Calgary businessman Gary Allan is rejoining Alpine Canada Alpin as President to lead business operations while Chief Athletics Officer Max Gartner will direct sport programming in the lead up to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
With the national sport organization focused on making Canada a world leading alpine ski racing country for 2010 and beyond, the moves are designed to sustain existing efforts which have led to dramatic team improvements over the past five years.
“We have a very strong organization with quality people and exceptional sports programming,” said Mr. Allan, who served as President until stepping down from-day-to-day operations earlier this year. He has remained involved in the sport.
“With the Winter Games only two winters away, we have a solid strategic plan and very clear goals for our national teams. Our goal is to focus efforts on providing the resources and programs our athletes need to win.”
“To fully implement our plan Alpine Canada Alpin needs about $1 million in more funding annually. I intend to expand marketing efforts to secure the funding Canada’s athletes require to win,” Mr. Allan added.
Allan will be responsible for day-to-day operations while Gartner continues to manage athletic programs as the two executives’ partner to achieve the continuously improving results required in the Alpine Canada Alpin Strategic Plan.
“Gary Allan has proven himself in the business world and is most capable of maintaining the momentum that has been built in recent years. It was important moving forward to keep focused on increasing resources and improving our athletic performance toward the 2010 Games in Vancouver/Whistler,” said Reid Drury, the Chair of ACA’s Board of Directors, in announcing the executive changes.
Canada’s able-bodied and para-alpine ski teams combined to achieve a total of 74 World Cup podium finishes last season. CAST has improved from 12th in the World Cup standings in 2002 to sixth place last season while the CPAST team finished a record-setting second overall last season. Both teams enter critical period’s with World Championships taking place later this season followed by the 2010 Olympic Winter Games just two winters away.
The Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team structure, lead by High Performance Director Jean-François Rapatel, will remain unchanged.
