In honour of International Women’s Day the Ultimate Canada board of directors, staff, and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee would like to send shout-outs to recognize some of the amazing women in the Ultimate community!
Cheryl Coulter
Cheryl Coulter is recognized as one of the major contributors responsible for the formation and success of Fusion, the women’s ultimate team based in Winnipeg. Founded in 2004/2005, she played and captained the team, helping shape the rising talents in our community and leading them to many CUCs and even WUCC in 2014. Well known for her low release IO forehand, she continued to be a calm, dynamic force while playing for the women’s masters team Mint and the mixed grandmasters team Grey Owl that won the Montreal Grand Master tournament in 2019. With each team she has played for, she is always striving to be successful in her roles as a handler and captain, being a steady leader on and off the field. For me she will always be a part of the origin stories of my touring teams, my captain, one of my mentors and cheerleaders but most importantly a good friend. So thank you Cheryl for all you have done to help develop and strengthen women’s ultimate in Winnipeg!
-Britney Griffiths, UC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
Liane Johnson
Many of you know Liane Johnson as a familiar face of Atlantic Canada (Halifax) ultimate for the past 20 years. Liane has been a pillar of women’s ultimate in our community. She has played countless CUC and UPA tournaments with Salty and The Collective. Liane has also represented Canada at Worlds tournaments in places such as Dubai and Portugal. However, you may not know that Liane is also a rockstar surgeon and she has been an advocate and leader for COVID safety in our community. Liane is the only surgeon in Atlantic Canada who can perform a specialized form of airway reconstruction surgery in children. In addition to providing life-changing surgeries to children and families, Liane has also been an advocate for COVID safety and education throughout the pandemic. Liane has continued to share resources and her medical knowledge to help us understand the sometimes complicated and conflicting information being distributed. Liane has always been known for her mental toughness on the field, she has translated this skill to help the community be more resilient during this pandemic.
-Alexandra Nelson, UC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
Anastasia Kuronen-Shoemaker
I would like to give a heartfelt SHOUT OUT to Anastasia Kuronen-Shoemaker. Ana was instrumental in every aspect of planning and executing the 2014 Canadian Ultimate Championships and the 2018 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Waterloo, Ontario. She carried the bulk of the local planning on both events as well as being one of the first people to the fields each morning of the events, and the last person to leave the fields each day. Without Ana, neither of these events would have been as successful as they were and I can’t thank her enough for her roughly 3 years of devotion to these events. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention her strong playing career before injuries slowed her, and her countless hours of teaching the sport to anyone that wanted to learn. Ultimate is better because of Ana!
-Andrew Portwine, UC President
Shiellah Quintos
I would like to give a shoutout to Shiellah Quintos. Shiellah is a former executive director for both Ultimate Canada (CUPA) and Ultimate Grand Montreal (AUM). Since that time Shiellah has been involved volunteering for the sport to support events for UC, USAU, and the WFDF. She has been a committee chair, volunteer coordinator, observer, game facilitator, and much more! Shiellah is always willing to lend a hand to support the community and recently stepped up to act as the chair of Ultimate Canada’s observer committee. Shiellah has had a tremendous impact on growing and developing the sport both in Canada and around the world!
-Danny Saunders, UC Executive Director
Nola Stein
Huge shout-out to Nola Stein. As a founding members of Saskatoon Ultimate Disc Society (or technically, its predecessor), and through her unwavering commitment over decades as a builder, teammate, coach, mentor and leader, Nola is ubiquitous with Ultimate in Saskatoon. Nola simply gets things done. While Nola’s personal accomplishments are numerous, the highlight of Nola’s involvement in ultimate is the role she has played to promote opportunities for women and empower them in our sport. In a community where mixed ultimate is the norm, Nola has pushed boundaries and broken down barriers. Humble to the core, Nola’s proudest moment is the “group effort” in bidding for and hosting CUC-mixed in Saskatoon. As one of the other members of the local organizing committee, I can truly say that the task would have been an impossible failure without our tireless leader. Thanks tremendously for all you have done to promote our sport.
-Allan Stonhouse, UC board member
