{"id":7409,"date":"2026-05-06T08:14:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T12:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianrugbyfoundation.ca\/?page_id=7409"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:11:42","slug":"board-member-tributes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/canadianrugbyfoundation.ca\/index.php\/board-member-tributes\/","title":{"rendered":"Board Member Tributes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rick Bourne<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby<\/h3>\n
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Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame in 2023, Rick Bourne's six-decade commitment to the game \u2014 as player, coach, administrator, and philanthropist \u2014 represents the very spirit the Canadian Rugby Foundation exists to honour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Graham Brown<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Graham Brown: Building the Foundation of Canadian Rugby<\/h3>\n
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Rick Bourne: A Lifetime of Service to Canadian Rugby<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 with whom he served as Secretary and later Past President, and who captured the McCormack Cup championship in 2009.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Jeff Chan<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Jeff Chan: Architect of University Rugby in Canada<\/h3>\n
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Jeff Chan brings a rare combination of boardroom acumen and genuine passion for the game \u2014 a combination that has made him one of the most impactful figures in Canadian rugby's recent growth.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 spanning club programs, university teams, national squads, and scholarship initiatives. He also serves as a Director of Rugby Ontario.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 strategist, builder, volunteer, and champion of the next generation of Canadian rugby.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Hans de Goede<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Hans de Goede: Canada's Rugby Captain, Canada's Rugby Family<\/h3>\n
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Hans de Goede: Canada's Rugby Captain, Canada's Rugby Family<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some athletes leave a mark on their sport. Hans de Goede left a dynasty.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 he famously walked out of a BC Lions training camp to play a championship rugby match for James Bay AA \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

His legacy, however, extends far beyond his own playing career. Hans and his wife Stephanie White \u2014 the only married couple to have each captained Canadian international rugby teams \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame in 2019, Hans de Goede represents everything the Canadian Rugby Foundation holds dear \u2014 excellence on the field, leadership off it, and a commitment to passing the game on to the next generation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Liz Ferguson<\/h2>\n

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Liz Ferguson: Founding Architect of Women's Rugby in Canada<\/h3>\n
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Liz Ferguson: Founding Architect of Women's Rugby in Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the history of women's rugby in Canada is written, Liz Ferguson's name will appear on nearly every page.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Randy Heward<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Randy Heward: Canada's Rugby Ambassador in Asia<\/h3>\n
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Randy Heward: Canada's Rugby Ambassador in Asia<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 contributions that helped Canada rise to tenth in the world rankings on the Sevens circuit and lay the groundwork for Olympic qualification.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Randy Heward's story is one of loyalty without borders \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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