Pound Takes On World Championship Role

Former IOC Vice President Dick Pound has accepted the role of Honorary Chair of the 2014 Women's World Team Squash Championship, the biennial World Squash Federation event which will be hosted by Squash Canada in December for the second time this millennium.

The championship, which will attract the world's leading women from 20 nations, will take place at White Oaks Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario from 1-6 December.

Pound is a Counsel in the Montréal office of Stikeman Elliott, the author of several books and publications, and is one of Canada's most-recognized figures in international sport. In his distinguished career, the native of St. Catharines, Ontario was a two-time vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Chancellor of McGill University and founding chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"I am very honored to accept this position in such an important event," said Pound. "I love the game of squash and played it competitively for a quarter of a century. My particular hope is for squash to become part of the Olympic Games - it has all of the elements of skill, fitness, excitement and fair play that make it a natural addition to the Olympic programme."

Pound has been named to Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world for his relentless efforts to rid sport of performance- enhancing drugs. His career has touched nearly all aspects of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement, and he has been a force for change and growth in many of the roles he has assumed over the years.

"Mr. Pound is one of the most iconic figures in sport worldwide and one of squash's greatest supporters in gaining Olympic inclusion," said Squash Canada Executive Director and WWT2014 Championship Director Danny Da Costa. "We are delighted to have him involved in this year's World Team Championship"

Pound has been inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements in sports, both as an executive and as an athlete. As an athlete, he was a double Olympic swimming finalist at the 1960 Olympic Games, and captured four medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze) at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. From 1958 to 1962, Pound won several national swimming titles and was elected into the International Swimming and Canadian Swimming Halls of Fame. In 2002 he received the Gold Medallion Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Pound was also once a nationally-ranked squash player.

The WWT2014 will be the first event of this calibre to be held in Ontario for thirty years. Squash Canada looks forward to welcoming the world's elite squash players to the region, and to inviting spectators to this world class event to watch competition on one of eight competition courts, including a four-walled glass court with seating for 500. Individual session tickets as well as patron package tickets are available through the Championship website wsfwomensteams.com