November 26, 2005 (Whitehorse, Yukon) – The Canadian Cycling Association’s AGM began today in Whitehore, Yukon and the opening session was met with unanimous applause as CEO Steve Lacelle presented an overview of the organization’s accomplishments to date and plans for the future.

The CCA has effectively cleaned house and successfully restructured and re-energized itself by investing in people and systems to set the stage for future success, with vision and accountability, both in the short term and long term.

Among its accomplishments the association has its financial position under control having completed two audits successfully, maintained a $104k surplus, hired five new coaches at the National Team level, addressed concerns with its Provincial Sport Organizations (PSO), developed a new strategic national coaching plan as it transitions to the new NCCP (National Canadian Coaching Program), and obtained a whopping $2.8 million of additional funding over the next four years through a special initiative at Sport Canada for High Performance programs.

New CCA Director of Finance and Administration, Mike Adams, explained the recent process of the financial restructuring as he managed the two successful audits, and implemented Sport Canada’s 9-pt action plan including new methods of reporting and accountability. In addition there are plans to stabilize existing insurance costs and processes, align affiliation fees with better service delivery to members, establish a donations/trust program, improve the CCA’s cash flow, and present a break-even budget.

Kim Sebragno, the CCA’s new Director of Marketing, spoke about linking Canada’s world class athletes with world class brands, aligning internal and external communications to present unified CCA branding, signing new supplier agreements at the national level to serve the membership (i.e. recent signing of National Car Rental, Delta Hotels), and bring on board a new logistics partner for the National Team. The Association is close to renewing its partnerships with Tim Hortons and Louis Garneau and hopes to make inroads with television broadcasting, in addition to launching a new CCA website shortly.

Director of Domestic Programs, Brett Stewart, talked of improvements by consolidating programs, streamlining and re-designating staff to support domestic programs, establishing a solid foundation for policy and procedures, and getting committees to work more effectively. In addition to a new focus on the NCCP transition, training materials for coaches and officials have also been updated. The process of integrating the LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) is another key initiative along with building grassroots program strategies and continuing to focus on BMX.

“Canadians on Podiums” is the new mantra for the High Performance program now with seven coaches in place including Michel Leblanc: MTB, Eric van den Eynde: Track, Vincent Jourdain: Road, Tanya Dubnicoff: BMX, Stephen Burke: Paralympic, Houshang Amiri: National Cycling Centres, Jacky Hardy: European base. Director, Kris Westwood, wants to focus on building a strong coaching team, raise the standards to become a National Team member, offer more benefits and technical support to members, and prioritize support for National Cycling Centres who are delivering.

The final presentation was by Paul Jurbala, a consultant to the CCA, who explained the multi-faceted LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) that’s in development with all sport bodies in Canada. Among the 17 initiatives are optimizing development, reaching kids at an early age, retaining participants, accessing athletes during their prime trainability phase (11-15 years), creating partnerships within and outside each organization, and developing a common terminology.

The CCA has emerged through turbulent times and re-established itself as a vibrant organization with goals and vision supported by a strong and passionate team of professionals, who have accomplished a lot during this past year and are poised to do much more.

Tomorrow are the CCA elections – stay tuned.