The Year-End Yin and Yang: Taking Stock and Taking Action

 

Message from the Chair

BY TOM MAYENKNECHT

Year-end means different things to different people. To many, it’s the end of the calendar year; one that bids goodbye to one year and ushers in the fresh, blank slate or canvas of a New Year. To others, the only year-end that matters is fiscal year-end; an important milestone when it comes to measuring strategic outcomes, tracking goals and objectives and interpreting financial results.

To still others, they’re both important and are part and parcel of living and operating in an environment of Kaizen or continuous improvement. In that model, it’s a best practice to be continually taking stock and taking action on a growth strategy.

In the case of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, they’re both instrumental if not essential in our pursuit of growth and excellence. Consider them to be the yin and yang of our best efforts to be the best BC Sports Hall that we can be.

On the one hand, we cannot grow without the yang of our financial imperatives, our economic drivers. We can’t expand our programs without pushing the envelope of our fundraising and taking on new initiatives to reach more people, especially as part of our ongoing efforts to inspire the future and mobilize the next generation of young British Columbians.

We simply cannot ensure steady and sustainable growth without meeting and exceeding our annual financial targets.

As a governing Board of Trustees and professional management team that aim to be relentless in our pursuit of functional effectiveness and financial efficiency, we are compelled to not only “make budget” for each fiscal year-end, but to stay on target every step of the way, as in the fiscal quarters of Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. With a year-end of March 31st, this is the time of year we aim to finish strong and do everything in our power to achieve what we’ve set out to do in our fiscal budget. From that vantage point, fiscal year end lets us know how we’ve performed against our fiduciary goals and objectives.

On the other hand, calendar year-ends are at the very heart of our role as the go-to storytellers in British Columbian sport. These calendar year-ends serve as the yin of our mantra of honouring the past and inspiring the future. Herein, taking stock means quantifying the reach and influence of our storytelling over the course of any one calendar year. One example that comes to mind is our commitment to expanding and enhancing Hero in You community outreach and educational programs for children and youth.

As advocates for the promotion of sport history, sport heritage and sport culture, each year of BC Sports Hall activity represents 12 months of outstanding achievement and inspired success by British Columbians, whether they be athletes, coaches, builders, pioneers, sport media or teams. Telling those stories is our fundamental responsibility as part of the sport community and nothing gives us greater pleasure and satisfaction.

Which leads us to suggest that as a BC Sports Hall of Fame, we live and breathe a third year-end that is closely connected to the other two year-ends, the yin of inspirational storytelling (calendar year-ends) and the yang of financial strength (fiscal year-ends). And that third year-end is the completion of our annual induction cycle. From Nomination Day on June 30th of each year and Selection Day (usually in September of each year) to Announcement Day in October and the cycle’s ultimate culmination in Induction Week each spring, we structure much of our operations around that annual cycle that begins and ends in May and/or June.

So, in many respects, this time of year is really the intersection point between three different year-ends. It’s the end of another year of programming and storytelling on December 31st. It’s nearing the end of another fiscal year March 31st, 2024. And it’s that time of year where we begin to focus on our plans for the biggest week of our BC Sports Hall of Fame year: Induction Week May 15-16, 2024.

On all three “year-ends”, there are ways in which you can support the work of our team at the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

If you value Hero in You, our Indigenous Sport Gallery and the other programs we run to honour the past and inspire the future, perhaps you might consider making a donation as part of our Season of Giving through midnight, December 31st. To those of you who already contributed earlier this week on Giving Tuesday, thank you. To those thinking about making tax-deductible donations to support the causes that matter most to you, thank you for considering the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

If you can’t make a donation this year, but want to support our overall fundraising, perhaps you might consider contributing a high-value item to our silent or live auctions to be held in conjunction with our Honoured Members Luncheon May 15th and Induction Banquet May 16th. Your kind consideration will help us reach our fundraising goals in any one fiscal year ending March 31st.

Or, finally, if you are moved by our Class of 2024 that are the beacons of this current Induction cycle, either through your connections as family and friends of those selected or simply out of respect for their accomplishments, we invite you to show your support by buying tickets or tables to the special events of May 15th and May 16th. We are aiming for another sellout of 600 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver this spring.

No matter how you support our various year-ends, you will be making a difference for our BC Sports Hall of Fame community. And we thank you for that, at any time of year, but especially as we approach the holiday season.

Tom Mayenknecht, Chair
BC Sports Hall of Fame

Tom Mayenknecht is the Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. A principal at Emblematica Brand Builders in Vancouver and a nationally-recognized sport business commentator and founder and host of The Sport Market on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network, he is a strong advocate for KidSport, Right To Play and other children’s charities, including the Sports Hall’s own Hero in You programs. He is also a member of the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame as a builder and founding Chair of the Paul Carson Sports Broadcast & Media Awards.