Welcoming ETFC's new President - Michael Markowski!

Introduction from ETFC’s new President – Michael Markowski.

I am pleased to join the Edmonton Track and Field Council (ETFC) as its new incoming President.  I look forward to building on the great work of the previous board and offer a notable thank you for the great commitment by past-president Corinne Timmer who continues to support the board in that capacity. I am also very encouraged to be part of a council board that is very dedicated to our sport, and we all consider ourselves fortunate to be supported by Robyn Webster’s passion in her role as our ETFC coordinator.

The Council will carry forward in its vision to grow the sport of track and field in the Edmonton region.  This will come through our role to support connection between the various local clubs, provide advocacy and promotion of the sport as part of a larger community, and to coordinate safe and effective facility usage.

Having participated in track and field in my youth, I appreciate first-hand the positive impact that this sport can have on building confidence and a foundation for life-long fitness. Athletics is very special in its culture of personal bests and variety, and it is great to see the inspiration and momentum that comes from having Edmonton represented on the international stage.

I feel that there is a tremendous amount of opportunity for athletics in general but especially in Edmonton.  I am looking to promote increased collaboration between our clubs so that more youth have access to the benefits of track and field, and our athletes and coaches can achieve greater heights. We are faced with an immediate threat with both the Kinsmen and Butterdome being unavailable for all or part of next indoor season. As an optimist I see this as a positive disruption that will have us all thinking of innovative solutions that creates future capacity to grow the sport of athletics in our region.

I encourage you to reach out to me at President@etfc.ca with any ideas or opportunities for improvement you may have to help drive this vision of growing our sport and I look forward to hearing from you.

BACKGROUND

Having been born and raised in Edmonton, I am very proud of this city and surrounding area.

I specialized in the 400m and 800m in my running past, competing for St. Albert (before they were called the Mustangs) and had the opportunity to participate at Legion Nationals for three years and then as part of the University of Alberta Golden Bears team for four years.  I built friendships with athletes from the Columbians, EOC, Leduc club and others, and am currently the President of the Edmonton Harriers Track and Field club where both my son and daughter compete. I still really enjoy running and in losing some speed (actually quite a bit) I’ve shifted to longer distances with a couple of marathons under my belt and have been able to complete the solo Death Race on two occasions. I must admit though that I find a lot of inspiration in our Masters athletes and am intrigued about maybe returning to running in circles again.

I graduated from civil engineering at the U of A and professionally I’ve worked mostly in construction project management and now lead a risk management team for a prominent architecture and engineering firm with projects across Canada and beyond.  My role is largely around problem solving and issue resolution which translates well to support the ETFC to find success to achieve its mission.

I intend to leverage my past board experience (including the St. Albert Track and Field Foundation, River Valley Alliance, and Parkland Neighbourhood Residents Association), as well as current board involvement for the Edmonton Harriers and the Consulting Engineers of Alberta to drive strong governance within the ETFC and to better connect us with our other key stakeholders and community partners.

Michael Markowski

President of the Board, Edmonton Track and Field Council