Announcing new members of the Board of Directors

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) announces three new members joining the Board of Directors

In accordance with Section 9(9.8) of the RCA By-laws, the Board of Directors shall appoint as director, as soon as possible, any appropriately qualified person who meets the eligibility requirements set out in paragraph 9.3, for the unexpired term of any director who, for any reason, has left office prior to the expiration of the term of that director.

Following the Call for Expression of Interest, and on the recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the Board appointed the following candidates to fill the vacant Director at Large seats:

Fred Enns – Director at Large

Fred is a retired corporate lawyer with over 30 years of experience in advising on corporate and governance issues as well as a Fellow and Accredited Director of the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada. He now devotes his time to helping not-for-profit corporations and community clubs address their governance and corporate issues. He is an active member of the Knowlton Rowing Club and is currently the corporate secretary and a board member, as well as an active member on the board of several other similar organizations.

Paul C.L. Fritz-Németh – Director at large

Paul has over 20 years of running his own company providing professional services to the Federal Government. Including projects with Shared Services Canada, Canadian Border Services Agency, Canada Revenue Agency, Department of Justice, Industry Canada, Natural Resources Canada, as well as Department of National Defence. He has previous experience working with National Sport Organizations, including his role as a Board member at Water Polo Canada, in which time he served time as Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Chair of the Finance Committee, Chair of the Nominations Committee, and as a member of the Risk Management Committee.

As indicated in Section 9(9.8) of the RCA By-laws, for the position of Provincial Director, the Board of Directors shall consult with the Provincial Advisory Council (PAC), before appointing a person to fill the vacancy. The PAC endorsed the following candidate: 

Derek Ventnor – Provincial Director

Derek currently acts as Chief Operating Officer for Skate Ontario. He sat as a volunteer Board member with Row Ontario for 10 years prior to becoming Executive Director 2006 – 2017. He is an RCA and World Rowing Umpire and a long-time serving member of both the RCA Umpires Committee, where he served as Committee Chair from 2001-2006, and as a member of the RCA Safety and Events Committee from 2007 – 2017. Derek has also served in multiple roles at his home rowing club Tillsonburg Rowing Club in Ontario including President, Treasurer, Captain, and Coach over a span of almost 20 years.

The current RCA Board is (terms ending):

Carol Purcer, President (September 2025)
Tom Hawker, Treasurer and Director at Large (September 2023)
Dana Thorne, Director at Large (September 2023)
Fred Enns, Director at Large (September 2024)
Paul C.L. Fritz-Németh, Director at Large (September 2024)
Lindsay Bergen, Athlete Director (September 2024)
Derek Ventnor, Provincial Director (September 2023)

In accordance with Sections 10 and 11 of the RCA By-laws, there will be a regular election for the two Director at Large seats, and reconsideration of the Provincial Director position, whose terms come to an end in September 2023.

The call for expressions of interest for these positions will be made in May 2023.