Kimoto, Ray

Kimoto, Ray

The students of the 1965 UBC Physical Education and Education graduate Ray Kimoto have always marveled at his youthfulness and energy. Ray graduated from UBC having played Thunderbird tennis and baseball, the latter under legendary UBC coach Frank Gnup. This was the “early era” of UBC baseball which produced many good players, memories and stories. It was Ray’s admiration for Coach Gnup that caused him to choose to play baseball at UBC. Ray was one of the very early Asian-Canadians to play this sport at UBC.

Ray’s career, one could say, has been that of a life-long teacher together with being an active participant. He was a high school teacher and counsellor in Vernon as well as the high school basketball coach and community tennis coach. Even today, in the minds of his former students and athletes, he is a memorable and influential mentor. Two current UBC employees, Baseball’s Terry McKaig and Development’s Chrissy Benz both from Vernon, fondly remember Mr. Kimoto.

During and following his years as a teacher Ray served as both a volleyball and basketball referee and together with his wife raised two successful children; all the while amazing students and athletes with his fitness. Ray, one of Canada’s best senior tennis players, experienced a highlight in June 2018 when, at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club, he won the BC Senior (0ver 80) Tennis Championship. In so doing he (relatively easily) won the semi-finals and final by defeating, coincidentally, two other Thunderbird athletes from another era, Gene Rizak (UBC basketball) and George Morfitt (UBC tennis, badminton) . . . again demonstrating the benefits of the physical fitness/sports aspect of life.

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Dr. Douglas Clement receives Alumni UBC 2019 Achievement Award

Congratulations to Dr. Douglas Clement, Professor Emeritus of Family Practice (1999) cross-appointed to the School of Kinesiology, for winning one of the Alumni UBC’s 2019 Achievement Awards.

The award recognizes inspiring and exceptional individuals who are making positive changes to the world and the society. Dr. Clement has been known widely as an early advocate for community health, he is also co-founder of the first sports medicine clinic in Canada, as well as the chair of the board of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and a teacher of sport medicine at UBC for more than 20 years. Dr. Clement is a former Olympic athlete who inspires community spirit through sport as a track and field coach at UBC, as president of the non-profit Achilles Track and Field Society, and as co-founder of the annual Vancouver Sun Run.

On November 21, Doug will receive the Faculty Community Service Award at the Alumni UBC 2019 award ceremony. For more information on the event or to purchase tickets, visit the Alumni UBC website.

The School of Kinesiology extends its congratulations to Dr. Douglas Clement on this achievement.

Mark your calendars!

Aug. 1, 2019 – Mark your calendars for the Running Free: Documentary Première and Panel. Event details below.

Date:
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
6:30-8:30 pm (Program at 6:30 pm. Reception to follow.)

Location:
Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
6163 University Blvd.
Vancouver, BC

If you would like to register for the event, you can do so here.

The 2020/2021 Kinesiology Mentorship Program

Ljudmila Zaletelj’s MA Thesis Defence

Title: “Disability in the Gym: Perceptions and Understandings about Individuals with Disabilities” Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Andrea Bundon (Kinesiology) Committee members: Dr. Brian Wilson (Kinesiology), Dr. Peter Crocker (Kinesiology) Chair: Dr. Tania Lam Abstract:

Obtaining and maintaining health is vitally important to people with disabilities, especially when you consider the fact that they report low standards of health (Carroll et al., 2014; Drum et al., 2005; WHO, 2011). One of the key reasons for their poor health conditions is their lack of engagement in physical activity and exercise (Rimmer et al., 1996; Schoenborn & Barnes, 2002; Washburn et al., 2002). Gyms have been recognized as important environments in which individuals with disabilities can engage in physical activity and exercise and positively influence several aspects of their well-being (Calder et al., 2018; Richardson et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c). As trainers and instructors have been recognized as an essential element of supporting positive gym experiences (Martin & Smith, 2002; Richardson et al, 2017c), it is essential to uncover their understanding of disability and individuals with disabilities. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews with 12 trainers and instructors, this research critically explored personal trainers’ and instructors’ understanding of disability and the potential impact of these perceptions and understandings on the experiences of people with disabilities when they visit the gym. The findings revealed that trainers and instructors understood disability as a lack of ability and a deviation from a common norm. Individuals with disabilities were perceived as an anomaly from the desired able-bodied standard. Moreover, the findings highlighted that fear of inability to design and implement adequate and safe training sessions posed a barrier as it discouraged trainers and instructors from working with individuals with disabilities. However, when trainers and instructors did work with clients with disabilities, they did not only have positive experiences but they also felt they developed a more holistic practice as a result of this experience.

New Paper Out

July 18, 2019 – New paper out exploring the correlates of physical activity in 8-12 year-old children in three regions across Canada. Read it here!

Summer SUPing Lab Outing

July 18, 2019 – A successful SUPing and dinner adventure at Granville Island with the Pop-PA Lab to say farewell to our research assistant, Isabella Cina. Best wishes to you on your graduate school journey!

Pai, Ling

Ling Pai, BHK 2007, is an extraordinary person who in spite of the physical challenges presented to her in life, has pushed herself to overcome them and go beyond.  At age 14 Ling was diagnosed with Dominant Optical Atrophy and was told that her sight would continue to decline over time. Ling is now considered legally blind. She says, “Learning to live with a disability was a long process. For me, accepting the fact that I have a visual impairment was a big step. When I did, it changed me. I started being proud of myself and my capabilities.”

Today she is a champion surfer on the Canadian National Adaptive Surfing team, and recently won silver at the Adaptive Surfing Championships in Hawaii in June. Ling is also a trail runner and accomplished backcountry skier.

Ling is a shining example of KIN alumni. She has attended numerous KIN discussion panels and events, and has served as a mentor to current students in the KIN mentorship program. Ling credits her career path to KIN alum, Min Van Velzen. She recalls, “I was turned on to chronic disease and cardiac rehab in 3rd year by Min when he spoke in one of Dr. Rhodes’ classes.  As a result of that Alumni presentation, I decided to volunteer at St Paul’s Healthy Heart with Min —  and that was the beginning of my path. So I see the value in maintaining a relationship with the school and the students.”

Today Ling serves as the Director of Fitness at Pulse Fit Rx in Vancouver working as a certified exercise physiologist who specializes in chronic disease and cardiac rehabilitation.  Check out Ling’s website and blog postings at https://www.lingpai.ca

 

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Sara Hodson at the Post-Congregation KIN reception | May 23, 2019

On May 23, KIN alumna Sara Hodson, BHK 2002, delivered the following speech to the new KIN grads of 2019.

“Today, if anything, just remember the word ‘reach‘. Reach forward and reach high and I have no doubt that you will achieve that. Stay grounded, reach down and be present. Accept the moment that we are in. You have so many years ahead of you, stay grounded and be in the present moment.

More importantly I want to talk about reaching forward. Reaching forward is continuing to push and strive ahead, continuing to think of the other people who graduated on the stage with you today. How can you move forward with them? How can you move shoulder to shoulder and support each other as you continue into your professional lives? There are careers and opportunities that do not even exist today, and people in this room will go on and achieve them — so, continue to reach forward and push yourself to be the absolute best that you can be.

Probably, the most important: reach back. Being super balanced as a human that is a professional means that you have one hand reaching forward, holding on to the future and the professional opportunities that you have, and the other hand has to be reaching backwards — or you will fall. And reaching back means giving back. Does not mean with money, I know you are all freaking out. You have student loans and all these different things, but it means your time, it means your passion, it means your effort, it means contributing. Reach back by identifying how you can still continue to contribute to the school, how you can continue to inspire the people who are maybe two years behind you. How can you reach back and inspire the future graduates? You are the closest example to them that they will have.

I’m old compared to you guys, and maybe what I have to say isn’t as timely, but what you have to say and your opportunity to reach back will not only inspire the future generations, but it would motivate and empower you to be a better human and a better professional, and a more grounded person. And so today if anything just remember the word reach. Reach high, stay grounded, reach forward and reach back.”

 

KIN Alumni Survey Higlights

Many thanks to those of you who filled in the digital Alumni Survey we sent out last March! We saw a 9.01% response rate, with 374 respondents. Some response highlights that may interest you include:

 

 

The top three career fields in which young KIN alumni work are:

  1. Healthcare (35.6%)
  2. Administration (14.4%)
  3. Academics (research & post-secondary education) (9.1%)

The top three career fields in which senior KIN alumni are working are:

  1. Teaching (elementary, middle, and secondary school) (23.7%)
  2. Healthcare (17.2%)
  3. Administration (13.6%)

Over all degree years:

  • 50.5% or all KIN alum pursued  post-graduate degrees
  • Young Alumni, who graduated within the last 10 years, have a record high of up to 71% pursuing post graduate degrees in a given degree year

Top three areas you told us you are interested in learning about the School are:

  1.  Current research/project grants
  2.  Alumni & School events
  3. Alumni profiles

The top three areas in which you said would like to be involved in the School are:

  1. Mentor with the KIN mentorship program
  2. Guest-speaker in classes/on panels
  3. Alumni focus/advisory groups

We were happy to learn that many of you are philanthropists who donate to a variety of different charities and causes, including the health sector, athletics and education.  Surprisingly, we learned that only 13% of our alumni give to the School of Kinesiology. We hope that we can convince some of you to see the value in donating directly to the School by learning about some of the innovations and masterful teachings that KIN contributes to Health, Athletics, and education, making it top in its field in the world!

In each newsletter, we will be informing you about stories that we hope will fill your heart with pride and some that will allow you to see the importance of your donations for life-changing things like scholarships for students in need, furnishings for student lounges, equipment for labs, and funding for seed projects to show proof of need, that allow our faculty to then apply for research grants. Help us to bring Kinesiology into the forefront of society and teach people how fundamental the study of movement is to so many aspects of our lives: sports, medicine, psychology, skills acquisition, human development, we could go on…We are looking for sponsors of the new future alumni program, the young alumni program and donations for new teaching space.

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