I've got a new title!

A few weeks back, Doug Woods (BNC VP and longtime friend) came to see me on a day I was supplying at North to ask if I would consent to taking on a new role with the GBSSA Athletic Council's AGM later in the month. Since I retired, one of the many things that I miss are the collegial efforts to ensure students get a quality extracurricular experience since I've long held the opinion that the learning outside of the classroom walls is often more memorable and applicable than within it's walls. Doug wanted me to become GBSSA's "Parliamentarian", a role that he had first come to know when he attended the OFSAA meetings earlier in the year, in hopes that my many moons of sitting around the horseshoe in meetings governed by Robert's Rules of Order would offer some value to the AGM process.

To say I felt honoured does not do the feeling justice.

Just for backstory, way back in the 1999, then OFSAA representative and good friend Terry Olaskey approached me about joining GBSAA Executive Council in the role of VP. He reasoned that my personal sporting experiences combined with my coaching passions would bring insight and assistance to GBSSA. The long and short of it was that I agreed, initiating an almost 2 decade love affair that would see me take on the roles of Vice President, President, Past President, Secretary, and OFSAA Representative before finally stepping aside in June of 2019. From 2006 to 2010 I also served on OFSAA's Executive Council and Championship Review Committee. Just listing it all makes my head spin ... I really did bite off a big chunk.

In case you don't understand what the role of Parliamentarian might look like, it is basically just as I already described above as a person with substantial experience in parliamentary procedure for orderly debate of issues requiring decision. My role would be to serve as a quote-unquote expert in Robert's Rules of Order in the event that a debate arose over an emotionally charged issue with substantial support on either side. If you've never sat in on a formal meeting, Robert's Rules may seem a little foreign, stiff, and overly structured, but having seen them in use on many occasions, I'm of the opinion that they minimize the chance of heated debate descending into a full-blown argument. 

To put it into an analogy more would understand, I'm taking on the role of a meeting referee.

While it felt wonderful to receive the many thanks for my contributions to the successful outcome of the meeting, the most humbling moments were thanks to the heartfelt comments from longtime friends about how great it was to see me again and how healthy I looked in retirement. It certainly rekindled the flame of service that had fuelled my participation for all of those years, and I found myself smiling for quite a piece following the meeting.

My sincerest thanks to Doug Woods for choosing to involve me, thereby permitting such a satisfying experience to occur. Even though I am no longer teaching, it was a great end to the school year.