Alpine Canada promotes Read; Allan new president

Ken Read has been promoted to chief executive officer and businessman Gary Allan has been named Alpine Canada Alpin’s new president as the national sports organization accelerates toward the 2010 Games in Vancouver/Whistler.
    The executive appointments and restructuring of leadership positions Thursday are designed to ensure athletes on the Canadian alpine ski team and the Canadian disabled alpine ski team are given the increased support necessary to reach the organization’s goal of becoming a sustainable world-leading alpine racing country by 2010.

KEN READ has been promoted to chief executive officer and businessman Gary Allan has been named Alpine Canada Alpin’s new president as the national sports organization accelerates toward the 2010 Games in Vancouver/Whistler.
    The executive appointments and restructuring of leadership positions Thursday are designed to ensure athletes on the Canadian alpine ski team and the Canadian disabled alpine ski team are given the increased support necessary to reach the organization’s goal of becoming a sustainable world-leading alpine racing country by 2010.
    Effective Monday, former president Ken Read will be responsible for the organization’s strategic direction, developing leading-edge tactics and spearheading efforts to fulfill Alpine Canada Alpin’s mission with the goal to deliver to athletes the human, technical and financial resources required to be the world’s best.
    Allan, a successful business builder with extensive relationships across Canada, will primarily focus on the management of day-to-day operations of the growing sports organization as Canada prepares to host more major alpine events in advance of the next Winter Games. For the past four years, he served on the four-man executive committee of the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cups and has been actively involved in bringing more races to Canada.
    “Alpine ski racing in Canada has been growing with tremendous momentum and these changes focus resources where they can solidly impact our stated goal of being the best in the world in 2010 and beyond,” said Read, who has served as president for more than four years. “With his proven business background, solid project-management experience and passion for our sport, Gary Allan brings strong new skills to ski racing in Canada.”
    Allan said, “Becoming the world’s best requires excellence at every level, from the grass roots to elite world-caliber racing. I hope to help our team deliver the operation excellence our athletes need to consistently reach the podium.”
    With 36 World Cup medals last season, five Paralympic medals and a strong team performance at the Olympic Winter Games, Canada achieved the country’s best-ever performance in alpine skiing. Since 2002, the Canadian alpine ski teams have moved from 12th to sixth in the FIS alpine ski World Cup nations ranking and to fourth in the disabled World Cup rankings.
    Over the past four years, revenue has increased 150 percent through long-term commercial partnerships, enhanced fundraising programs including the Podium Club, Founders Club and Rising Stars projects, which now direct nearly $1 million in funding toward athlete development and strategic partnerships with funding agencies including Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium.
    But to compete on a level playing field with other world-leading countries Alpine Canada Alpin requires at least $3 million more in funding each year as well as bolstering the Alpine Canada Alpin Foundation to a projected goal of at least $20 million.
    “Within this new leadership structure, I can dedicate my passion and knowledge to strategic objectives which include developing strategies and securing the resources necessary to get athletes on the podium and build a ski racing system which will compete with the best today, tomorrow and well beyond 2010,” Read said. “Our new president will have the time to ensure all our resources support our growing number of initiatives, from the grass roots to the World Cup level.”

— Alpine Canada Alpin