From his first step onto the pitch at the Gorge Soccer Club at four years old in 1971, a field later endowed with his family name, Jamie has exemplified the physical versatility of the consummate soccer player. He honed his craftsmanship on the soccer pitch by blending the skills of lacrosse, baseball, field hockey and ice hockey from his childhood and early teen years. As a youth at Gorge FC Soccer Club, Jamie was awarded the Gorge Kulia (MVP) Award six times.
As a member of the Spectrum High School team in 1985, he helped the team claim the Colonist Cup and was named to the Tournament All-Star team for the BC High School Provincials. In his first year playing top flight adult soccer in the Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL), Jamie was recognized with the Ivy Lucas Lands End Award as Rookie of the Year along with the Mogens Brodsgaard (McGavin Cup) MVP Award. A stalwart fixture of the Gorge Division One Men’s Soccer team, he helped lead the team to two Provincial Senior Men’s Soccer Championships in 2001 and 2002.
At 16 years old, Jamie also gravitated to coaching and immediately made a contribution to the development and excellence of club players. In 2005, he began his long tenure as the Gorge FC Soccer Club Technical Director, overseeing the community soccer program for players 3 - 18 years old. In 2014 and 2022, he was awarded the Lower Island Soccer Association Coach of the Year Award; coaching a Victoria United Girls U14 Metro team to a Provincial title - a first for a lower island girl’s Tier One team.
Over the years, Jamie suffered multiple concussions resulting in brain damage, which led to his career as a para soccer player. While still an active member of the Gorge Over 35s team, Jamie made his debut with Canada Soccer’s Para Soccer National Team Program under coach Drew Ferguson. In Jamie’s first competition in 2010 at Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was Canada’s top goal scorer with four goals. He scored two goals versus Venezuela in a 6-0 win and later versus Mexico, he scored another two goals in a 5-4 win helping the team qualify for the 2011 World Championships in Drenthe, Netherlands. Playing as a central midfielder, Jamie continued his scoring streak with a hat-trick in a 6-0 win versus Finland. Canada went on to finish the tournament with a memorable 3-2 comeback win against Spain with Jamie scoring the equalizer and eventual winner.
For his play and invaluable mentorship on and off the soccer pitch, Jamie was named Canadian Soccer Association Para Player of the Year in 2017
In 2019, Jamie retired as one of the all-time greatest Canadian para players, having represented Canada in tournaments worldwide and won the respect of all against whom he played. Over his nine years with the Para Soccer National Team, he scored 25 goals and accumulated 35 caps for Canada at three World Championships, two America’s Championships, two World Cup Qualifiers, the Para Pan Am Games and the International Cup.
An architect of the Long-Term Athlete Development Framework, Richard is the founding CEO of Sport for Life Society – a non-profit organization formed in 2014 to improve sport and physical activity experiences for everyone through the advancement of quality sport and physical literacy development.
Richard has facilitated the use of Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity for over 60 sports in more than 100 countries. He has contributed to more than 200 resources on sport and physical literacy development, including Canada Soccer’s first strategic plan (2009-2013), and co-authored the book, Long-Term Athlete Development, with Istvan Balyi and Dr. Colin Higgs. Richard was also a catalyst for the development of the Indigenous Long-Term Participant Development Pathway.
Richard was instrumental in the introduction of physical literacy in Canada. He is a founding member of the UK-based International Physical Literacy Association, and of the International Physical Literacy Conference, which has been hosted on six occasions drawing in delegates from more than 50 nations.
Throughout his career, Richard has been a catalyst for advancing quality sport and developing physical literacy. In 2005, to mobilize knowledge, Richard created the Sport for Life Canadian Summit, an annual conference bringing together practitioners and leaders in diverse sectors including sport, recreation, health, and education. Since relocating to Victoria in the early 1990s, he has been involved in the founding of several other knowledge transfer opportunities within the sport and physical activity sphere, including the International Coaching Conference, the BC Regional Sport Network, the Olympic Youth Academy of BC, and the Coaches Association of BC.
Under Richard’s innovative leadership, the Sport for Life team was awarded the Canadian Medical Association's National Award for Excellence in Health Promotion, and the team was a finalist in the 2021 Global Design Challenge to find solutions to the challenges facing sport and physical activity due to COVID-19.
Richard has been involved in the successful garnering of several multi-million-dollar multi-year contracts to advance sport and physical literacy development both in Canada and internationally. In 2013, Richard was involved in the conception of Sport for Life’s Physical Literacy for Communities which has now positively impacted more than 175 communities throughout Canada. Internationally Sport for Life, under Richard’s leadership, is designing a school-based curriculum for the Apex Academy in Cairo, Egypt. Prior to incorporating Sport for Life, Richard was the Director of Sport for Vancouver’s successful 2010 Winter Olympic Games Bid Corporation.
Richard’s significant contributions to the sport and physical activity sector are fueled by his immense passion for sport. In addition to being the proud father of three sporty young adults, he has represented Canada in nine Natural Luge World Championships and was an All-Canadian West in soccer for the University of Calgary. Richard has served as a Commission member of the International Luge Federation, as a Board member of the Canadian Luge Association and is the founder of the Calgary Luge Club and the BC Luge Association.
