Consultant | Calgary | Daniel J. Lefebvre

Hocky Canada Article

Press on Daniel J. Lefebvre:

Great Article in the Western Sentinel! 27-Feb-14

LINK: http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/western_sentinel/westernsentinel_022714/2014022401/9.html#8

Reporting for CTV during 2010 Olympics

Reporting for Winsport Canada | Breakfast Calgary Interview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2011

WinSport Canada Tasks Former Olympic Biathlon Coach and Own the Podium Advisor, Daniel Lefebvre, with Enhancing Quality of Life Amongst Calgary Youth — New position, Director, Education & Sport Development, to spark participation in sport—

CALGARY—A former national team biathlon coach who played a key role in helping Canadian athletes achieve a best-ever Olympic finish in 2010 will now shift his focus on encouraging thousands of Calgary school children to get involved in sport through a newly-created role with WinSport Canada, the legacy organization of the 1988 Winter Games announced on Wednesday.

Daniel Lefebvre: Working with schools, community groups and national sport organizations, the unique and innovative function is designed to promote active living through physical education programs at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, and at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Lefebvre’s goal will be to encourage students to participate in a wide array of recreational winter and summer activities including alpine and nordic skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, mountain biking, hiking and orienteering among others.
“Increased sport participation will significantly reduce health care costs over the long term,” said Dan O’Neill, WinSport Canada. “Through providing access to our world-leading programs and facilities, WinSport Canada is fully focused on developing more Olympic champions – role models and heroes whose international success will ultimately drive more Albertans to a more active lifestyle.”
Lefebvre, who has successfully developed and implemented strategic plans while working with several national sports organizations as a high-performance advisor with Own the Podium since 2007, piloted a similar biathlon-specific school program when he was a national and Olympic team coach between 1999 and 2007. The talent identification recruitment drive led Lefebvre into schools across Canada where he increased participation in the sport while targeting young kids with athletic potential. Lefebvre was also a Physical Education instructor with the Royal Military College of Canada and Canadian Armed Forces.

“I firmly believe you never know how good you may become – be it in athletics, academics or your professional career – until someone gives you the chance, and asks you to be great,” said Lefebvre. “WinSport Canada is in a unique position having the opportunity to create a healthier nation by igniting the Olympic dream, and passion for sport, in thousands of Calgary children by introducing them to the unique summer and winter sports available in our backyard.”
Lefebvre will begin his new position on August 15.

About WinSport Canada
The Canadian Winter Sport Institute provides world-class sport facilities where Canadian athletes can discover, develop and excel. WinSport Canada owns and operates Canada Olympic Park, the Bill Warren Training Centre in Canmore, the Beckie Scott High Performance Training Centre on Haig Glacier, and funds two-thirds of the operating costs of the Olympic Oval in Calgary. A not-for-profit organization, WinSport Canada supports national sport organizations, encourages educational opportunities and subsidizes the operation of unique training and recreational facilities used by the nation's top athletes and the general public. For more information on WinSport Canada, please visit www.WinSportCanada.ca.

Quebec hopes there's room on the podium for both Leboeuf brothers

By Tracey Madigan, for CBC Sports Online

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/cwg2003/athlete_leboeufs.html

Quebec is watching as brothers François and Maxime Leboeuf compete against each other in the biathlon event.

The two from Val Bélair were ready for a challenge when they were recruited three years ago by Podium 2010, a Biathlon Canada initiative aimed at creating top biathletes by 2010. The Leboeuf brothers were skiing with Cross Country Canada when they were recruited. The boys were looking for more of a challenge and biathlon fit the bill. François, 17, says the shooting part of the race is causing the most grief.

"I am a good skier but my shooting is not regular so if [I get a decent] shooting -eight on ten - I am on the podium." During practice in Valcartier, Que., where winds gust up to 40 kilometres an hour, the boys miss several targets. Wind can be a biathlete's worst enemy, according to Daniel Lefebvre, Biathlon Canada coach for the eastern national training centre.

"There are wind flags on the range, and the athletes know how to read the wind. What's hard to judge is wind gusts and that's a matter of control," Lefebvre points out. "In those cases they just have to learn to wait until the gusts go down. But with experience and time, they'll be able to adjust even to the wind gusts and have a perfect shoot."

On windy days, biathletes in training add on extra laps to make up for missed targets. Lefebvre says that's the challenge of the biathlon.

"They can all shoot and they can all shoot well. But when they get to the race, you have to manage your race and not increase your heart rate too high so that you can't shoot," he says.

"I think they're a little young, a little immature about racing, so when they get to the start line their idea is just to smoke everyone in site [by] skiing and they forget they have to come and shoot. If they don't forget about that, they'll shoot well in the competition." Quebec's biathlon team for the 2003 Canada Winter Games is its youngest in years, thanks to Biathlon Canada's aggressive talent search. Lefevbre says mastering shooting technique takes between three and five years, which is good news for Maxime Leboeuf. At 15, he'll have the rare opportunity to compete again at the Canada Winter Games in four years.

But this year he'll be the youngest in the race. Maxime says he's not stressed out by his competition. "I'm trying to do my best and I can get very good results, so those guys have got more pressure than me!" Coach Lefebvre says despite being young, his team has a good shot at making it to the podium, and he plans to push them to get there.

"There are some in Canada that are showing consistency which I think have a better chance at the podium. However, I think they can all be a podium [winner]. Obviously for me, the goal is always to win. We just want to win. Gold, gold and gold." Winning even one medal would be a great feat for this team. At the last Winter Games, the Quebec men didn't make it to the podium. The women took home one medal, a bronze in the relay event.

At the Canada Winter Games, there are no age categories. That means Maxime won't just compete against boys four years his senior, but also against his 17-year-old brother François.

Former Airborne Gunner; PERI; RMC Biathlon Coach…. In Torino, at the Olympic Games.

Dan Lefebvre, began his military career as an airborne gunner and subsequently remustered to the PERI trade. In 1997, when the PERI trade was disbanded, Dan was hired by PSP to be a physical education instructor and RMC biathlon coach. Dan was popular in his two years at RMC with staff and cadets alike.
- In 1999, Dan accepted a position with Biathlon Canada at the Valcartier training centre. Dan worked tirelessly to sell the sport to the youth around Quebec. He identified a group of gifted athletes and began to train them.

- Within a few years, Dan's foresight and hard work paid outstanding dividends. His group of young men not only have dominated the Canada Winter Games for the past few years, but in the last two years have earned Canada's first ever medals (including gold) in men's individual and team events at the World Championships. Dan is currently in Torino at the Olympic Games as an assistant coach of the Canadian team accompanied with one of his young biathletes.

- Look for former RMC biathlon coach, Dan Lefebvre and his athletes in the 2010 Vancouver hosted Olympic Games! Well done and congratulations Danny!