{"id":1849,"date":"2020-12-14T19:32:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T19:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2020-12-14T19:45:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T19:45:49","slug":"thank-you-teri-lynne-belanger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/2020\/12\/14\/thank-you-teri-lynne-belanger\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank You Teri-Lynne Belanger!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ultimate Canada Magazine \u2013 December 14, 2020.<\/em>
Written by: Kevin Underhill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff Departure:\nTeri-Lynne Belanger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, Ultimate Canada announced that the organization made the difficult decision to reduce the number of permanent paid staff by 80%. Staff will be transitioning out over the next couple of months. As each staff member departs, we would like to individually recognize and thank them for their contributions to the organization.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have played in an Ultimate event over the last ten years, chances are you\u2019ve seen Teri-Lynne Belanger\u2019s name pop up in your email inbox. After the heartbreaking decision to reduce staff amidst an unprecedented year, Ultimate Canada says goodbye to the woman with the most famous email address in Canadian Ultimate after eight unforgettable years on the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belanger joined Ultimate Canada in 2012 with a 10-year plan\nto revolutionize the Canadian Ultimate events landscape. Although Belanger \u2014\nreferred to affectionately as TL \u2014 won\u2019t reach her goal of ten years, she more\nthan transformed the events environment and is known by peers, colleagues and\nvolunteers as a true pioneer and leader. According to TL, developing meaningful\nrelationships is the bedrock to a successful and enjoyable work environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe thing I believe in the most in a working environment is\nthe value of relationships,\u201d she said. \u201cThe most important thing we can do is\nbuild meaningful relationships. If we can work together, respect each other,\nlaugh and have fun, that\u2019s what makes work enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
2019 CUC Organizing Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Numbers can never tell the whole story, but the growth in\nCanadian Ultimate events has been truly staggering over the last eight years.\nWhen TL joined the staff team in 2012, Ultimate Canada hosted CUC, CUUC, CEUUC,\nand CHSUC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Ultimate Canada is responsible for the entire University\nSeries, featuring four regional events, two additional qualifying events, and a\nfull spring indoor season and has doubled in size. CUC, which has blossomed\nimmensely, even in the last five years, now takes place over two weeks\nfeaturing eight divisions and thousands of athletes. She was also instrumental\nin the foundation of the C4UC and qualifying series, offering a competitive\nindoor outlet for spring Ultimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
2019 CUC Sign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ultimate Canada Conference, a staple in the Canadian\nUltimate community over the past 10 years, made the shift from focused Ultimate\ndiscussions to world-class professional development opportunity, featuring\nkeynote speakers, international sport leaders and community delegates from\nacross the country thanks to the dynamic duo of Teri-Lynne and Danny Saunders.\nIf you\u2019ve attended a UCC under TL\u2019s leadership, you\u2019ve probably also had an\nabsolute blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although one person can\u2019t \u2014 and ever-humbly TL won\u2019t \u2014 take\nsole responsibility for the immense growth of the Canadian events landscape,\nTeri-Lynne Belanger was there, every year, spearheading the movement and\npushing the needle, demanding the very best from herself and her peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Ultimate is a niche sport, but it\u2019s also a tight-knit,\ntough and supportive community. The community has high expectations and holds\nus to a standard and I think that pushes us to be better,\u201d Teri-Lynne said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
TL working hard during the rain at the 2018 CUC<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on her time with Ultimate Canada, TL emotionally\nremembers the human moments first and foremost. She looks back at the first UC\nlive stream, the CUC opening ceremonies, the late night UCC discussions, the\nrainy CUUC finals. Ultimate is woven into Teri-Lynne\u2019s identity. Her husband\nplays, her kids play and she says every moment was worth it. She\u2019s proud to\nhave worked alongside some amazing staff and volunteers and wishes the absolute\nbest for Ultimate Canada moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Editorial Anecdote \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like anyone who has spent time with TL, I have dozens of\nstories that speak to her character as a friend, role model, colleague, leader\nand mentor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belangers have consistently made me feel a part of the\nfamily, even well after I moved on from UC. I have crashed on her basement\ncouch on many-a-weekend, TL has taken me out for smoked meat in Montreal,\npoutine in Ottawa, joined me for sushi in Vancouver. She has mentored me\npersonally and professionally and cheered me on as I played in big games around\nthe world. These days, of course, it\u2019s mostly video calls. I could go on \u2026. But\nbefore I finish, I\u2019m going to tell one story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, at the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Ottawa,\none moment jumps to mind. We had just finished a particularly stressful day at\nthe fields, littered with live-stream outages, lightning delays, rainouts,\nfield changes, ambulance visits \u2026 you know, an ultimate tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way back from the field, morale was admittedly a\nlittle low. The staff cars were heading back to the hotels for an evening of,\nyou guessed it, more work, when all of a sudden, we diverted course. TL decided\nshe was taking us to Burger & Shakes, a small cafe which also has an\nold-school driving range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
UC team at the driving range<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A group of us sat around, ate burgers, drank milkshakes\n(chocolate for me) and chatted about everything \u2014 except work. We used old\nsteel and wooden golf clubs and mashed a couple buckets of balls. And although\nTL\u2019s golf game could use a little fine-tuning, this was a class-A example of\nher leadership style. She always had a pulse on the group\u2019s temperature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though she was stressed and tired and beat-up and\nprobably wanted nothing more than to just pass out on a crappy hotel mattress,\nshe took the group out for an unforgettable 90 minutes of relaxing, therapeutic\nfun. We rocked the rest of that week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter the struggle of the event, no matter the problems\nwe had to solve, finishing an event under the watchful and supportive eyes of\nTL\u2019s leadership, I always came out feeling amazing \u2014drained, but happy. If\nyou\u2019ve ever worked with TL, you know the feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for everything you\u2019ve done for the Canadian Ultimate\ncommunity, TL. We sincerely hope to see you at the field for future Ultimate\nevents \u2014 whenever they return. \u2013 Kev.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ultimate Canada Magazine \u2013 December 14, 2020.Written by: Kevin Underhill Staff Departure: Teri-Lynne Belanger In August, Ultimate Canada announced that the organization made the difficult decision to reduce the number of permanent paid staff by 80%. Staff will be transitioning out over the next couple of months. As each staff member departs, we would like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1849"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ucm.canadianultimate.com\/secure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}