News Release

FREDERICTON (CNB) - The members of the Team New Brunswick mission staff accompanying the athletes, coaches, managers and artists to the 2011 Canada Winter Games were announced today by Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Hédard Albert.

The mission staff will provide administrative support to more than 300 members of Team New Brunswick before and during the national multi-sport event, to be held in Halifax from Feb. 11 to 27, 2011.

"The Canada Games offer many New Brunswickers an unbelievable opportunity to participate in a national sports event," Albert said. "The people selected to be part of the mission staff have all demonstrated an interest in sport, youth and volunteering. I am sure they will have a wonderful experience. It will be the first Games for some, while others are veterans. I am sure they will have a great time."

The mission staff will work under Stéphane Hachey, the chef de mission, and two assistant chefs de mission, Jennifer Bent-Richard and Steve Harris.

LINK:

Team New Brunswick: www.gnb.ca/sport

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following are the list of Team New Brunswick mission staff members and short biographical notes.

Team New Brunswick mission staff members, 2011 Canada Winter Games

Stéphane Hachey, chef de mission
Hachey is a veteran of the Canada Games. He is returning for his fourth Games as part of the Team New Brunswick mission staff: he will serve as the first volunteer chef de mission. Hachey has been to the Games as a manager, and he was a senior staff member for the 2003 Winter Games in Bathurst-Campbellton. He has served on four Olympic and two Pan-American mission staff teams for Team Canada. He is a vice-principal at École Secondaire Népisiguit. He lives in Bathurst.

Hachey will be joined by skilled volunteers from throughout the province including:

Marc Arseneau
Arseneau has extensive volunteer experience with Jeux de l'Acadie and Jeux de la Francophonie canadienne. He was a sport co-ordinator with the 2003 Winter Games host society and served on the New Brunswick mission staff at the 2009 Summer Games. He is an avid soccer, hockey and volleyball official. This will be his second mission staff role with Team New Brunswick; he will be a sport liaison. Arseneau is a community school co-ordinator with École Secondaire Népisiguit in Bathurst. He lives in Petit-Rocher.

Monique Bourque
Bourque has been an athlete and coach in a variety of sports at the high school and university levels, and she has extensive volunteer experience with the Jeux de l'Acadie. She was the assistant coach for women's soccer at the Summer Games in 2005 and 2009. This will be her first stint on the Team New Brunswick mission staff; she will be a sport liaison. Bourque is a physical education teacher and athletic director at l'École L'Odyssée in Moncton

Pauline Cormier
Cormier was Team New Brunswick's manager for women's volleyball at the Summer Games in 2005 and 2009. She has been actively involved with the Jeux de l'Acadie since 1994, and she was involved with the 55+ Canada Senior Games in Dieppe in 2008. She was a member of the Team New Brunswick mission staff at the 2007 Winter Games as office support, and she will take on the same role next year. Cormier is an assistant director for Dieppe Leisure Services.

Jason Dickson
Dickson is the executive director of Sport New Brunswick and is a former professional baseball player. He was a player on the New Brunswick baseball team at the 1993 Summer Games. He was a member of Team Canada at the 2004 Olympic Games. He was a sport liaison as part of the Team New Brunswick mission at the 2009 Summer Games - a role he will assume again in Halifax. Dickson was raised in Miramichi and today lives in Fredericton.

Yves Goudreau
Goudreau volunteered as the vice-president for venues at the 2003 Winter Games. In 2011, he will be a health and safety liaison for a third time. Goudreau is a paramedic with Ambulance New Brunswick and a field training paramedic with New Brunswick Emergency Medical Services. He lives in Dundee.

Fran Harris
Harris has participated as an athlete and coach in a number of sports and has volunteered on several national boards. She participated with Team New Brunswick at the 2009 Summer Games as manager of the National Artists Program. In Halifax, she will serve as a member of the office support team. Harris is a consultant with the Department of Education; she is responsible for the physical education and personal / social development curricula. She is an avid photographer.

Monica Hitchcock
Hitchcock was a member of the Team New Brunswick female volleyball squad at the 1975 Winter Games. She served as a member of the mission staff at the 2007 Winter Games and at the 2009 Summer Games. She is a former national team member and captain of the Canadian volleyball team, on which she represented Canada at the 1984 Olympic Games and numerous international competitions. Hitchcock returns to the Team New Brunswick mission as a sport liaison. She lives in Grand Bay-Westfield and works at Valley Graphics Ltd.

Normand Léger
Léger is a veteran Games mission staff member. The 2011 Winter Games will mark his 14th involvement in a variety of capacities with the Canada Games movement. Halifax will be his ninth time as a member of the Team New Brunswick mission staff; he will serve as a media specialist. Léger has five other experiences with the Games - as an employee in 1969, a journalist in 1977, 1979, and 1981 and as manager of the media centre for the 1985 Summer Games in Saint John. Léger lives in Dieppe.

Greg MacDonald
MacDonald will be attending his fifth Games and third as a mission staff member for Team New Brunswick. He attended the 1975 Winter Games with the Nova Scotia men's volleyball team. He was manager of the 2007 Winter Games ringette squad from New Brunswick and a member of the 2009 Team New Brunswick mission staff. MacDonald is a psychologist who specializes in trauma intervention. He will be returning to his home province of Nova Scotia, the site of the first Canada Games. He will do so as a sport liaison.

Bruce Macfarlane
Macfarlane will be the newsletter editor for Team New Brunswick - a role that he had at the 2009 Summer Games. His previous Games experience includes covering the 2001 Summer Games as a reporter. Macfarlane lives in Fredericton and handles communications and legislative affairs for the Regional Development Corporation. He has extensive experience as a reporter and photographer with the print media in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. He is an avid road race runner.

Evan MacInnis
MacInnis has been involved in sport for a number of years as an athlete, coach, volunteer and administrator. He moved to New Brunswick in 2005 to pursue a Master's Degree in sport administration at the University of New Brunswick, and he has lived in the province since. MacInnis rows competitively with the Fredericton Rowing Club and was a member of the Team New Brunswick rowing staff that brought home two medals at the 2009 Summer Games. He is the athlete services manager with the Canadian Sport Centre Atlantic. In Halifax, he will be a sport liaison. He is a native of Glace Bay, N.S.

René Sirois
Sirois has a long list of sport and recreation activities to his credit. He has helped develop facilities in his community, served as a member of various parks and recreation associations and organized countless local and regional games and championships. Sirois was a sport liaison at the 2007 Winter Games - a position he will again hold in Halifax. He is the director of recreation for the Village of Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska.

Appointed positions round out the mission staff and include:

Ryan Hamilton - sports psychologist
Hamilton worked with Team New Brunswick leading up to the 2007 Winter Games as a sport psychology consultant. He joined Team New Brunswick onsite for the first time at the 2009 Summer Games. Hamilton is completing his PhD in sport psychology at the University of New Brunswick, where he also received a Master's degree in sport science. Hamilton has helped athletes achieve national and international excellence and looks forward to helping Team New Brunswick in Halifax.

Kevin Lunn
Lunn is a web producer for Communications New Brunswick. He was the Team New Brunswick webmaster at the Games in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. He has volunteered extensively in baseball, particularly as coach and general manager of the Fredericton Royals. Lunn lives in Hanwell and enjoys rowing.

Jeff LeBlanc, Karolina Gehres and Chantal Deschênes-Jean work with the Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport, and each brings a diverse and experienced background to Team New Brunwick. LeBlanc is an experienced athlete and basketball coach. This will be his second Games as a member of the Team New Brunswick mission staff; he will be a sport liaison. He lives in Lincoln and is a former recreation director for the Village of Minto. He has volunteered extensively for the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. Gehres is a skilled events co-ordinator and community volunteer. This will be her first Games as a member of the Team New Brunswick mission staff; she will serve as part of the office support team. She lives in Oromocto. Deschênes-Jean was involved in the 2003 Winter Games torch relay, the 2009 Summer Games team salute and the 2009 Olympic torch relay. She has volunteered for Jeux de l'Acadie and the Canada 55+ Games. She is a sub-committee co-chair for the 2010 World Junior Track and Field Championship. This will be her first Games as a member of Team New Brunwick mission staff; she will contribute to the office support team. Deschênes-Jean lives in Dieppe

Steve Harris and Jennifer Bent-Richard will serve as assistant chefs de mission. Both work at the Sport and Recreation Branch of the Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport. Harris was a member of Team New Brunswick's mission staff in the Games in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2007. In 2009, Harris was also assistant chef de mission. He is actively involved in speed skating, soccer and cycling. He is a leader provincially and nationally with Canadian Sport For Life - A Long Term Athlete Development Model. In Halifax, Harris will serve as assistant chef de mission - sport. Bent-Richard served as assistant chef de mission in the 2005 Summer Games and was chef de mission at the 2009 Summer Games. She has a strong interest and enthusiasm for para-sport and athletes with a disability through her involvement in the Special Olympics and Paralympics. Halifax will be her fourth time as a member of the Team New Brunswick mission staff; she will serve as assistant chef de mission - logistics.