Rick Bourne
Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby
Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby
Rick Bourne is a name synonymous with rugby in British Columbia and across Canada. His involvement with the sport began at age 12 at the Athlone School, with his playing career going on to include Shawnigan Lake School, the UBC Thunderbirds, the BC Representative Team, the Vancouver Representative Team, and the Canadian National Rugby Squad. He later served the UBC Old Boys Ravens in multiple executive capacities, including three terms as Club President.
Putting his University Teaching degree to use, Rick also coached at various levels, including taking Canadian U13, U14, and U15 teams on tour to Bermuda.
On the administrative side, Bourne served on Rugby Canada's Board of Directors from 2003 to 2019, including five years as President, and was Canada's Rugby Americas North representative from 2012 to 2019. He continues to serve the game through director roles with the Canadian Rugby Foundation and the Canadian Rugby 7s Fund.
His philanthropic contributions have been transformative. From 2010 to 2018, Rugby Canada raised over $500,000 through Langara fishing trips donated by Rick, with an additional $170,000 raised for age grade rugby and the sevens program through Langara-hosted fishing challenges. In recognition of his legacy, the Rick Bourne Rugby Award was established to support young student-athletes actively engaged in the sport.
Inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame in 2023, Rick Bourne's six-decade commitment to the game — as player, coach, administrator, and philanthropist — represents the very spirit the Canadian Rugby Foundation exists to honour.
Graham Brown
Graham Brown: Building the Foundation of Canadian Rugby
Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby
Few people have shaped the landscape of Canadian rugby as profoundly as Graham Brown. A player, builder, administrator, and visionary, Brown's journey from the practice fields of Windsor to the boardrooms of a national sport organization is a story the Canadian Rugby Foundation is proud to celebrate.
Brown's connection to the game began at the grassroots level. A founding member of the University of Windsor rugby program in 1989, he went on to be involved with several southern Ontario clubs, including the Chatham Kent Raiders RFC, the Sarnia Saints RFC, and the Aurora Barbarians — with whom he served as Secretary and later Past President, and who captured the McCormack Cup championship in 2009.
Academically, Brown built a strong foundation for his career in sport leadership. He graduated from the University of Windsor in 1992 with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics (Honours Sports Administration), followed by a Master of Human Kinetics in Sports Management in 1995. He later put that expertise to work in the classroom, serving as a Sessional Instructor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Management, where he delivered the School's Event & Sponsorship Management course for several years.
Hired by Rugby Canada in July 2002 as Chief Operating Officer, Brown was appointed CEO in 2003, and his drive and marketing savvy are widely credited for leading the organization's evolution into a progressive, high-profile, and widely respected national sport body. The numbers tell a compelling story: under his leadership, Rugby Canada grew from a $2.5 million organization into a $15 million one. His tenure also delivered tangible infrastructure wins for the game, Rugby Canada established a permanent training facility in Langford, B.C., successfully hosted dozens of top international matches, and secured a permanent men's World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Vancouver.
Beyond rugby, Brown served the broader Canadian sport community. As CEO, he was co-chair of the National Team Sport Coalition and represented Rugby Canada on the Commonwealth Games/Canadian Olympic Committee and Pan American Games committees. Graham Brown's legacy is that of a builder, someone who saw Canadian rugby not as it was, but as it could be, and who had the discipline and determination to close that gap. For the Canadian Rugby Foundation and all who love this game, his contributions remain a benchmark for what passionate, professional leadership can achieve.
Jeff Chan
Jeff Chan: Architect of University Rugby in Canada
Jeff Chan brings a rare combination of boardroom acumen and genuine passion for the game — a combination that has made him one of the most impactful figures in Canadian rugby's recent growth.
A graduate of Queen's University (BA) and the University of Western Ontario (MBA), Chan built a distinguished corporate career before turning his energy to rugby. He was the Global Growth Practice co-founder and leader at McKinsey and Company, and has served as Senior Advisor at PwC and Consulting Partner at SECOR, serving clients across 25 countries.
His contributions to the structure of university rugby in Canada have been foundational. Chan is Chair and Co-founder of the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, and has chaired Rugby Canada's U SPORTS Applications Committee, which is charged with advancing the inclusion of Men's 15s and Women's 7s as official U SPORTS national championship sports. In a similar vein, he previously served as Director and Chairman of the Vanier Cup, Canada's University Football Championship.
At the Foundation level, Chan was appointed Executive Director of the Canadian Rugby Foundation in 2021, taking on primary responsibility for growing the Foundation's portfolio of funds — spanning club programs, university teams, national squads, and scholarship initiatives. He also serves as a Director of Rugby Ontario.
Well known to Foundation members as a familiar sideline presence with a camera, Jeff Chan exemplifies what it means to serve the game at every level — strategist, builder, volunteer, and champion of the next generation of Canadian rugby.
Hans de Goede
Hans de Goede: Canada's Rugby Captain, Canada's Rugby Family
Hans de Goede: Canada's Rugby Captain, Canada's Rugby Family
Some athletes leave a mark on their sport. Hans de Goede left a dynasty.
Born in Amsterdam and raised in Victoria, de Goede first picked up the game at Central Junior High School, turning down a promising football future — he famously walked out of a BC Lions training camp to play a championship rugby match for James Bay AA — and never looked back. He went on to win eight Rounsfell Cup provincial championships with James Bay, including seven in a row, and served five years as club captain.
On the national stage, his impact was extraordinary. De Goede was a star of Canada's national team from 1974 to 1987, captaining the side for most of those years, and was selected to the All-World XV in both 1976 and 1980 — a remarkable distinction for any Canadian player. He earned 24 caps for Canada, captained the national side at the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, and played 60 games for the storied Cardiff RFC in Wales.
His legacy, however, extends far beyond his own playing career. Hans and his wife Stephanie White — the only married couple to have each captained Canadian international rugby teams — raised three children deeply embedded in the game, most notably their daughter Sophie de Goede, who has captained the Canada women's national team and earned recognition as World Rugby Women's Player of the Year.
Inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame in 2019, Hans de Goede represents everything the Canadian Rugby Foundation holds dear — excellence on the field, leadership off it, and a commitment to passing the game on to the next generation.
Liz Ferguson
Liz Ferguson: Founding Architect of Women's Rugby in Canada
Liz Ferguson: Founding Architect of Women's Rugby in Canada
When the history of women's rugby in Canada is written, Liz Ferguson's name will appear on nearly every page.
A pioneering architect of women's rugby in Canada, Ferguson has been driving its national and international development from the early 1980s onward through visionary leadership, structural innovation, and decades of dedicated service. Her work began at the grassroots level, helping to organize and formalize the women's game at a time when the sport faced significant institutional resistance.
Her national impact became official in the late 1980s when the game's growth demanded formal recognition. The 1987/88 period saw the formalization of women's rugby development at the national level, and Liz Ferguson was elected as the inaugural Vice-President of Women's Rugby for the Canadian Rugby Union — a position created specifically to give the women's game the structural footing it needed to grow. A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Ferguson went on to build a career as a seasoned non-profit specialist with senior management experience in amateur sport.
She continues to serve the Canadian rugby community in multiple capacities today, sitting on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Rugby Foundation and contributing to Rugby Canada's Hall of Fame Project Team. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, Ferguson was inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.
Liz Ferguson helped build the very foundation upon which Canada's celebrated women's rugby programs now stand. For the Foundation and its members, her story is a reminder of how much transformative change can flow from one determined individual willing to champion a cause before it is popular to do so.
Randy Heward
Randy Heward: Canada's Rugby Ambassador in Asia
Randy Heward: Canada's Rugby Ambassador in Asia
Some of the most impactful contributions to Canadian rugby have come not from the sidelines at home, but from thousands of kilometres away. Randy Heward is a prime example.
Heward played rugby at Magee High School in Vancouver and at the University of Western Ontario before eventually building a life abroad. Based in Hong Kong for over two decades, he channelled his passion for the game into something far-reaching and enduring.
Heward and fellow Canadian rugby enthusiast John Woodward co-founded the Canadian Rugby Hong Kong 7s and Olympic Fund, driven by a desire to see Canada compete more effectively at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens tournament, where Canadian amateur players faced stiff competition from professional opponents. In 2004, the first Hong Kong Sevens luncheon was held with Randy's assistance, and the event grew steadily in popularity, becoming an annual gathering for Canadian ex-pats and rugby supporters alike.
The financial impact has been substantial. Over the course of his involvement, the Foundation directed over $1 million to the Canada Men's 7s Team through the fund he helped lead — contributions that helped Canada rise to tenth in the world rankings on the Sevens circuit and lay the groundwork for Olympic qualification.
Beyond the Sevens fund, Heward has been a long-serving Director of the Canadian Rugby Foundation and a consistent donor and fundraiser across multiple programs. He is counted among the key donors and fundraisers who helped grow the Foundation's assets from $1.7 million in 2010 to nearly $6 million over the following decade.
Randy Heward's story is one of loyalty without borders — a Canadian who took his love of the game around the world and brought real resources back to support the next generation of Canadian rugby.
Mike Holmes
Mike Holmes: The Founding Father of the Canadian Rugby Foundation
Mike Holmes: The Founding Father of the Canadian Rugby Foundation
If the Canadian Rugby Foundation has a heart, Mike Holmes put it there.
Among the visionary group who saw the need for a rugby foundation in Canada at the turn of the century, Holmes was a driving force from the very beginning. After a difficult legal and political process spanning nearly three years, it was a joint submission by Roger Smith and Mike Holmes to the Rugby Canada Board that finally secured approval for the Foundation in 2003. Holmes served as its first President, and over the following years grew the Foundation from nothing to just over $1 million in assets.
That was only the beginning. Assets grew from $1.7 million in 2010 to nearly $6 million over the next decade, with grants exceeding $2 million made during that period — all while the Foundation was run entirely by volunteers. Holmes has remained at the helm ever since, serving as Chair of the Board to this day, and his fingerprints are on virtually every major Foundation initiative — from co-founding the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship to helping secure the historic Fletcher's Fields donation. That contribution, totalling $20.85 million, has been described as arguably the largest combined gift to an athletic endowment in Canadian history.
His philanthropy extends to the personal as well. Holmes established the Lt. Colonel W.D.C. Holmes University Awards Fund to honour his late father, a decorated British Army officer, recognizing student-athletes at the CUMRC and U SPORTS Women's Nationals for their off-field contributions to the game. He has also established the Lone Oak Legends Rugby Club and Fund on Hornby Island, BC, bringing youth rugby to a small island community.
Mike Holmes is more than a Chair — he is the reason the Foundation exists.
Jim Kellet
Jim Kellett: Quiet Steward of the Foundation's Financial Health
Jim Kellett: Quiet Steward of the Foundation's Financial Health
Every high-performing organization needs someone who ensures the money is working as hard as the people. A long-serving Director of the Foundation, Kellett has made his most significant contribution as the driving force behind the Foundation's financial management. He has served as Chair of the Foundation's Investment Committee, working alongside fellow directors to oversee the investment manager's performance, adherence to investment policy, and the Foundation's short- and long-term financial planning.
Under the investment committee's watch, Kellett led a diligent process to select an institutional investment firm, resulting in the appointment of Leith Wheeler to manage the Foundation's growing portfolio — a decision that brought greater professional rigour and flexibility to the Foundation's investment strategy. His steady hand as Investment Committee Chair has helped the Foundation pursue lower volatility and stable returns, fulfilling its mandate as a conservative custodian of donor funds while maximizing long-term growth.
The result has been a Foundation that members can trust with their contributions — one that has grown from modest early beginnings to a significant charitable endowment capable of funding programs from youth grassroots rugby to national team high performance.
Jim Kellett's financial leadership has been indispensable.
John Lecky
John Lecky: Director and Community Builder
John Lecky: Director and Community Builder
John Lecky brings a distinctive blend of professional expertise and community dedication to his role as a Director of the Foundation. John is the rare individual who has contributed to Canadian rugby both on the field and off it — a distinction that makes his long service to the Canadian Rugby Foundation all the more meaningful.
Born in 1960, Lecky played 18 matches for the Canada national rugby union team from 1982 to 1991, appearing at both the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups. The 1991 tournament was a landmark moment in Canadian rugby history. Canada advanced to the quarterfinals against the defending champion New Zealand All Blacks, and despite a 29-13 result, outscored the Kiwis in the second half — earning a standing ovation from over 30,000 spectators and lifting Canada to an all-time best world ranking of eighth. Lecky has been a longtime resident of the North Shore following the tournament.
His post-playing contributions have been equally substantial. John built a distinguished 25-year career in commercial real estate with Avison Young, advising occupiers and investors across Metro Vancouver and North America. In the community, he has coached 12 years of youth soccer, helped introduce the first IB Primary Years Program into the BC public school system, and serves on the BC Rugby Stakeholders committee.
As a long-serving Director of the Canadian Rugby Foundation, Lecky brings the rare perspective of someone who knows exactly what it means to wear the maple leaf — and who continues to invest in ensuring future generations of Canadians have the same opportunity.
Jerry Marriot
Jerry Marriott: Bringing Financial Expertise and Club Loyalty to the Foundation
Jerry Marriott: Bringing Financial Expertise and Club Loyalty to the Foundation
Jerry Marriott's contribution to Canadian rugby is rooted in something the Foundation deeply values — decades of quiet, consistent service to the game at the club level, combined with the professional expertise to help a national organization thrive.
Jerry has been actively involved in the Toronto rugby community since 1983 as a member of the Toronto Scottish RFC, serving as captain on the field, Director of Men's Rugby, and two extended terms as Club Treasurer — a role he continues to hold today.
Professionally, Jerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Business Administration, and Levels I and II of the CFA designation. He has worked in debt capital markets for over twenty years at two major Canadian banks, and was a senior executive at a Canadian debt rating agency during and after the financial crisis of 2008-2009. That depth of financial experience has made him a natural fit for the Foundation's Investment Committee, where he works alongside fellow Directors to oversee the Foundation's investment management, policy, and long-term financial planning.
His connection to the Foundation came through his advisory role with Fletcher's Fields Limited, whose historic donation transformed the Foundation's scale and reach. Jerry was subsequently elected to both the Foundation's Executive Committee and Investment Committee, helping shape its strategy and ensuring the rigorous stewardship of the FFL endowment funds and all of the Foundation's funds. He has also served as a key ambassador, co-presenting with Executive Director Jeff Chan at Rugby Ontario's AGM to raise awareness of the Foundation's role and the benefits of establishing a fund.
For the Foundation, Jerry Marriott represents the ideal Director — a lifelong club rugby man whose professional expertise elevates everything he touches.
Colette McAuley
Colette McAuley: Player, Builder, and Champion of Women's Rugby
Colette McAuley: Player, Builder, and Champion of Women's Rugby
Colette McAuley's story is one of a person who gave everything to the game on the field — and then found ways to give even more off it.
Born in 1973, McAuley played fullback for the Guelph Gryphons at the University of Guelph, earned 21 caps for Canada's national women's team over a ten-year career, and represented the country at the 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup. She also represented Canada in international sevens tournaments in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Los Angeles, winning tournaments in San Diego and Toronto. After retiring from playing, she spent a decade as an assistant coach for the Guelph Gryphons before taking over as head coach in 2006.
Her administrative contributions have been equally impressive. McAuley served on the Rugby Canada Board of Directors, served as Past-President of the Foundation, and has been a member of the Monty Heald National Women's Fund committee. She also serves on the Foundation's University Rugby initiative committee and continues as a Director of the Board.
The Foundation recognized her unique spirit early. The Colette McAuley Award was founded in 2009 to recognize a female rugby player who gives back to the sport in the true spirit of the game — a fitting tribute to someone whose entire rugby life has embodied exactly that.
Among the Foundation's key achievements during her tenure was organizing the Women's University 7s Championship — yet another initiative that expanded the game's reach for the next generation of Canadian women rugby players.
For Foundation members, Colette McAuley is the very definition of a builder — someone who played the game hard, coached it passionately, and has spent decades ensuring others have the opportunity to do the same.
Steve Swaffield
Steve Swaffield: Engineer, Financier, and Servant of the Game
Steve Swaffield: Engineer, Financier, and Servant of the Game
Steve Swaffield brings a rare combination of technical rigour, financial expertise, and genuine passion for rugby to his service with both Rugby Canada and the Foundation.
Based in Vancouver, Swaffield is an experienced business leader and financier. Trained as an engineer, he worked as an investment banker for over twenty years with RBC and independently thereafter, building the kind of deep financial acumen that makes him a valuable voice in any governance discussion. He is President of Carbex Consulting Inc., through which he continues to provide strategic and financial advice to clients.
His commitment to Canadian rugby has been recognized at the highest levels. Steve Swaffield was honoured to receive the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the BC Lieutenant Governor — recognition of his significant contribution to Canada, exemplified in no small part through his dedicated service to the game.
On the Rugby Canada Board, Swaffield served as Treasurer and Finance/Audit Committee Chair, and later rose to Vice-Chair — a role he held until recently stepping down after years of service. He was formally honoured by Rugby Canada for his dedicated service at the Vancouver 7s. He has also served as the Rugby Canada–nominated Director on the Foundation's Board, providing the important governance link between the two organizations.
Swaffield also contributed his time and expertise to Rugby Canada's strategic planning advisory group, helping shape the organization's ambitious One Squad strategic plan.
For Foundation members, Steve Swaffield represents the kind of steady, principled leadership that allows the game to grow sustainably — someone who showed up, did the work, and made Canadian rugby stronger for it.
Jason Thomson
Jason Thomson: The Foundation's Financial Backbone
Jason Thomson: The Foundation's Financial Backbone
Every well-run charitable organization needs someone who ensures the numbers are right, the reporting is sound, and the donors' trust is honoured. For the Foundation, that person is Jason Thomson.
Thomson serves as the Foundation's ex-officio Treasurer, one of the three key executive officer roles that keep the organization running day to day alongside the CEO and Corporate Secretary. In this capacity he is responsible for the financial stewardship of an organization that has grown to over $28 million in assets and nearly 100 funds spanning eight provinces — a significant responsibility for a volunteer-driven body.
Thomson has signed off on the Foundation's annual reports as Treasurer, providing members with the financial accountability and transparency that underpins their confidence in the organization. His work sits alongside that of the Investment Committee, ensuring that donor contributions are managed with the care and discipline they deserve.
Based in Vancouver, Thomson is part of the dedicated volunteer leadership team that has made the Foundation one of Canadian rugby's most effective and trusted institutions.
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright: Bringing Ontario Rugby's Legacy to the Foundation
Andrew Wright: Bringing Ontario Rugby's Legacy to the Foundation
Andrew Wright sits on the Foundation's Board as one of four Directors nominated by Fletcher's Fields Limited — a role that carries with it the weight of one of the most significant philanthropic acts in Canadian rugby history.
Fletcher's Fields Limited is comprised of six equal shareholder clubs — the Aurora Barbarians, Markham Irish Canadian Rugby Club, Rugby Ontario, Toronto Nomads, Toronto Saracens, and Toronto Scottish Rugby Football Club — and the four FFL-nominated Directors, including Andrew Wright, were elected to the Foundation's Board following FFL's historic donation.
That donation transformed the Foundation. In 2021, following the sale of the eight-hectare Fletcher's Fields facility in Markham to the City of Markham for $21.5 million, FFL directed $11.65 million to the Foundation — creating six endowment funds representing each of the shareholder clubs. FFL subsequently added a further $7.7 million in 2026, bringing the total contribution to $20.85 million — arguably the largest combined gift to an athletic endowment in Canadian history.
Fletcher's Fields was originally established in 1966 and served the Ontario rugby community for 59 years, hosting Canada test matches against England, Ireland, Wales, the USA, Argentina, and Japan, and countless provincial championships.
As an FFL Director on the Foundation's Board, Andrew Wright helps ensure that the extraordinary legacy of Fletcher's Fields lives on — not in bricks and mortar, but in endowment funds that will support Ontario and Canadian rugby for generations to come.
