteers I have had the privilege of working with share the same passion, and so it feeds into each other’s. We get to work together on something we care deeply about.”
An avid enthusiast of both sports and physical activity, Penner originally entered the Faculty with the intention of becoming an athletic therapist. She switched gears after discovering an aptitude for management and program planning courses, hopping from FKRM’s Phys. Ed stream to Recreation Studies (as the program was then called), with Management as a minor.
“I had a wonderful experience as a student,” says Penner. “I was able to acquire skills that I could take directly into the workforce – project planning, facility management, organizational development. And the work placement was a huge opportunity that opened the first door to the rest of my career.”
Penner completed her three-month fieldwork placement at the Manitoba branch of the Arthritis Society, where mentor Dan Bernaerdt (still a friend) introduced her to the world of fundraising programs and special events. Clearly, she made a strong impression there, as she was hired full-time by the organization after graduating, and later launched a fundraising initiative (still ongoing) that involved plenty of travel time in faraway locales.
“I started by doing their special events – bonspiels, golf tournaments and donor breakfasts,” she explains.
“Then I had the opportunity to start up their Joints in Motion program, which provided me with the opportunity to take donors and volunteers around the world to run marathons in exciting locations like Hawaii, Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland.”
From there, Penner took a one-year contract as Campaign Director for the public launch of the Winnipeg Humane Society’s $9-million capital campaign, and after that, a stint with the United Way, as Senior Manager for Major Gifts and Planned Giving.
“Both of these opportunities allowed me to make incredible contacts within our city and further develop my fundraising skills,” she says.
“A common thread at all of my jobs was having an incredible mentor to work with me. When you can find a good person with great skills in your desired field who’s willing to mentor you, you make sure you soak up all that you can!”
After taking a year off to have a baby, Penner was hired by the St-Boniface Hospital Foundation, where she now has the chance to pay things forward by herself serving as mentor to other fundraising staff. She also serves as Chair of the Board for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners in Manitoba, an affiliation that allows her to plan educational sessions for peers and to provide professional support for her colleagues.
“I’m thoroughly enjoying fundraising for St-Boniface,” she says of her current post.
“Working in the area of health and wellness is a great match to my interests … It’s exciting to be a part of research and new and innovative machines that will improve the health and wellness of my fellow Manitobans for years to come.”
Penner says her career success is a direct result of the “fantastic foundation” provided during her time at the U of M, and as a means of saying thanks, now serves as a volunteer on the university’s Alumni Association board.
“I give the University of Manitoba credit for the great start it gave me in my career,” says Penner, who in addition to her work and family responsibilities also teaches fitness classes in her spare time.
“It’s incredible to come back to campus and see how things have continued to change and grow since I was a student!”
For more information on the St-Boniface Hospital Foundation, check www.saintboniface.ca/english/index.cfm
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
April 9th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
BRUCE MILLER
Degree: Bachelor of Recreation Studies
Graduated: 1999
Employed as: Manager of Aboriginal Relations, United Way of Winnipeg
You know what they say about the best laid plans.
And no one knows the sting of that old maxim better than University of Manitoba alum Bruce Miller, who based his decision to enroll in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (or as it was called at the time, the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies) on three simple factors.
The first was the existence of a Bison Sports “fly-in” camp providing recreational opportunities to Northern communities. The second was the presence of Faculty member Dr. Karen Fox; the third, Miller’s assumption that Winnipeg’s large population of First Nations people would translate to a similarly robust community of Aboriginal students.
Instead, when Miller arrived here from Ontario in the mid-1990s, he was surprised to find himself one of only a handful of Aboriginal students on campus.
“And the fly-in camp closed down when I came to the Faculty, and Dr. Karen Fox left, too,” he laughs.
“There was this whole house of cards that fell down as soon as I got here.”
Thankfully (for us and for him), Miller opted to stick it out with the Faculty, earning his Bachelor of Recreation Studies degree in 1999. And while he admits to being surprised by the lack of Aboriginal students at the time, he says the disparity eventually served as insipiration.
“I got involved in trying to create a difference, in providing opportunities to students – and to Faculty, for that matter – to get engaged in that area,” says Miller, who as a student helped establish FKRM’s Aboriginal Games and Activities course.
“Nowadays, there are more and more students involved, so that’s nice. And in fact now I work with and support some of those students – along with students who are now alumni. We have an informal network set up to support future endeavors in the community, or the Faculty or the school, because we feel that not only does it make sense to have a diverse student body, but also that we are contributing to the overall quality of life in both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population.”
Miller is quick to point out that both the U of M and FKRM itself have taken steps (via research and recruitment programs, in particular) to ensure that Aboriginal populations remain a priority. He also acknowledges the sense of obligation he felt to give back to his community after graduating.
No surprise, then, that Miller’s first job after convocating was as a Student Advisor for U of M’s ACCESS Program, the mandate of which was to make it easier for non-traditional students (single parents, rural residents, Aboriginals and immigrants, among them) to gain access to university educations, and to provide the support systems necessary to see those educations through to a degree.
“It’s one thing for a university to open its doors to people,” he explains. “But if we don’t provide the right conditions for them to succeed, they’ll trip at the door.”
“Demographically, we were changing the face of the University, knowing how important university is to all of us – in the sense that a good education provides better income, and better income provides better lifestyle and health.”
In 2007, Miller accepted a position with the United Way of Winnipeg, where he now works as Manager of Aboriginal Relations. It’s a post that again finds him building and maintaining relationships, this time between the United Way, the Aboriginal community, and the community at large, via the charity’s Aboriginal Relations Strategy.
Currently, he’s working on the second installment of the United Way’s “Eagle’s Eye View” project, a document – made up largely of census data and other research findings – that provides a comprehensive snapshot of the Aboriginal community in Winnipeg.
“It helps the United Way learn more about the Aboriginal community, but also helps the Aboriginal community learn about the United Way,” he says.
“More importantly, the document helps people from a diverse group of areas – people from philanthropic organizations, funders, government and community leaders and aboriginal leaders – it helps them make informed decision on policies or programs that work within the Aboriginal community.”
If that’s not enough, Miller has also spent the last few years serving as Chair of FKRM’s Undergraduate Advisory Board, a committee that exists to support the Faculty in both its enrolment endeavors and its efforts to communicate (to alumni and other external stakeholders) the diverse range of degree programs that complement recreation-, sport- and wellness-related initiatives in the community.
“After 10 years, to be back in a leadership position here is really neat,” says Miller, who also served for a year as President of the U of M’s Alumni Association.
“I feel very fortunate to be in a position where I’m passionate about my personal values, and to have them align with what I’m doing professionally.”
As for this time with FKRM – even after all those best laid plans went awry – Miller credits the relationships he established as a student with preparing him for a working world in which interpersonal dynamics are of paramount importance.
“You have an opportunity to get to know both the student body and the Faculty and support staff … and that prepares you for the real world, where you have to work together with a diverse group of individuals,” who recently turned up at FKRM’s Fieldwork Trade Show, seeking students interested in placements with the United Way (as either an event management intern, or a sponsored executive on the annual campaign team).
“I found that really provided me – beyond just the academic – with some competencies to work within the community, as either a leader or a follower, or someone in between.”
To learn more about the United Way of Winnipeg, see www.unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
March 26th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
KIMBERLY TEMPLETON
Degrees: Bachelor of Physical Education, Master of Science
Graduated: 1999 (BPE); 2004 (M.Sc.)
Employed as: Program Manager, CancerCare Manitoba’s Cervical Cancer Screening Program
Researchers – like educators – tend to find it immensely rewarding when presented with a concrete example of how their work has had a positive impact on someone else’s life.
So obviously, it’s an even bigger coup when a researcher can prove that their work not only helped to improve someone’s life, but altered its entire course.
That’s certainly the case with Kimberly Templeton, a Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management grad who’s now working as a Program Manager for CancerCare Manitoba, where she oversees the provincial Cervical Cancer Screening Program.
The position affords her the opportunity to benefit women’s health on a near-daily basis, but Templeton has no problem identifying a clear-cut example – one that dates back to her days as a graduate student working in FKRM’s Health, Leisure & Human Performance Research Institute.
Having minored in Women’s Studies while completing her Bachelor of Physical Education degree with FKRM, Templeton found herself exploring – via a series of workshops attended by a group of women of different ages and backgrounds – how issues of body image, self-esteem and self-perception relate to a woman’s overall physical health.
“Summer was approaching, and this one woman was just dreading the fact that shorts and short skirts were back in season, and what was she going to wear with her fat thighs?” Templeton recalls.
“I threw a question back to her: ‘Why do you understand your thighs to be fat? Like, where does that come from?’ And just challenging her to be more critical of what the media and the world is telling her about how she looks. And (that woman) is now a hard-core feminist, who has since completed a Women’s Studies degree. I think that’s a moment in my studies that I can be really proud of, because it feels like I really impacted the course of this woman’s life from that point forward.”
A casual sports enthusiast in high school, Templeton entered FKRM without a clear vision for her future, knowing only that she was interested in issues related to holistic health and wellness.
After graduating with her BPE in 1999, she was no closer to figuring things out, though she did manage to narrow her focus while pursuing her Master of Science degree a few years later.
“I was really interested in women’s studies, in body image and self-esteem and – just from my own experience – understanding how being physically active informed how I felt about myself,” she explains.
“That was what I undertook in my graduate degree, that relationship between being physically active and how that impacts your perception of self, and how you feel about yourself mentally.
“Luckily, the Faculty and my advisors really embraced me exploring this idea, and undertaking a totally unique project that I don’t think anyone had ever done before.”
With the help of her advisors (Dr. Joannie Halas and Dr. Janice Butcher), Templeton set up the aforementioned weekly workshop series, which combined an hour’s worth of physical activity with explorations of the social constructs that tend to affect women’s physical and mental health.
“A woman’s self-worth is so caught up in how they look,” says Templeton. “We need to challenge women into thinking that there’s more to who they are and more to their worth than just being physically active in order to look good, or to fit society’s concept of what looks good.”
The experience – and the subsequent research gathered – has certainly served her well over the course of her post-academic career, most notably during her two-year stint as Project Manager for CancerCare’s Adolescent Breast Health Promotion Initiative (now the Be Pink initiative), and as Health Promotion Specialist (and now, overall Program Manager) of CancerCare’s Cervical Cancer Screening Program in Manitoba.
And not surprisingly, there are commonalities between the findings of her graduate work and the messages imparted on behalf of CancerCare.
“One of the reasons women get cervical cancer is because they don’t take the time for themselves to focus on their health,” says Templeton.
“They’re so busy taking care of their kids or their parents or their husbands or their partners that they learn not to value their own health, or even to value their own self.”
Language barriers can also pose a problem, Templeton says, noting new immigrants and Aboriginal women are at an especially high risk. But it can be equally difficult to simply draw any attention at all to issues that for decades have been swept under the carpet.
“That’s why the controversy that comes from marketing campaigns can be a really important tool in creating a dialogue about things that are potentially sensitive topics, or potentially controversial topics,” she explains.
“We introduced a campaign a few years ago in the cervical cancer community that was very controversial, but its aim at the end of the day was to get women talking to each other about the importance of being screened.
“And cervical cancer is at least 10 or 20 years behind breast cancer. Breast cancer used to be a very sensitive topic that nobody wanted to talk about, because they’re breasts – they’re sexual objects. Cervical cancer is also about sex, even more so – and we’re trying to make that OK to talk about, too.”
Whatever the message she’s trying to promote, Templeton credits her time with FKRM – particularly her experience as a graduate student allowed to explore health from a uniquely female perspective – with providing her with the skill set she’s relied on while working to change the landscape of women’s health in Manitoba.
“I’ve been required to do a lot of different types of work – focus groups, interviews, marketing, database management, writing, curriculum development and resource development – and my experience in grad school really prepared me for the things that are required of me at CancerCare,” she says.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to have done that, but also the openness and the willingness of the Faculty to enable and facilitate that kind of learning.”
For more information about CancerCare’s Cervical Cancer Screening program, check http://www.cancercare.mb.ca/home/patients_and_family/prevention_and_screening/manitoba_cervical_cancer_screening_program/
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
March 26th, 2010
Filed under: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
FKRM’s Dr. Jennifer Mactavish (centre) with fellow members of the IPC’s Sport Science Committee: Dr. Walter Thompson, Regent’s Professor, Georgia State University (left); and Dr. Yves Vanlandewijck, Professor, Katholike Universiteit in Belgium (right).
Not surprisingly, all eyes were on the athletes at this year’s Paralympic Winter Games in B.C., where a number of multiple medal winners achieved rock star status.
But as always, there were thousands of people working behind the scenes to make those success stories possible, among them the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management’s own Dr. Jennifer Mactavish.
As she had in Salt Lake City in 2002, and again in Beijing in 2008, Mactavish attended this year’s Paralympic Winter Games primarily as part of her ongoing work with both the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Sport Federation for People with an Intellectual Disability (INAS- FID).
Given that this year’s Games occurred just months after a landmark decision by the IPC (to reverse a nine-year ban by reinstating athletes with intellectual disabilities in Paralympic Games competition), it stands to reason that much of Mactavish’s time in B.C. was spent laying the groundwork for the pending re-inclusion process.
The decision was prompted in part by researchers like Mactavish, who was initially tapped by the INAS- FID to recommend changes to the systems by which athletes with intellectual disabilities are managed, and later, to serve as the Federation’s advisor on eligibility while helping member organizations navigate the changing landscape.
“This was our first sit-down together since the decision (was made) in November, so we’re getting some details worked out with respect to our ongoing research agenda, which needs to be executed with fairly tight timelines – between now and the fall of 2011 – for all the qualifying events for (the next Paralympic Summer Games) in London in 2012,” says Mactavish.
“So far, we’ve been primarily focused on applying our research and our conceptual approach to classification to the summer sports: basketball, athletic swimming, rowing and table tennis.”
That said, similar measures also have to be taken with regards to the next round of the Paralympic Winter Games, slated to take place in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
“There’s also that whole agenda of the winter sports, like Nordic skiing and some alpine events we haven’t even started to think about,” she continues.
“So part of what was going on last week was working with the winter sports and introducing them to the overall approach to classifications that has been endorsed by the IPC and the Sport Science and Classifications committees.”
While she sees the IPC’s decision as a clear-cut victory for athletes with intellectual disabilities, Mactavish admits that reaction to the ruling has been mixed, mostly because there are parties who worry that the re-inclusion of such athletes will result in fewer spots for athletes with physical impairments.
“Certainly the inclusion of athletes with intellectual disabilities will not take away slots available to athletes … with different kinds of impairments. It’ll be an add-on,” she explains.
“In the Summer Games, where there are currently 4,000 athletes, we’re probably talking 100 to 200 athletes additional, which is not a huge number.”
Practical and philosophical issues aside, most stakeholders are now interested in moving forward, says Mactavish.
“It’s a culture shift,” she concedes. “So we have work to do, to continue to refine the system so that it demonstrates the connection between the underlying impairment of intellectual functioning and how that affects sport. At the end of the day, we have to substantiate that yes, this person has a disability, but how does that affect sport?”
While in B.C., Mactavish also attended informal meetings of the IPC’s Sport Science Committee (to which she was recently re-appointed for another four-year term), and checked up on research projects involving the biomechanical analysis of Nordic sit-skiers and sledge hockey players.
And of course, she also took in a few events, notably the sledge hockey gold medal game.
“There was a bit of disappointment that Canada’s team couldn’t complete the trifecta,” she says.
“But when I went in there, the atmosphere was just electric. It was a great time; the crowd was terrific, everyone was cheering and enthusiastic and supportive. And really, every venue I went to was like that – sports fans cheering on outstanding athletic performances.”
Posted in: Kinesiology and Recreation Management
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