The CSMTA Ontario Chapter 2016 AGM & Conference took place at the Burlington Waterfront Hotel on May 1st.  A fantastic agenda was put together by the AGM Organizing Committee which started with Remo Bucci telling us everything we needed to know about being a Sport Massage Therapist and discussed in detail what it’s like to travel to major games.  The highlight of his presentation was his talk about the effects of this travel on one’s personal life.   This was very honest and truthful and his experiences were enlightening and thought provoking.

Next on the agenda were two of Canada’s track athletes that participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – Freddie Williams and Mark McCoy.  Freddie was a 5-time Canadian 800m champion, held the Canadian 800m record at 1:45:13 for 10 years and was the captain of the Canadian Track & Field Team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  Mark has won several gold medals in hurdles and 4x100 relays, but most notably he won gold in the 110m hurdles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  Freddie and Mark spoke of their life experience, their paths to the Olympics and the importance that massage played in their roles as elite athletes.  While they contrasted in their views of competition, both were very entertaining, inspiring and an excellent combination to have as speakers.  Their thoughts and reflections made an indelible impression on all attendees.  Many thanks to Ottawa CSMTA member, Paula Burchat, for her outstanding and insightful moderation of this segment.

This brought us to our delicious lunch break which was kindly sponsored by Know Your Body Best who sent Lisa Muscat as a representative.  Lisa spent the full day with us and answered any and all questions we had about products offered by Know Your Body Best.  They also provided us with “grab bags” that had an large amount of samples of lotions, oils, creams and tape.

The afternoon brought us an informative, well-executed and interactive presentation by Jonathan Maister with discussions on “The Hip.” Jonathan touched on the applied anatomy, related this to common injuries to the hip and showed us how to address these with hands-on techniques including fascial work, mobilizations and articular pumping.  All techniques were extremely effective and clinic usable the next day. 

The day ended with our Annual General Meeting where we heard reports from the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Ontario Rep of the current Executive Committee and also from the various sub-committees.  We discussed the planning of the National AGM that we will be hosting this fall and finally, ended with elections.  There were several vacancies available and many new members stepped up to fill the roles.

The AGM Organizing Committee did a great job of putting together an enjoyable and inspirational day. We thank the Committee for their hard work and dedication.  The Ontario Chapter is now busy preparing to host the National AGM in October 2016, just around the corner.  We look forward to seeing all of you there.