Running in our new direction

94 Forward initiated a new strategy on April 1, 2023. You are a part of our journey.

We are building a generation of Canadian sporting talent. Victoria, and its community, are central to that strategy. We are working directly with athletes and coaches. 

This is Issue 5 of our newsletter - we hit 2024 running with several exciting new pilots and initiatives. We have completed our new speaker series, and we continue our good work in Triathlon, Boxing, Diving and will be executing a pilot in cycling.

Connecting Performance Speaker Series 🥳

Two Connecting Performance Speaker Series events have been held at the Baumann Centre in downtown Victoria. Thanks to Ian Rye and his team at the Pacific Opera.

Both sessions were moderated by Jordan Cunningham of CHEK News.  Featured panelists included First Violinist Terry Tam, Conductor Joey Pietraroia, Constable Sarah Kaufman, Sailor First Class Marketa Lund, and Olympians Gary Reed and Ryan Cochrane.

Here’s what you need to know

Between April 2023 and March 2024 we are delivering a range of pilot projects across multiple sports. These projects will be instrumental in helping us select a fixed number of sports we’ll work with until 2028 - culminating in the LA Olympic Games. 

🏁 Recently complete

• 🏊 🚲🏃 Triathlon - Feb 18-25
  We conducted a volume training camp led by Kelly Guest (more below) with 20 athletes from BC and Alberta, the same  group who attended our November camp. Olympian and coach Lisa Mensink from Alberta joined us again.  

🔥 Upcoming

• 🏊 🚲🏃 Triathlon - Mar 23-31
  Pat Kelly leads the fourth triathlon camp in our new model.  Junior and U23 athletes will assemble from BC, ON, and MB, along with their coaches.  Local support networks will billet these athletes.  On hand for the camp will be Master coaches: Marilyn Arsenault, Houshang Amiri, and Neil Harvey. Our triathlon camps are produced with the endorsement and support of Triathlon Canada.
  

• 🚴‍♂️ Mountain Biking with OCA - Mar 12-24
  The Ontario Cycling Association will bring in development athletes to train with Rob Holmgren. In the past year Coach Rob has worked with U19 athletes who have won 5 World Championship medals in Mountain Bike and Cyclo Cross. 94 Forward will augment this camp with a range of services and awesomeness that makes our new model unique in Canadian sport.
  

• 🤸‍♀️ Diving - Mar 17-22
  This Diving Canada (DPC) camp features 5 local athletes and 10 athletes from across BC.  Coaches Tommy McLeod and Julian Bellan are running this training block with guidance and support from Mitch Gellar CTO of DPC. Joining this camp will be Formidable and past Olympian Riley McCormick from Kamloops.
  

• 🧪 Sport Leadership - Mar 25-28
  Dr. Tim Jackson of Jackson Leadership will be in Victoria presenting his new research in high performance leadership to audiences from: sport, academics and business.

👍 Getting involved with 94 Forward

📧 Send us a note if you’re interesting in joining any Team 94 Activity - use the ‘Contact Us’ button at the end of the newsletter.

🤗 Share with your friends. If you’re a Formidable or locally based athlete, share this email - we are keen to build our reach in the local community and engage with more.

Coach Kelly Guest was 94 Forward’s first Sport Expert. When we are exploring work in a new sport we rely on the expertise of these advisors. They help us understand the local, regional (pan provincial), national and international landscape of a sport, as well as the needs for Canadian athletes and coaches to excel. Through experts like Kelly we ensure the work we do is additive and/or complimentary to existing programs, initiatives or activity in sport.

Kelly has helped us plan and/or deliver 5 Pilot Projects in Triathlon. Kelly Guest has been involved in the sport of Triathlon since the early 90's. He competed at the highest level across all disciplines from Elite World Championships to Xterra and Ironman. As the provincial coach for Triathlon BC, Kelly helps create systems to development athletes. Kelly is completely invested in the development of triathletes and takes the greatest joy in watching athletes improve through smart, hard work.

If you’re a first time reader of this newsletter, read past issues here: