UBC athletics saga a study in farce
New committee named to run program is woefully inexperienced in university sports
The ongoing athletics saga at the University of B.C. has taken an even more bizarre turn. Instead of an inept Athletic Director, the department will be run temporarily by the always-efficient, eight-person committee, none of whom are experienced in university athletics, save Blake Nill, who has yet to coach his first game at UBC.
Doubtless the mastermind behind this stroke of genius is Dr. Louise Cowin, evidently with the blessing of the new president, Dr. Arvind Gupta, who inherited this fiasco from Stephen Toope, who took his leave as the damage from the Sports Targeting Review was piling up.
Needless to say the coaches of the varsity programs are dismayed at this turn of events as they were hoping the impending departure of the director of athletics, Ashley Howard, might have cleared the way for somebody who knows how to run the department. No such luck.
Instead, there is a committee of what appear to be Cowin loyalists who find themselves running the department when in fact none of them have any experience in university athletics at all. Some think this committee, along with the cross-council Cowin now belongs to, is a positive development and, way down the road, perhaps that will be the case. But what mayhem will happen in the meantime?
Most notably left off this temporary committee is Theresa Hanson, the Director of Operations and Student-Athlete Services who is far more qualified to run the department than the departing Howard ever was, yet she doesn’t even get a sniff. It’s either the equivalent of Cowin and, by extension, Gupta telling her she’s really not valued or having her on the committee would prevent her from consideration to become the new Athletic Director.
But the latter seems less likely as long as her husband Kevin is coaching the men’s basketball team, something many feel precludes her from consideration anyway.
The chair of this temporary committee is Gord Hopper, who was brought in from ‘Freestyle Canada’ last year and prior to that was a stayat-home dad for seven years. A nice fellow by all accounts. The best thing that can be said about his qualifications, apparently, is that at least he knows it’s a gong show.
There’s Jeff Todd, who runs the alumni Association and is only seen by anyone at the Big Block Dinner. Hillary Gosselin is in charge of fundraising at the alumni and development office and now finds herself running an athletic department, although at least she will be sensitive to alumni concerns. Kavie Toor is in charge of facilities and is just one of those ‘great, how are you, high-fiving kind of guys,’ according to those who deal with him, but sadly has zero experience in this area. Neeta Soni is in charge of marketing and community engagements but is apparently already on record as saying she’ll be too busy to market the 2016 CIS basketball championships, when in fact it should be her No. 1 concern.
Mike Pearce is the rowing coach, one of the original ‘chosen’ sports, and, as such, he is and has been a Cowin loyalist from the outset. Then there’s Nill who now coaches the Sidoo Thunderbirds, and Brian Heathcote, the financial director and VP of students.
You can’t make this stuff up. Not only is there no experience in the area where they are all functioning, the ironies are breathtaking.
Take Nill for example. He finds himself as the varsity football coach who has yet to coach his first game, now on the committee making decisions on the future of an athletic program headed by Cowin, whose Targeting review initially set out to eliminate the very program employing him. The initial review has been so divisive, so costly and so ill-conceived that at least $3 million has been flushed away on it and it has left the department being run by this cumbersome group of neophytes in further over their heads than Jacques Cousteau.
The coaches all met the morning after this committee was announced and vented, with many fearing for their jobs. One coach contacted and asked to go on record with his frustration said flat out: “On record equals fired. I can’t have my name associated. Must be another way.”
Another said: “We thought things would get better with Ashley (Howard) leaving but instead they’re worse. Even though she’s on the way out, she is still hiring and firing people. It’s amazing.”
All of this has to be profoundly embarrassing to Dr. Gupta but it’s becoming increasingly clear he is understandably busy with bigger fish to fry. He says he feels varsity athletics is important and Thursday he talked about hiring a VP External who will form a new committee to oversee Varsity sports. So some are clinging to these words and this future appointment. But the search committee named to pursue this person could fill Thunderbird Stadium and it could be months before he lands and readies to restore order.
Stay tuned. Where it goes from here can only get more amusing.