Board of Directors
Directors for 2011-2012
President - Brian Gisel
Vice President - Alex Davis
Treasurer - Pete McCann
Secretary - Meghan Mathieson
Member At Large - Ed Burnet
Member At Large - Carolyn Lefebvre
Member At Large - Alex Chu
Email the Board if you have any questions or comments.
Biography and Roles
Brian Gisel
Bio: Brian started playing Ultimate in the Summer of 1993 just as the VUL was beginning its most dramatic growth period. That summer the VUL had only 25 teams. In the next few years the number of teams would grow to 40, 60, 90 and then more than 100 teams.
Early on Brian was attracted to the organizational aspect of the sport, possibly stemming from a void in this area. As people were still learning to play the sport there was a lack of people willing to put in the time to help run leagues and tournaments. The VUL League Coordinator each year was picked at the Summer Captains Meeting and in most cases it was a matter of bullying someone into the job.
In 1993 Brian started running Babes ‘N Hats, a local co-ed hat tournament that continues to this day. Shortly after that he joined the BCDSS and became aware of the World Flying Disc Federation. For reasons he cannot remember, Brian put together a bid to host the 1997 World Ultimate Club Championships. The bid was submitted in early 1996, less than 3 years after he started playing. Thanks to a lot of hard work, and maybe because they didn't know what Worlds was supposed to be, WUCC 1997 was an incredible success. After Worlds it seemed to makes sense to Host Nationals, which he helped to organize in 2000 and 2004. During that time he also was elected (or selected) as part of the first VULS board.
In 2004 Brian became the Event Chair for the WFDF, and attended WUGC 2004 in Finland. His experiences there confirmed his belief that Vancouver should run the other half of the Worlds Events, The World Ultimate and Guts Championships. After a successful bid, and 2 years of hard work, WUGC 2008 in Vancouver was seen by everyone as a massive success.
While Brian still plays, and his playing career has had a certain amount of success in terms of Nationals and International play, helping out with the development of Ultimate off the field remains his focus. He hopes to continue to push the Sport forward for many years to come.
And for those who asked him during Worlds if he would ever do it again, he says: "WUGC 2020 is only 11 years away".
Term: 2010-2012
Roles: President
Teams: Current: Big Red Ford, Weeble. Past: Sweet FA, Galapogus Ho-Hum, Yo-Yo Ma, Yo-Yo Maui. Touring: Canada Mixed 1998, Ro-Sham-Bo, GRIND, Gauntlet.
Alex Davis
Bio: Alex is an engineer by trade with an impulsive taste for all things ironic, esoteric, and physically demanding. Formerly a competitive runner and cross-country skier, he originally became entangled in ultimate in 2001 as a form of cross-training.
Alex serves on Ultimate Canada's Competition Committee and International Relations Committee. He currently tours with Furious George and sporadically competes in league play. He also coaches at various VUL clinic events and is easily drawn into discussions concerning the technicalities of UPA and WFDF rules.
Term: 2011-2013
Roles: Touring Team Liaison, Governance Committee member
Teams: Current: Weapon of Choice. Touring: Furious George
Pete McCann
Bio:
Term: 2010-2012
Roles: Treasurer, Strategic Planning Committee member
Teams: Current: Betty Cracker
Meghan Mathieson
Bio: Meghan has been a VUL member since 2005. When not playing ultimate, she works as a technical writer and editor. Consequently, she has a strong interest in communications. She is also interested in increasing the involvement of women in ultimate, and upholding sustainability and spirit as core VUL values.
Term: 2010-2012
Roles: Secretary, Governance Committee Chair
Teams: Current: Bzzrs, Dark Side of the Disc, Like a Simile
Ed Burnet
Bio: Ed was a member of the VUL Board from 2004 - 2006 and is happy to return for another term, after having spent the past 2 years in Sydney, Australia. By day, Ed is a lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada.
Term: 2010-2012
Roles: Member at Large, HR Committee Chair/p>
Teams: Current: Huck Finn. Past: Big Red Ford. Touring: various masters teams including NegliGents, Grind, Retro, Sabotage and Gauntlet.
Carolyn Lefebvre
Bio:
Term: 2011-2013
Roles: Member at Large, Strategic Planning Committee Chair, HR Committee member
Teams: Past: Girth, Sticky
Alex Chu
Bio: Alex started playing ultimate in the VUL in 2005. Benefiting from the league’s games and clinics in the past six years, she has gone from learning how to flick to playing on Zephyr, one of Vancouver’s women’s touring teams. She has captained several VUL teams and regularly volunteers at clinics to help newer players get into the sport.
Outside of ultimate, Alex does business development and project management for a Vancouver based tech company that incubates new web development projects and manages a variety of online properties.
Term: 2011-2013
Roles: Member at Large, Strategic Planning Committee member
Teams: Current: Sneaky Peaches. Touring: Zephyr
