Lifetime Leadership Awards to go to Mcgavin & Mason at 2023 the Annual Summit

Among the highlights of the upcoming Greater Victoria 2023 Annual Summit of the BC Sports Hall of Fame will be the presentation of lifetime leadership & achievement awards to Gerald McGavin of Vancouver and Doug Mason of West Vancouver, B.C., both of whom are former Chairs of the BC Sports Hall.

McGavin and Mason will be paid tribute as part of The Reunion at The Summit: Council of Chairs Dinner presented by the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, scheduled for Friday, September 15^th, at 6:45 p.m. at the Coast Hotel & Marina in Victoria. (Mason is to this day an active member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors, which he also led prior to current Chair Bill Maclagan.)

“We are proud to present Lifetime Leadership & Achievement Awards to Gerald McGavin and Doug Mason, two long-standing supporters of the BC Sports Hall of Fame in particular and BC sport in general,” said Anna Nyarady, the former BC Sports Hall Chair who is serving as the Chair of the Council of Chairs, the group of business, community and sport leaders who have acted as Chairs of the Sports Hall. “We are honoured to have the chance at the Greater Victoria 2023 Annual Summit to recognize their contributions to the promotion of BC sport history and the power of sport overall.”

Tickets to The Reunion at The Summit: Council of Chairs Dinner presented by the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation can be purchased online at www.bcsportshall.com/summit.

McGavin has invested the better part of five decades to sport in British Columbia and is a Member of the Order of BC, Member of the Order Canada, and holder of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. He is best-known for his contributions to the sport of rugby, wherein he represented the UBC Thunderbirds, the senior men’s provincial team and Canada.  Playing for Canada, he locked horns with the likes of the Barbarians, the British Lions, and New Zealand Universities.

A member of the UBC Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2020), McGavin chaired the BC Sports Hall of Fame (1988-1989). He saw the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre christened in 2013 in recognition of his tireless efforts to plan, conceptualize and fundraise for the home of the men’s and women’s rugby programs at UBC.  It is the second building at UBC named after him and the university’s third direct connection to the McGavin family (Allan McGavin was his father and the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre at UBC was named after him in 1979).

The Gerald McGavin Building at UBC opened in 1995 in recognition of his 20-plus years as a trustee and chair of the Discovery Foundation, which conceived of the innovative Discovery Park project; one that also created technology and knowledge transfer facilities at BCIT, Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, above and beyond UBC.

Mason has enhanced the BC Sports Hall of Fame on multiple fronts as one of the longest-standing contributors in the organization’s 57-year history. The President & CEO of Waterfront Capital Corporation has served as a Trustee and Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and as a Director and Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation. He served as Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame from (2000-2001).

He is a recipient of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards (Class of 2022) in recognition of not only his length of service to both the Sports Hall and its Foundation – more than a quarter century — but on account of what his leadership has meant alongside Foundation Chair Bill Maclagan in helping to align and synergize the two organizations in notable fashion.

His business credits in entrepreneurship, venture capital, real estate development, restaurants, pharmaceuticals, franchising, product leadership, marketing and charity governance have included his stints as Chair & CEO of International Bethlehem Mining Corp, Canadian International Pharma Corp, along with his leadership as Chair of Whistler North Development Corp and Chair of Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation.

Mason’s tremendous track record of community leadership includes his tenure as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rick Hansen Foundation and as Vice-Chair of the Collingwood School Society.

In addition to the presentation of the Lifetime Leadership & Achievement Awards to McGavin and Mason, The Reunion at The Summit: Council of Chairs Dinner presented by the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation will also feature a keynote speaker, appearances by Honoured Members of the BC Sports Hall and the presentation of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards – named after the founder and original curator of the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1966.