January 26, 2005 – On behalf of the CCA Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Lacelle to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) effective February 14th, 2005.

Reporting to the Association’s board of directors, the COO is responsible to ensure that the operations of the CCA are aligned and managed in support of the long-term strategic goals of the Association with emphasis on growth and financial stability.

A dedicated amateur athlete and sports volunteer, Stephen possesses an MBA from one of the United Kingdom’s leading universities and has extensive senior management experience in strategic planning, human resources management, marketing plan development and operations management.

On accepting the position as COO Mr. Lacelle commented “I am looking forward to the challenge of restoring this organization to full capacity and to promoting the sport’s development across Canada. We have a challenge ahead, but there are exceptional resources in athletes, staff and coaches to lead the way. It will be my goal to create more opportunities for all Canadians to enjoy the benefits of cycling while attracting more resources to the sport to ensure high performance success is sustained on the world scene for years to come.”

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincerest appreciation to Brett Stewart for the dedication he has shown since assuming the position of Acting Director General last spring. Brett took on this challenge at a critical and stressful time, just prior to the Olympic Games, and helped to knit the CCA staff into a cooperative working unit. I would also like to give special thanks to Sean O’Donnell, who took on many extra duties in the high performance area, and to the rest of the office and coaching staff who have all contributed to the very successful season just completed. We look forward to having both Brett and Sean continue working in key senior roles in the organization.

Stephen comes to the CCA with the experience and leadership skills that we feel are of utmost importance to the organization at this time. The selection committee was impressed with the enthusiasm, perceptiveness, analytical skills and business sense that Mr. Lacelle brought to the table. I am confident and excited this is another important step in the new direction we are taking the CCA.

As always, please feel free to call or email me at bkinash@accesscomm.ca if you have any questions about this announcement or any other CCA issue.

Bill Kinash
CCA President