Conference 2011 Speaker Biographies
Staci Bland, PTS, NWS
A Certified Personal Trainer and competitive athlete registered through the CASK, Staci currently holds a red belt and is pursuing grading for her black belt. As a Fitness Kickboxing Canada Inc. (FKCI) course conductor, she has assisted in many FKCI conference presentations and demos.
Jeff Boris, BPHE, CPTN-CPT.M
As a two-time award-winning trainer recognized for his unique contributions to fitness, Jeff teaches courses he helped create for the University of Western Ontario and serves as a Holistic Fitness Professional, Research Educator and Business Coach. With 20 years of diverse expertise as a former Chair of Professional Development for CPTN, an Education Coordinator for the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging, and a Nutritional Researcher for Natural Health Products, Jeff currently makes educational contributions to radio, TV and magazines.
Tracey Bourdon, Dip Advertising and Marketing
Tracey is a Marketing Coach for Susan K. Bailey and has been a team member since 2000. She specializes in Marketing for Health Clubs. For more information, please visit www.clubads.com.
John Brookfield, Professional Strongman
An internationally known strength and conditioning coach and competitor, John is a multiple strongman world record-holder as well as a popular author. John specializes in programs designed to increase athletes’ work capacity levels as well as their ability to maintain work intensity over longer periods of time. He is the creator of the Battling Ropes Training System and the Chain Reaction Program, which is quickly spreading worldwide and is used by athletes and fitness professionals of all levels. John is well-known throughout the industry for his unconventional training methods that produce tremendous results. For more information, please visit www.powerropes.com.
Marcello Campanaro, BPE, BEd, CSCS
Marcello has been a teacher at M.M. Robinson H.S. for the past 22 years where he developed a high performance strength and conditioning course. He is a former strength and conditioning coach for McMaster University’s football team and the Hamilton Tiger Cats, and is also a former Head Coach of the McMaster Marauders football program. He currently coaches high school football, hockey, and track and field.
Judy Chu, BPE, CK, CPTN-CPT
Judy is a senior staff member at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, where she has worked for the past 23 years. She also conducts exercise classes to individuals 55+ years old with chronic conditions (arthritis, stroke survivors, osteoporosis, diabetes, auditory/visually impaired, joint replacement).
Trevor Cottrell, PhD
Trevor Cottrell is the Program Coordinator for Sheridan College’s degree program in Exercise Science and Health Promotion and its new Human Performance Training certificate. He holds a PhD in Physiology and is involved in a broad area of research, ranging from cellular signalling to human performance. Trevor has coached and competed in Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, highland games, strongman and tug-of-war for over 20 years. For more information, please visit www.sheridancollege.ca.
Adele Derkowski, CPTN-CPT
Adele is a certified YMCA Yoga Instructor, CPTN Personal Trainer and Shiatsu Therapist. Her interest in Oriental medicine is incorporated into her work. For the past 14 years her fitness teaching has focused on the 50+ age group and their desire to age gracefully.
Adam Douglas, BPE, BA, CSCS
Adam is the current Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at York University in Toronto where he is in charge of programming and development for all of the varsity teams. He also works with Hockey Canada as one of their Strength and Conditioning Coaches with the Women’s National Teams. Adam also consults with a number of national teams and professional athletes. Prior to joining York, Adam was the Conditioning Coach with the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League.
Kevin Duguay, CPTN-CPRCS
Kevin Duguay graduated from the Athletic Training and Management Program at Sheridan College in 1984, receiving the Cooper Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement. He is a Sports Rehabilitation Specialist and has worked as the Head Athletic Therapist for a wide range of teams in both professional and amateur settings. He has also lectured at Seneca, Humber and Sheridan College in the field of health and wellness.
Barb Ferguson, PTS, FIS
Barb’s passion for teaching and training comes from her sincere desire to help people reach their fitness goals and motivate them to make healthy lifestyle choices. As a certified personal trainer, and a certified instructor since the mid 1990s, she has had many opportunities to learn and instruct a large variety of classes. Barb runs her own private studio called BUFF Fitness in Orangeville. When she’s not teaching, Barb works at Teen Ranch, a Christian sports camp where she has the opportunity to encourage youth to mature socially, physically, mentally and spiritually.
Jordan Foley, BA, BEd, CSCS
Jordan is the Athletic Performance Coach at Upper Canada College in Toronto, Ontario, where he also teaches physical education and coaches rugby. In addition, he is an instructor at Sheridan College in the Human Performance Training Program. Jordan is a competitive strongman and finished third nationally in the lightweight division and fourth in the Ontario open division.
John Gray, MSc, CSCS, NCCP
John Gray is a Kinetic Control Tutor and a past PhD candidate in Biomechanics under the supervision of Stuart McGill. He is the Director of Personal Training and Fitness at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, and works with a wide variety of clients, including elite junior and varsity athletes. John has presented to international audiences on core stability training and athlete development. His experience as a researcher and practitioner puts him ahead of the curve on many trends and issues in the training industry.
Warren Haesler, BSc, CSCS, PTS
Warren Haesler is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA. He holds a BSc from Laurentian University and a Diploma of Sports Injury Management from Sheridan College. Warren is an instructor and an Exercise Science and Health Promotion Technologist at Sheridan College. He has worked with numerous elite athletes and his passion is motivating, educating and inspiring athletes to achieve their sport-specific performance goals.
Kevin Jardine, DC
Kevin Jardine is the Chief Medical Officer of SpiderTech and a partner in The Urban Athlete, a multidisciplinary treatment and training facility in Toronto. He is renowned for his grasp of functional anatomy and therapeutic exercise, and focuses on sports therapy and performance in treating and consulting with athletes and professional teams. He is the creator of SpiderTech™, precut and ready-to-apply kinesiology taping applications. For more information, please visit www.spidertech.com.
Karsten Jensen, MSc, CHEK Practitioner Level 2, CHEK HLC L3, CPTN-CPT
A Strength and Conditioning Expert, Karsten Jensen has helped world-class and Olympic athletes and coaches from 13 different sports for over 16 years. He has taught several certification, college and continuing education courses for novice trainers and European national team coaches. Karsten believes in the unlimited potential of individuals and shares his viewpoints as an international speaker, author of several books, educator with CPTN and contributing writer to several online training resources and magazines in both English and Danish. For more information, please visit www.yestostrength.com.
Susan Lee, MPE, MA, CPTN-CPT
Susan Lee, President of the Certified Professional Trainers Network (CPTN), works with leaders and partners to offer current and engaging professional development opportunities for personal trainers and fitness professionals. Concurrently, Susan develops diversity and equity programs and teaches an academic leadership placement course for the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto, trains clients in the Toronto area, presents at local and international conferences, and conducts research in the area of disability studies as a PhD candidate (OISE/UT).
Andre Leitert, BA
Andre founded National Fitness Products of Canada 11 years ago and owns a successful health club, Riverdale Fitness Mill. He has held senior management positions with Stanley Works and Moen Canada. Through his consulting company he has helped launch Body Break products and has consulted for Fitness Business Canada. He is a certified spin instructor and holds a second degree black belt in tae kwon do and has competed at the national level. He holds a bachelor degree in marketing from York University. For more information, please visit www.nationalfitnessproducts.com.
Steve Lidstone, BKin, CSCS, CAT(C), NCCP
Steve Lidstone is the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator at McMaster University and acts as a service provider for Canadian Sports Centres, assisting in enhancing performance levels of CIS/NCAA, national team, Olympic, Paralympic and professional athletes from all over the world. Steve is a member of the performance enhancement team for Hockey Canada and also consults with various national team programs. Steve is a dynamic presenter and educator for national team programs, corporations and charities.
Ingrid Marcum, BBA, CSCS
Ingrid has been involved in the fitness industry for over 13 years. She has worked as the strength coach for the U.S. national women’s field hockey team and with various sports at the Division I collegiate level. As a battling ropes coach, she appears in multiple training videos and has travelled throughout the U.S. teaching workshops and certifications. A successful athlete who spent 20 years in gymnastics, Ingrid became a 2009 U.S. national champion in Olympic weightlifting and competed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic team trials. Ingrid is also a U.S. bobsled world team push athlete and served as an alternate for the 2010 U.S. Olympic team.
Jason MacLean, MEd, CEP, NCCP
Jason MacLean is the Health Services Specialist for the City of Niagara and manages their Occupational Health and Safety Program. He is also the founder and Strength Coach of McLeans Athletics Centre, a strength and conditioning centre for athletes of all levels. Jason competed as a member of Canada’s Olympic weightlifting team for 13 years, has won North American, national and provincial championships, and represented Canada at many world and continental championships. He holds provincial records in 2 different weight classes and is a NCCP Certified Olympic Weightlifting Coach. Jason is also a designated Strength and Conditioning Service Provider for the Canadian Sport Centre and is responsible for training and designing strength and conditioning programs for Canada’s Olympic athletes.
Joanne O’Donnell, PTS
Joanne is a Certified Personal Trainer, a Trainer for the Fitness Kickboxing Program and a Trainer-Course Conductor for the FKCI CEC and certification course curriculum. She is a Black Belt-level kickboxing Instructor and Certified Coach through CASK. For more information, please visit www.fitnesskickboxingcanada.ca.
Ross O’Donnell, BA, PTS
Ross is president of Fitness Kickboxing Canada Inc. He is a fitness and martial arts presenter, a fitness columnist/writer of more than 250 published articles and 15 instructor-training manuals, and author of The Ultimate Fitness Boxing & Kickboxing Workout. Ross is also a certified Boxing Coach through CABA-Ontario and a certified coach and competitive kickboxing club owner through CASK. For more information, please visit www.fitnesskickboxingcanada.ca.
Sheldon Persad, MSc, CSCS, CPTN-CPT.M, NCCP
Sheldon is the co-owner of Personal Best Health & Performance Inc. (www.personalbest.ca) and a service provider with the Canadian Sports Centre. For the past 2 decades, Sheldon has helped weekend warriors and elite athletes achieve their health and performance goals. He has coached Olympic and elite athletes from 15 different national team programs and across four continents. He has also taught several certification, college and continuing education courses for a variety of individuals, from novice trainers to national team coaches. Above all, Sheldon enjoys keeping in shape in an effort to keep up with his kids. For more information, please visit www.personalbest.ca.
Victor Phyllis, BPE, BEd
Victor has been a track and field coach for 18 years and is the Head Coach at York University. He is a recipient of the OUA Coach of the Year award for men’s track and field. He has coached national team members and Canadian record-holders, and is the Ontario Regional Head Coach and Editor to the original Run Jump Throw program for Athletics Canada.
Christopher Russo, Dipl Print Journalism
Christopher Russo is the General Manager and Marketing Coach at Susan K. Bailey Advertising, an agency with over 25 years of experience in the fitness industry.
Larry Shepard, BA, BEd, CSCS
Larry is a Professor of the two-year Sport Conditioning Diploma program at Canadore College in North Bay, Ontario. He is a former member of the National Weightlifting team (mid 70s) and former Head Coach of the Canadian powerlifting team (CPU/IPF) 1989/90. Larry has authored The Practical Approach to Powerlifting: for Competition and Sport Training and is currently the Coaching Director for the North Bay Norsemen and Valkyries Weightlifting Club. He is also the Ontario Weightlifting Association’s Junior Development Coordinator and NCCP Weightlifting Competition Introduction Course Facilitator.
Caron Shepley, BPE
Caron is currently Corporate Director of the Toronto-based corporate health company, Personal Best. She has been practising Yoga for 15 years, is a renowned yoga instructor for high-performance athletes, and the founder of Blue Dog Yoga. Caron is also a five-time Ironman finisher and silver medalist for Canada at the World Triathlon Championships. For more information please vist www.bluedogyoga.com.
Jennifer Sygo, MSc, RD
Jennifer Sygo is the Director of Nutrition for Cleveland Clinic Canada and the nutrition columnist for the National Post. A specialist in sports nutrition, Jennifer has been a service provider for the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario and Coaching Association of Canada since 2004, and routinely provides one-on-one counselling to Canada’s high performance athletes as well as group seminars to various sporting organizations, including Hockey Canada, Skate Canada and Gymnastics Canada. For more information, please visit www.clevelandclinic.org.
Ken Whetham, WKC Master Trainer, NAOKC Director
With an athletic background, Ken Whetham is a Master Trainer with the World Kettlebell Club and founder of the North American Outlaw Kettlebell Club. Ken works in the Emergency Services and operates an elite strength training studio that specializes in preparing athletes for their respective sports by utilizing effective functional strength protocols. Ken has conducted kettlebell workshops for beginners, advanced strength, mobility and Girevoy Sport training. Ken is also one of the top North American kettlebell competitors having won numerous competitions including winning his division at the 2010 World Championships, the 2010 Long Cycle Championships and the 2010 IKFF Invitational.
Rodney Wilson, BPHE, BA
Rodney is the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for all varsity teams at Queen’s University. He promotes the concept of a complete athlete by delivering programs that include injury prevention, speed training, resistance training, nutrition lectures and individual adaptations.
Susan Yurincich, BA, CPTN-CPT
Susan is currently the Fitness Centre Manager at Brock University. She is passionate about providing developmental opportunities to trainers and educational sessions for members. Susan is a CPTN Practical Assessor and Course Conductor. She is also a Certified YMCA Group Fitness Instructor and a Fitness Kickboxing Canada Instructor. After completing her BBA, she pursued graduate studies in Sport Management overseas. She has been trained to instruct both post-cardiac and osteoporotic clients, and currently teaches a falls prevention program for seniors.