Thank you, Brian!

BC Athletics would like to acknowledge and mark the outstanding leadership and service that Brian McCalder has contributed in 49 years as the head of our provincial sport organization. Brian officially retires on June 30th.

Brian’s tenure is notable for its length, but it is remarkable in its legacy and the impact it has had on the development of our sport at both the provincial and national level.

Over the course of 12 Olympic quadrennial cycles our sport has grown and changed; in often dramatic ways. That change has taken many forms. A cultural shift in Track & Field from an “amateur” sport to an openly professional one. The growth of mass participation and endurance events on the road, in the trails and on the mountains. The too often slow push for gender equality and inclusivity.

There have been crisis inside and outside of the sport, like the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), Olympic boycotts, and the recent COVID pandemic.

Brian has been there to guide BC Athletics through all of it, a testament to his ability to adapt and respond to a changing environment within and outside of our sport.

BC Athletics is financially strong, with the highest membership numbers in its history as Brian moves to enjoy a well-earned retirement with his wife Nancy.

We are left with a strong sense of values that will continue to guide us into the future. The Long Term Athlete Development model that much of our Coaching Education program, BC Team programs and design of our competitions are all a reflection of those values in action…and have been championed by Brian up until his final days in the office.

Under Brian’s leadership BC Athletics has grown from a single employee organization to one that employs eight people in our Burnaby offices and engages with volunteers across the province and across the nation, to ensure we have the programs, tools, educational materials and perspective necessary to provide more opportunities for athletes, families and communities to participate in Athletics. He is rightly proud that our sport in British Columbia produces a proportionally high number of athletes on Canada’s national teams; another mark of the sports health here in BC.

Doug Clement (another icon of our sport in BC) noted that “It will be hard to think of BC Athletics without Brian McCalder” when informed that Brian would be retiring. Nothing could be truer.

With a reputation for fairness and of not being afraid to speak out to fight for the ideals that make our sport better, Brian steps into retirement with the gratitude and respect of our entire sport community.