From Concordia to the Games

By Lana Button

In 1983, Canada Games President and Chief Executive Officer Sue Hylland, GrDip 86, was working toward her Concordia Diploma in Sports Administration (DSA) when she scored a seven-week internship with the Canadian Olympic Association. “That internship turned into a summer job, which turned into a full-time position lasting 17 years,” she relates.

A Concordia DSA Internship with the Canadian Olympic Association steered Sue Hylland toward becoming Canada Games president and CEO.

Hylland held various positions with the Canadian Olympic Association until the end of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. In 2003, after a year with the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity, the Canada Games Council in Ottawa invited Hylland to lead the organization.

Hylland now oversees the development of each Canada Games, a 16-day event held once every two years, alternating summer and winter games. Each multi-sport competition hosts 4,000 young athletes, ages 12 to 22, from across the country. Every province and territory gets to host a Canada Games on a rotating basis. Hylland visits and evaluates each site that bids for the games and finds the community that will provide the best environment and uphold the Games’ standards and integrity. The Canada Games Council awards the host site five years in advance.

Once a location is chosen, Hylland helps establish that community’s host society, which will run the games. “We appoint one lead person, and it’s amazing to watch that one person grow into a 6,000-person society that takes over the organization,” she explains.

Hylland is now supervising the 2008 Summer Canada Games, slated for August 15 to 29 on Prince Edward Island. At the same time, she’s managing the preparation for Halifax’s 2011 Winter Games and preparing to visit sites bidding for the 2013 Summer Games in Quebec.

Hylland’s Canada Games Council also generates opportunities for young Canadian athletes to compete year in and year out. The council encourages schools and communities to put on their own version of the Canada Games through its so-called Canada Games Resource Kit. “This kit simulates a Canada Games. It’s an excellent way to keep young athletes active and competitive between games,” she says.

“The Canada Games are a springboard for many Canadian Olympians,” Hylland says. “In the last Olympics, more than 50 per cent of the Canadian athletes and more than 50 per cent of the Canadian medalists were past Canada Games athletes.”

— Lana Button

If you have any comments about this article, contact Howard Bokser, (514) 848-2424 ext. 3826, Howard.Bokser@concordia.ca