Former Gaels Manager of High Performance and Sport Operations honoured with Austin-Matthews Award

Former Gaels Manager of High Performance and Sport Operations, Janean Sergeant, was honoured with the Austin-Matthews Award on the night of Monday, June 3 at the U SPORTS Honours Awards Gala as part of the 2019 U SPORTS Conference and Annual Meeting in Toronto.

The Austin-Matthews Award is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to interuniversity sport, as demonstrated by long-term commitment and leadership as a coach, director, chairperson and/or executive committee member at the local, provincial and/or national levels. The award is named in honour of Dr. Patricia Austin and Dr. Arnold Whitney Matthews, former faculty members at the University of Alberta of University of British Columbia, respectively. Dr. Austin developed the first undergraduate concentration in adapted physical activity in Canada while Dr. Matthews later became president of the Men’s Athletic Committee at UBC.

Sergeant, the Gaels Manager of High Performance and Sport Operations, has worked for Queen’s for 38 years, but her contributions don’t stop with the Kingston school.

She has served as OWIAA President, on the CIAU Board of Directors, and with many additional committees. In addition, Sergeant also chaired the U SPORTS Eligibility Committee and served on the OUA Sport Tech Committee as the High Performance Lead. Capping off her many roles, she also served as the Sport Technical Manager at the 2011 FISU Summer Universiade in Shenzen, China, truly showcasing that her passion for university sport went well beyond the Kingston community.

“During her 38 years of dedicated service at Queen’s, Janean has played a key leadership role in the development and implementation of significant changes not only within the Queen’s Athletic & Recreation department but at the provincial and national sport levels as well,” said Queen’s Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation Leslie Dal Cin. “Janean has shown relentless devotion to improving the student-athlete experience and her influence and leadership has transcended her respective positions’ at Queen’s.  Her dedication to Queen’s University and Athletics & Recreation is unmatched and she has been a thoughtful and passionate advocate for student-athletes and interuniversity sport.”