With the 2019 FISU Winter Universiade set to open later this week, U SPORTS announced Wednesday that Ari Grossman, Associate Director of Business Operations for the Waterloo Warriors, has been appointed as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission for the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade.
“Ari has been a long-time supporter of the U SPORTS International Program and has been to five previous Universiades, including acting as Chef de mission for Canada at the 2017 Winter Games in Kazakhstan,” said Darren Cates, Chair of U SPORTS International Committee, and Canada’s Chef de Mission at the 2017 FISU Summer Universiade. “Ari has extensive knowledge of international sport, FISU and has built excellent relationships with representatives from other delegations which will benefit Canada tremendously at the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade. He is passionate about Canadian sport and is an exceptional leader for Team Canada.”
The full Mission Staff for the Canadian delegation led by Grossman and Charonne Thomasos, U SPORTS Manager of International Games Operations, who will serve as Assistant Chef de Mission, was also announced Wednesday. The group consists of 28 staff in the areas of operations, transportation, logistics and accreditation, sports and team services, translation, communications, and medical.
I’m excited to work with our incredible mission staff from across the country to provide our Canadian student-athletes with a great experience in Naples.
Grossman
“I’m honoured to be selected to lead the Canadian delegation at the FISU Summer Universiade,” said Grossman. “Wearing the maple leaf and representing our nation is something that so few get to do and I’m thrilled to again have the opportunity to contribute to such a memorable experience for our Canadian student-athletes, coaches and staff. I’m excited to work with our incredible mission staff from across the country to provide our Canadian student-athletes with a great experience in Naples.”
Canada will compete in 12 sports at the 30th FISU Summer Games including athletics, diving, fencing, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, taekwando, rugby sevens (men and women), and water polo (women) – all of which will be selected and managed in partnership with each respective National Sports Organization (NSO).
Canada will also field teams in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball and women’s soccer, all of which will be composed exclusively of U SPORTS student-athletes and managed by the national office.
We are excited to be bringing a diverse and experienced Mission Staff led by Ari that will play a key role in allowing our student-athletes to compete at a high performance level.
Lisette Johnson-Stapley - Chief Sport Officer at U SPORTS
Laurentian’s Shawn Swords (men’s basketball), Toronto’s Michèle Bélanger (women’s basketball), McMaster’s Dave Preston (men’s volleyball), Alberta’s Laurie Eisler (women’s volleyball) and UOIT’s Peyvand Mossavat (women’s soccer) will serve as head coaches of the five U SPORTS All-Star teams.
“We are excited to be bringing a diverse and experienced Mission Staff led by Ari that will play a key role in allowing our student-athletes to compete at a high performance level,” said Lisette Johnson-Stapley, Chief Sport Officer at U SPORTS. “We look forward to having all of them wear the maple leaf and represent Canadian university sport on the world stage this summer.”
Canada finished in 16th at the 2017 FISU Summer Universiade in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei with 13 medals (four gold, five silver, four bronze). This year’s event is slated for Naples Italy, July 3-14.
The 2019 FISU Winter Universiade begins Friday in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Follow Team Canada on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @USPORTSIntl for full coverage. Livestreaming is available at FISU.TV.
TEAM CANADA MISSION STAFF: 2019 FISU SUMMER UNIVERSIADE
Chef de Mission : Ari Grossman, Waterloo
Grossman is presently the Associate Director of Business Operations at University of Waterloo. He has worked in university sport for close to 20 years in a variety of positions and has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the U SPORTS International Program. He is an active member of the U SPORTS International Committee and has attended five FISU Universiades between 2005 and 2017. Most recently he was the Chef de Mission for the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Assistant Chef de Mission: Charonne Thomasos, U SPORTS
Thomasos joined U SPORTS as the Manager of Marketing and Brand in October 2017 after being with Ontario Soccer for nine years. In February 2018, she officially moved over to take the role of Manager of International Games Operations.
Thomasos began a career in the sports industry in 2008 as an intern with Rugby Canada. She has taken on a variety of roles in a few different sports throughout the years including the Grey Cup, Pan American Games, Toronto FC and Canada Soccer international matches, and continues to be an active coach in gymnastics and athletics.
Thomasos was a former NCAA student-athlete in track and field. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a specialization in Sport and Entertainment Management from Northwood University in Michigan and a Masters of Science degree in Athletic Administration from Ohio University.
Operations Manager: Karla Karch, Mount Royal
Karch joins the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade Mission staff with experience as a student-athlete playing basketball at the University of Victoria as well as Canada’s national team (1985 – 2000). She is also a two time Olympian (1996 and 2000) and has participated in the FISU Games on three different occasions (1985, 1987, 1991). She has been part of the coaching staff that won gold at the Canada Games in 2009 and on the mission staff for Alberta Summer Games, Western Canada Summer Games, Arctic Winter Games, and the World Master Games. Karla has been at Mount Royal University since 2005, overseeing the athletics department. In 2017, she took over the role of Director of Cougars Athletics and Recreation.
Operations Assistant: Barbara Giroud, U SPORTS
As Sport Coordinator, Barbara offers general support to the Sport Department in the national office, including Sport Technical & National Championships, International Programs, Eligibility and the coordination of committees. Barbara also does translation work for U SPORTS.
Barbara first joined U SPORTS in March 2017 as the International Programs Intern and attended the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade as Team Canada Games Operations Coordinator. When she returned from the Games, she was offered the Sport Coordinator position.
Barbara is originally from France where she played volleyball and graduated with a Masters degree in Intercultural Management & Translation. She also graduated from a certificate program in Sports Business from Columbia University. Before joining U SPORTS, she worked in a Business Event Agency in Switzerland as well as for the UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2016 Peace & Sport International Forum.
Operations Officer: Curt Warkentin, Manitoba
Warkentin began his career in sport coaching basketball, where he has accrued over 25 years of coaching experience, 18 at the post-secondary level. He is now in his 12th year at the University of Manitoba working as the Associate Athletic Director. Throughout his tenure at Manitoba, Curt served as a convenor for hosting five National Championships and 10 Canada West Championships. He is currently in his fourth year as the Vice President of Sport at Canada West, while also serving on the Board of Directors. In 2015, Warkentin served as the Administration Manager on the Team Canada Mission Staff at the Summer Universiade in Gwangiu, South Korea.
Warkentin is a valued member at U SPORTS, where he is involved with the Sport Committee and Women’s Hockey Sport Technical Sub-Committee.
Logistics & Accreditation Officer: Renee Ridout, U SPORTS
As the Coordinator of the U SPORTS website, statistics, and information technology, Ridout manages a great deal of U SPORTS online national statistics. Since joining U SPORTS in May 2016, Renee has worked on projects such as the launch of the new website, a new statistics strategy, and the coordination of technology in the U SPORTS office.
Ridout previously worked at AthletesCAN, the association of Canada’s national team athletes, as the Chief Content Curator. She started her path in high-performance sport with AthletesCAN in 2014. Renee worked on various projects with AthletesCAN in communications and events, promoting the collective athlete voice. She also assisted with the CIBC Team Next for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.
Ridout has a Bachelor of Arts in New Media and Anthropology and Masters of Information from the University of Toronto. While at U of T, Renee was also the captain of the Varsity Blues Women’s Fastpitch Team, a three-time OIWFA All-Star and three-time recipient of the Varsity Blues Academic Achievement Award.
Logistics & Accreditation Officer: Julie Dionne, Laval
Dionne has been the Director of Athletic and Recreation at Université Laval since 2018. In this role, she manages one of the largest university sports centres in Canada and has over 500 employees working to serve a wide variety of local and international clients.
Before taking up this position, she was the Associate Director at Université Laval where her main role was to administer the Laval Rouge et Or teams and their Boards of Directors. From 2013 to 2016, she was the Executive Director of the RSEQ conference in the Quebec City Area.
Among the experiences that have trademarked her sporting career, she was the captain of the Laval Rouge et Or women’s basketball team where she played for five years. Shortly thereafter, she coached basketball at different levels for 10 years, including five years in the CCAA where she won three national championships in a row as the head coach of the Cegep Sainte-Foy Dynamiques.
Sports Services: Guy Dubé, RMC
After earning an Honours Bachelor of Commerce in Sports Administration from Laurentian University, Dubé was hired as the Varsity Manager at the Royal Military College of Canada in June 2000.
Being at RMC has afforded him various opportunities to develop in a fast-paced and complex sport environment. Having the privilege to work in a military environment over the majority of his professional career has also afforded him some important insight and perspective on leadership and teamwork.
Dubé has served on the OUA Sport Committee since 2002, serving as one of the co-Chairs of the committee on various occasions. He is currently a member of the U SPORTS Sport Committee, as well as Chair of the Men’s Soccer Sport Technical Sub-Committee.
He also volunteered for the 3rd World Military Summer Games, hosted in Catania, Italy in December 2003. This was an international multi-sport event for military personnel, which featured 84 nations and 2,800 athletes in 13 different sports.
Team Services: Scott Ring, U SPORTS
As the Manager of Sport Technical and National Championships, Ring is charged with leading all areas of sport, including Sport Technical Sub-Committees, Rules and Regulations and Coaching Associations. He also is the main point of contact for all championship hosts, and manages deliverables internally for National Championships, while also seeing through championships from bid to evaluation.
Ring was hired by the national office in September 2014 as Events and Programs Officer, after completing a three-month contract with the Government of Canada. He moved over with the office, from Ottawa to Toronto as it transitioned from CIS to U SPORTS in October 2016. Ring graduated from Bishop’s University in April 2014, with a Bachelor of Business Administration, concentration in Marketing and Major in Sports Studies. At Bishop’s, Ring was the captain of the varsity basketball team where he helped guide the team to back-to-back conference finals in his last two seasons as a varsity athlete, was named MVP of the team in 2013, and the male academic athlete of the year at the institution in 2014. Throughout his time at university, Ring also took part in numerous fundraising initiatives, earning him the RSEQ Student-Athlete Community Service Award in 2014.
He was also the lead coach for a program called Small Ball, where young children of the community could learn the fundamentals of basketball. This program earned accolades in the community of Lennoxville, winning the sport program of the year in 2014.
Translator: Antonella Lee, UBC Okanagan
Lee has worked at UBC Okanagan for the past 10 years, starting out in the Finance Department and transferring to the Athletics and Recreation Department after two years. Her role is to coordinate travel for all 10 varsity teams (10) and manage finance.
Lee’s background in sports, although not competitive, is quite elaborate having participated in baseball, badminton, gymnastics and track and field. Despite never playing in a highly competitive sport setting, the competitive environment in which her UBCO Heat teams participate is what makes her job enjoyable.
This year will mark Lee’s first experience attending a FISU Universiade, where she looks forward to being an active, Italian-speaking member of the Mission Staff.
Communications Manager: Ben Matchett, Calgary
Matchett heads to his third Universiade in 2019 after stints as Communications Manager at the Granada 2015 Winter Games and Communications Officer at the Belgrade 2009 Summer Games.
Holding the position of Assistant Athletic Director of Operations and Communications at the University of Calgary, Matchett is in his 19th season with the Dinos. He has been part of 12 U SPORTS National Championships over his career and has served on both the Canada West and U SPORTS Board of Directors as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
As a graduate from the University of Calgary, Matchett completed his Masters degree in Education at the University of Washington in 2014.
Communications Officer: Ali Baggott, Victoria
Baggott has been working in sports communications since 2011. She has gained experience at multi-sport events and major games as a national team athlete, high level coach and a communications professional. Working at the 2015 Pan American Games, 2010 Vancouver Olympics and International Field Hockey World Cups, Baggott is a passionate contributor to the major games atmosphere. Baggott manages the communications office at the University of Victoria for the Vikes Athletics and Recreation department and has been a part of hosting several national championships. She is a keen social media strategist that pairs with her love for writing about sports and media relations.
Communications Officer: Jill Clark, Toronto
Clark has worked in the University of Toronto sports information office for the past 10 years. She was a member of the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team from 2003-08, captaining the team for two seasons and earning OUA all-star honours in 2006-07. Clark began volunteering in the sports information office in her final season as an athlete (2007-08) and joined the intercollegiate staff full time in November, 2009.
She served as a sports information officer on the Team Canada Mission Staff at the 2013 FISU Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. Clark also volunteered as a press operations supervisor in field hockey at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and sat on the results committee of the 2012 Ontario Summer Games. Clark graduated from University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Physical Education & Health with a minor in English.
Communications Officer: Stéphane Jobin, Laval
Holder of a bachelor's degree in Public Communication-Journalism from Laval University, Jobin has been a communication officer for the Rouge et Or since 2010. He has been involved in the organizing committees of many national championships, including three Vanier Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015).
Jobin also has FISU Games experience, having been the Communications Manager for the Canadian Team at the 2015 Summer Games in Gwangju, South Korea, where Canada claimed eight medals.
Before joining Laval University, he was the Editor-in-Chief for three weekly newspapers in the Ottawa region – L'Express d'Ottawa, La Nouvelle de Prescott-Russell and The Orléans Star, an English paper serving the Ottawa-East region. This experience has allowed him to realize a dream and be selected to represent Transcontinental Media at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. He was then responsible of publishing more than 70 newspapers across Quebec and Ontario, while following the performances of over 50 athletes.
Photographer: Mathieu Bélanger, Laval
Mathieu Belanger has been an editorial and commercial photographer for over 13 years. During his career he has covered disasters, royals, politics and many sporting events. Some of his highlights includes the Formula One Grand Prix, Grey Cups, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the IIHF World Hockey Championship as well as many World Championships. Since 2013, he also has been affiliated with Laval University to cover their varsity teams and the U SPORTS Championships hosted in Quebec City. In 2015, he was the official photographer for the Team Canada at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea – an experience he repeated in 2017 in Taipei.
Videographer: Sam Charles, UBC Okanagan
Charles has represented Canada twice at the Summer Universiade as Team Canada’s videographer; documenting the Games for U SPORTS’ audiences. On Friday nights during the variety season, he is the play-by-play voice (and technical advisor) for UBC Okanagan Heat basketball and volleyball webcasts on CanadaWest.TV.
Charles is the Communications & Awards Coordinator with the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan where he is responsible for developing strategic communication materials that highlight the School’s amazing people, innovative research and experiential pedagogy.
MEDICAL STAFF
Chief Medical Officer: Connie Lebrun, Alberta
Physician: Darrell Menard
Physician: Olesia Markevychl, Alberta
Physician: Rose Martel
Chief Therapist: Andrea Prieur, York
Athletic Therapist: Jason White
Athletic Therapist: Connie Klassen, Camosun College
Athletic Therapist: Tina Szeto, Centennial College
Physiotherapist: Jacques Lavergne
Physiotherapist: Joe Rotella
Massage Therapist: Karen Hyslop-Gibson
Massage Therapist: Michael Wolfe-Grafstein
U SPORTS-MANAGED TEAMS
Men’s Volleyball
- Head Coach: Dave Preston, McMaster
- Team Leader/Assistant Coach: James Gravelle, Windsor
- Assistant Coach: Grant Wilson, Brandon
- Athletic Therapist Natalie Paladino, Windsor
Women’s Volleyball
- Head Coach: Laurie Eisler, Alberta
- Team Leader/ Assistant Coach: Ryan Ratushniak, Queen’s
- Assistant Coach: Rick Scott, Dalhousie
- Athletic Therapist: Jennifer Childs, Laurier
Women’s Soccer
- Head Coach/Team Leader: Peyvand Mossavat, UOIT
- Assistant Coach: Cindy Tye, Dalhousie
- Assistant Coach: Jose-Luis Valdes, McGill
- Athletic Therapist: Charlotte Vallières-Villeneuve, Laval
Men’s Basketball
- Head Coach: Shawn Swords, Laurentian
Women’s Basketball
- Head Coach: Michèle Bélanger, Toronto
Full coaching staffs for men’s and women’s basketball, as well as rosters for all five U SPORTS-managed teams will be announced at a later date.
