Cross Country Canada has turned to the pool to find its new chief executive officer.
Pierre Lafontaine, former CEO and national team coach with Swim Canada, head swim coach of the Australian Institute of Sport, and CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), has been given the top job with Cross Country Canada.
“We need to be a cool sport in Canada – a sport where kids want to be. That’s the type of thing I can help the organization do,” Lafontaine said.
With a background in high performance sport, Lafontaine said he’d like to build a framework which will ensure long-term success – something he’s done well in the swimming world. But he insists that requires good people working towards a common goal.
“I love coaching and I loved my time with swimming. I was running the sport at the 60,000-foot birds-eye level, which had everything from teaching kids to learn to swim, stop drowning and win medals,” Lafontaine said. “The sport is run by people and the people need to line up for a common goal. They can line up for Canada, not just regional goals.”
Lafontaine will move to Canmore on Dec. 1 and said he will spend the coming month meeting with staff, athletes and clubs to get a grasp of issues facing the sport, including a 20 per cent reduction in funding from Own the Podium.
“I met with the board last weekend, and there is a huge ski community in Ottawa. I will organize a wine and cheese for them and pick their brains. I plan to talk to the coaches to ask ‘what are your needs, so you can have everything you want?’ We need a structure in place for the 2022 and 2026 Olympic Games, and to understand the dilemmas and challenges. I also want to listen to club presidents, because they are the pipeline,” said Lafontaine.
“I also would love to have a good discussion with the top athletes and the alumni about how they see the sport.”
Skiing is a life-long sport which promotes an active lifestyle, and Lafontaine believes that is a benefit to sponsors.
“One of our main players are sponsors. For me, the goal is to give them value added when they invest in this sport and healthy living,” Lafontaine said.
The Gatineau resident left his job with CIS after two years on the job, but foresees a long relationship with Cross Country Canada. He believes the sport should be a pillar for Canada at the winter Olympics, and knows it can be a healthy addition to the lives of many, many Canadians.
“I love to think the road map is to 2022. After that, whatever happens, the structure is there. More than anything, I’d like to double our membership and get more adults on skis,” Lafontaine said.
“I get excited every day when I know what I do can help the life of someone else … that lights me up,” Lafontaine said.
While swimming has been his focus for much of his career, Lafontaine’s family has a history with cross-country skiing.
“My dad did the Canadian Ski Marathon, the two-day ski marathon, in the late ‘60s, and sometimes he would take us. When I moved to Canada in 2005, I started freestyle skiing and fell in love with it. My kids ski, and while they were training I would go out for a ski. I did a couple loppets and hoped this year I could do that again. It’s such a cool sport in Canada.”
