Corporate
Getting to know your U SPORTS student-athletes: Gurmaan Jhaj, UFV Cascades
The 2018 U SPORTS Conference and Annual Meeting kicks off Monday, June 4 at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel in downtown Vancouver, where athletic directors from all 56 member schools and representatives of the four conferences will gather for three days to hear from notable keynote speakers, receive important updates from the national office and have the opportunity to network with their peers. The attendees will also have access to the U SPORTS University Athletics Tradeshow, featuring over 25 vendors.
This year’s conference begins with a start-studded event - the 26th BLG Awards Gala. On Monday night, the 2018 U SPORTS Athletes of the Year will be crowned and for the first time alongside winners of the U SPORTS Honours Awards, which recognize the career achievements of members to Canadian university sport. The gala begins at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT at UBC’s Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and will be livestreamed for free on USPORTS.Live.
Tuesday will be highlighted by a keynote address from Dr. Michael C. Meyers, PhD, FACSM from the Department of Sport Science and Physical Education at Idaho State University. Dr. Meyers’ presentation is entitled Is All Artificial Turf Created Equal? The Latest in Football & Soccer Player Injury Research, and will shed light on the difference in injury rates while playing soccer on natural grass vs. artificial turf. The conference will also include a presentation on Event hosting and the Impact of Partnership by Michelle Collens of Sport Hosting Vancouver, along with a discussion panel on live video content and webcasting, featuring representatives from NeuLion, Yare Media, the Centre for Digital Media and Hubcast Media Productions, among several others presentations and thematic breakout sessions.
Other key presenters include:
- Mikes Shaw, HeadStartPro – Leading with an Athlete Mindset
- Sam Galet, IMG
- Stéphane Boudreau, RSEQ – Government Relations & Sport System Alignment: Lessons from the RSEQ
- Kevin Chief, Business Council of Manitoba – Insights into the Importance of University Sports
- Bob Copeland, McLaren Global Sport Solutions Inc. – Sport Model Review & Implementation
- Caleb Benoit, SOHO Media Solutions
For more information, please visit the Conference and Annual Meeting Website here.