Last Wednesday morning I had the pleasure to meet and inter- view Wayne Hussey, our new athlet- ic director. When I approached Wayne to ask if I could interview him, he was only too happy to say yes, and asked me if I wanted to do it right away. I was like "wow, he cares that I want to interview him, and he is willing to push aside his own schedule, to fit mine."

Of course I was no where near prepared to interview him, so I asked if Wednesday morning would be fine, he said yes , so I said what time do you come in, he said 6, and so I said how bout 8. I thought 8 was early. So with questions and recorder in hand, I wearily stumbled

Welcome Bienvenue

With another school year underway, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you to the beautiful University of

Prince Edward Island.

By taking the initiative to pursue your education, you are not only investing in your future, but also in the future of our country. So have fun, enjoy the experience while you can and good luck with your studies.

- Wayne Easter, P.C., M.P

Solicitor General of Canada and Member of Parliament for Malpeque

into his office at 8:10 Thursday morn to conduct my first interview as a reporter for The Cadre. He seemed to be the only one in the office, and probably the only one on campus who was that chipper. It seems only now in my life I am realizing how important it is that I get up early if! want to have a productive day. Shoot, anyway......

Wayne Hussey is from Montreal, he grew up in the suburbs where he quickly became involved in sports. He played every thing he could get his hands on - soccer, base- ball, volleyball, football, and hockey, really everything - and what's funny is that he didn't play the sport that would lead him into his professional career until after he had tried all these sports.

When Wayne was 14 years old, an American kid who had just transferred to his school asked him if he would shoot some hoops with him, the kid got turned down but kept asking and finally convinced Wayne to give it a shot. It turns out, Wayne enjoyed basketball, and was good at it. He was chosen to attend a national camp at the age of 19, made it at the age of 20, but then separated his shoulder during a practice in a collision with a teammate. I don't know if you ever really heal from a separated shoulder, especially in bas- ketball, but this injury did not hinder Wayne's passion for sports.

In fact it seems as though this negative evolved into a positive as wayne transferred his energy to coaching. After Wayne graduated from Loyola University, where he played three years of basketball and earned an arts degree, he became coach for the John Abbott College

mens basketball team. After only one .

year of coaching for the college, Wayne was also coaching the women's basketball team, and was promoted to Athletic Director. After his stay with the col-

Meet Our New Athletics Director: Wayne Hussey

lege, Wayne moved on to Bishops University where he added a long list of achievements to his resume, including seven straight conference victories, two national champi- onships for the women's basketball team, coaching the mens basketball team for two years, assistant football coach, intramural director, and the assistant athletic director, and during this time he also coached the women's national basketball team for nine years, talk about a full plate.

With his experience and strong work ethic, Wayne Hussey must have been the obvious choice for our new Athletics Director. He is determined and optimistic about his time here at UPEI, and says simply that he would like to maintain the excellence our sports teams have shown up to now, and improve some of those sports that have been less successful.

Although as he points out all the administration can do is provide the opportunity for the students to achieve their goals, and it is up to the student to get there. He urges anyone that has any questions to come speak with himself, or any staff at the field house, so that he can have that opportunity to help us get the programs we want, the informa- tion we need, and the ball rolling, which can be the most difficult step.

As all athletes know, with no communication there is no team, and in a sense that is how our relation- ship with our school can be consid- ered. Wayne reminds us how impor- tant it is that we get to class, and that good marks will come with disci- pline, and work ethic. I feel our ‘Athletics program is in good hands, and that we will be seeing some pos- itive changes in the near future.

On behalf of the students, I welcome Wayne Hussey to our uni- versity, and wish him the best of luck as our new Athletic Director.

-:page [7] September 22 2003:.