Dick White recently retired after a career of over 30 years at the University of Regina. Dick began his career at the U of R in 1981 serving as an Administrative Assistant in Athletics before eventually becoming an Athletic Coordinator. He was appointed Director of Interuniversity Athletics in 1995. Following Dick’s retirement he successfully completed a Graduate Certificate program in Executive Coaching at Royal Roads University and is now Certified Executive Coach and Associate with Praxis Consulting in Regina.

Under his leadership, the university athletic program grew from six original varsity level sports to 16. This expansion included a unique community partnership agreement which added football to the university program and addressed issues of gender equity with the addition of women’s programs in hockey, soccer and wrestling. In addition, the university moved from the four-member Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) to the 17-member Canada West Conference to better address the competitive requirement of the growing sport offering.

White’s governance has resulted in the U of R winning 16 Canada West/GPAC Championships and four U SPORTS Championships. As well, the school hosted five successful U SPORTS Championship tournaments.

During his career, White provided sport leadership at every level serving as President of SaskSport, Canada West and U SPORTS. He was the longest serving President of CIS, in the over 50-year history of that organization, completing five terms in the role. In 2005 he served as Chef de Mission, Team Canada, at FISU Winter Universiade in Austria. 

Dick’s contributions as a builder in sport have been recognized with recent induction into the City of Regina, University of Regina and Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, in addition to the Canada West Hall of Fame.

Lisette Johnson-Stapley has worked in Canadian Sport for over 20 years in the areas of stakeholder relations, program management, event operations, partnerships building, human resources, broadcast, marketing, public relations and revenue generation.

She has held leadership roles with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, Ontario Volleyball, CTV-Rogers, Own the Podium, VANOC (the Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler), Softball Canada and other national sport organizations, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and BMO Financial Group. Her experience on the international scene includes executing initiatives at World Championships in Canada and abroad, as a member of the Canadian Mission Team at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games as well FIFA Women’s World Cups.

As General Manager of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, she led the operations, human resources and financial management as well as stakeholder relations and community engagement, all according to the governance of Canada Soccer and FIFA. She worked with many sport and multi-sport organizations through- out her career to further develop sport, help promote Canadian athletes and coaches and create more efficient systems to contribute to the improvement of the sport landscape in Canada. Some past responsibilities include working with technical committees and high performance staff in the areas of sport science, doping infraction processes, discipline committees and training and education.

Lisette holds a degree in Economics from Laurentian University and is fluently bilingual. Lisette was born and raised in Kingston, Ont., lived in Ottawa working for various national sport and multi-sport organizations; moved to Calgary to work for Own the Podium and VANOC and now currently resides in Whitby, Ont., with her husband Robert, and three children – Sarah, Nathalie and Callum. Lisette has been involved as a participant and administrator in sport her entire life.

Experienced, bilingual sports administrator (Athletic Director/Broadcasting/Communications) with a focus in a post-secondary education environment. Skilled in strategic planning, administration, communications planning (traditional & social media), revenue generation & fundraising, stakeholder engagement, event management, game staging, event management, broadcasting and public speaking.

Member of several boards of directors including the Johnny Bower Foundation, Basketball Québec and la Fédération du sport francophone de l'Alberta.

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Tara Hahto is the U SPORTS Director, Compliance & Eligibility. Her main responsibilities are leading policy development, member education, and compliance with respect to eligibility, recruiting, and Athletic Financial Awards (AFA) portfolios. Additionally, she works with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) to manage U SPORTS’ efforts in anti-doping, and oversees the development and implementation of U SPORTS Central. Tara works extensively with the membership to develop and enhance U SPORTS’ work in these areas in order to provide outstanding environments and opportunities for student-athletes.

Tara was a Canadian Olympic Trials qualifier and NCAA Division I student-athlete, competing for four years with Boise State University’s swimming team. Following her undergraduate degree in Idaho, she completed her master’s degree at Texas Christian University while working as an assistant coach for the TCU Horned Frogs swimming and diving team. Tara began working with U SPORTS in spring 2013.

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As Director of Sport, Jennifer’s responsibilities include planning and managing one of U SPORTS’ core business properties in the 21 annual National Championships. She also works with industry experts and both internal and stakeholders on bid selections and processes, manages all Sport Technical Sub-Committees, as well as internally-run U SPORTS teams competing at international and special external events.  

Jennifer previously spent over 14 years at Rugby Canada, most recently serving as Director of Events. She is as an accomplished project leader within the sport industry, with over a decade of success both nationally and internationally.

The Manager of Finance reports to the Chief Operating Officer and contributes to the overall success of the organization by effectively managing all financial tasks, overseeing budgeting and accounting.

Tony is an accounting and finance professional with over 20 years of experience from numerous industries and has held various titles, from an Accountant at Ontario SPOR Support Unit to Director of Finance at The Art Institute of Toronto. In his diverse roles, Tony’s duties have included financial reporting, administration of budgets, directing forecasts and managing the day to day operations of accounting departments.

Tony earned a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from Seneca College. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife and two kids.

Jocelyn Falbo is the Manager, Corporate Events and Awards.

Jocelyn is an accomplished hospitality, event planning and executive administrative professional. After studying Sociology at Western University, Jocelyn graduated from Humber College with a Diploma in Hospitality Management in 2006. She has spent the past 15 years working in hospitality and the past five years of that time as a Senior Event Manager. Her varied experiences in the world of small and large events and sales and customer service have yielded exceptional skills in project management, attention to detail, superior ability to multi task and excellent interpersonal/communication skills.

Jocelyn was born in Calgary, Alberta but was raised in Kanata, Ontario. She now lives in Keswick, Ontario with her husband Daniel. She is passionate about coaching Special Olympics Basketball, planning events for friends and family, and health and wellness.

As the Manager of Governance and Special Projects, Zach works closely with the executive leadership team, in the areas of U SPORTS governance, business operations, and major corporate events (i.e., National Championships, Conference and Annual Meeting, the Lieutenant Governor Athletic Awards, and the Governor General's Academic All-Canadian Commendation). In addition, Zach’s portfolio includes the managing of CEO affairs, as well as the leading of the U SPORTS Internship Program.

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Mohamed Hassan is the Manager, Marketing & Events.

Mohamed has an extensive background in sport marketing, having previously worked as Creative Director at Brock University Athletics. He also founded a Sport Marketing agency, representing organizations such as Canada Basketball, the Canada Summer Games, FIBA, Ontario University Athletics, and more. Mohamed plans to continue to bring his creativity and goal-oriented mindset to U SPORTS.

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As Manager, Communications and Content, Alan oversees all internal, external and corporate communications needs for members, U SPORTS partners and staff, while also working closely with media outlets across the country. Alan also manages the organization’s editorial content production through volunteer and freelance contributors, with a focus on telling the human interest stories prevalent throughout university sports in Canada.

His previous experience includes various roles in the sports media and communications industry, including with Maccabi Canada, Hockey Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, TSN SportsCentre, Yahoo! Sports Canada and the National Post, among others.

Alan completed his Bachelor of Journalism at Ryerson University in 2013.

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As Coordinator of Compliance and Eligibility, Elysse provides support to the Operations Department in the areas of student-athlete eligibility, recruiting, Athletic Financial Awards (AFAs), anti-doping and U SPORTS Central. In addition, she oversees the 2019-20 Academic All-Canadian Recognition Program.

Elysse began her career with U SPORTS as a marketing and sponsorship intern in 2019, before transitioning into the role of Coordinator, Digital Technology and Statistics – where she was responsible for managing the U SPORTS website, as well as national sports information and statistics with the membership.

She holds an undergraduate honours degree in Kinesiology and Health Sciences from York University, a Doctorate of Chiropractic from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, and a postgraduate Sport Business Management Diploma with honours from Humber College. Her experience in the industry – both in health care and on the business side – spans multiple sports organizations and events, including the Brampton Beast, Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, Skate Ontario and the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Elysse is particularly passionate about amateur and varsity sport and is looking forward to advancing university sport in Canada.

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As the Sport Coordinator, Jenna offers general support to the Sport Department, including National Championships and Sport Technical, Coaching Programs, Compliance, Eligibility and Discipline, and International Programs.

Jenna graduated from Acadia University in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Kinesiology, and went on to complete a Graduate Certificate in Sport Business Management from Algonquin College the following year. She played varsity soccer for all five years of her university career, having played four years with the Acadia Axewomen and one season at Algonquin College, attending the CCAA National Championship in 2015.

Jenna was born and raised in Halifax, N.S., and has spent the majority of her life on the east coast. She enjoys coaching youth soccer and was the former Technical Lead at Halifax County United Soccer Club. Jenna was the Women’s Soccer Assistant Coach at Mount Saint Vincent University for three years, and attended the CCAA National Championship for her first time as a coach in 2018. She was also a member of the Nova Scotia Canada Games Team in 2009 (soccer) and 2011 (ringette). She has past experience with U SPORTS having been involved with the host committees for the 2016 CIS Women’s Soccer National Championship at Acadia University and the 2017 U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8 Championship in Halifax.

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