The Cal Botterill Lecture

2022: Performance Excellence

What do an RCMP emergency response team officer, associate artistic director at the RWB, physician and Olympic coach have in common?  They all care deeply about performance and sustaining excellence across time.  Join us for an interactive panel discussion where experts in their respective fields discuss the concept of performance excellence from their area of expertise.  This promises to be an engaging conversation where we will work to discover the secrets to maximizing human potential.

The 2022 Cal Botterill Lecture was held on Thursday, November 17, 2022.

Thank you to our moderator, Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, and our panelists, Jeff Schirr, Dr. Faisal Siddqui, and Vlastik Cerny.

Watch a replay of the event:


About The Cal Botterill Legacy Lecture

The Cal Botterill Lecture is an annual event where we bring in a speaker to inspire and strengthen our community. The aim is for the person to share their wisdom and experience, and also to allow us an opportunity to continue to grow as a sport community.

The lecture series was established in 2007 by Director of Sport Psychology at the Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba, Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood, the year Dr. Cal Botterill retired from teaching at the University of Winnipeg. Throughout his career, Dr. Botterill brought professionals to share knowledge with the sport community throughout Manitoba. The annual lecture series began in order to honour and continue his tradition.

The lecture includes the presentation of the Jim Henderson dedicated service award in health and performance psychology, presented to a professional with a distinguished history of service provision.


Past speakers:

  • Jeff Schirr, Dr. Faisal Siddqui, Vlastik Cerny (2022 – Performance Excellence)
  • Desiree Scott, Leah Kirchmann, Emily Potter (2021 – Uncompromising: An Exploration of Grit, Passion, Leadership and Humanity in Elite Sport)
  • Dr. Cristina Fink, Dr. Wade Gilbert, Jennifer Botterill, Dr. Gloria Balague & Dr. Peter Jensen (2020 – Being Human: A discussion of the key ingredients for sustainable high performance)
  • Professor Tony Rossi (2019 – Learning, Performing & Excelling: Understanding high performance environments as learning workplaces with unique learning cultures)
  • Dr. Cristina Fink (2018 – Do I Know What I Need? Performance, Awareness and Mindfulness)
  • Dr. Wade Gilbert (2017 – Principles of Talent Development)
  • Sébastien Sasseville (2016 – Peak Performance: Aim High, Go Far)
  • Dr. Gloria Balague (2015 — Lessons from a lifetime of consulting with the world’s best athletes)
  • Chandra Crawford/Jill Officer (2014 — Sustainable High Performance)
  • Peter Jensen (2013 — The Inside Edge)
  • Marcel Lacroix (2012 — Relentless Pursuit of Excellence)
  • Paul Estabrooks/Maureen Weiss (2011 — Be Inspired)
  • Curt Tribble (2010 — Living Excellence)
  • Alex Baumann/Pierre LaFontaine (2009 — Sport Excellence Series)
  • Jennifer Botterill (2008 — Defining Moments)
  • Terry Orlick (2007 — Making a Difference)

Past award recipients:

Mr. Kevin Kristjanson (2022), Mr. Craig Brown (2021), Ms. Chantel Van Landeghem (2020), Ms. Michelle Sawatzky-Koop (2019), Ms. Laura Ceccarelli (2018), Mr. Stephen Dubienski (2017), Dr. Cal Botterill (2016), Dr. Leisha Strachan (2015), Dr. Melanie Gregg (2014), Mr. Aman Hussain (2013), Mr. Scott Erickson (2012), Ms. Amanda Rach (2011), Dr. Roger Friesen (2010), Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood (2009), Mr. Jason Brooks (2008), Mr. Tom Patrick (2007).


About Dr. Cal Botterill

Cal Botterill is part of an active family. His wife, Doreen (a two-time Olympian Speed skater) is a former elementary school physical education teacher at Brock Corydon School in Winnipeg. Their daughter Jennifer (a graduate of Harvard University) is a three-time gold and silver Olympic medallist, a five-time World Champion and NCAA Champion in hockey. Their son Jason (an MBA graduate of The University of Michigan) is a three-time World Junior Champion, an NCAA Champion and the current General Manager for the Buffalo Sabres.

Striving to develop and maintain perspective played a huge role as the family grew up in Wildwood Park (Winnipeg, MB), traveled and explored the world’s opportunities. Cal has been part of Canadian Teams at eight different Olympic Games and has consulted for five NHL teams (including the 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers). Cal has received teaching excellence awards at both the University of Winnipeg and the University of Calgary.

Cal has enjoyed opportunities to contribute to medicine, business, health, education, emergency professions, performing arts and the media. He has championed interactive learning via technology and maintained a strong interest in global and personal issues. As the author of hundreds of articles, books, videos and presentations, Cal has helped popularize health and performance psychology. Nature, family and professional colleagues play a huge role in his perspective.


Jim Henderson Dedicated Service Award

The delivery of sport psychology services in the Province of Manitoba has a distinguished history of professionals. In order to begin to honour this legacy, and to recognize the invaluable contributions of the service providers, CSCM and SportPsych Manitoba have collaborated to present an annual dedicated service award in honour of Mr. Jim Henderson.

Nomination Process

A call for nominations will be sent out each year. The recipient will be notified of the selection and recognized for their accomplishment at the annual Cal Botterill Legacy lecture.

Selection Process

A committee including Mr. Jim Henderson, Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood, Dr. Cal Botterill, the past award winner and one ad hoc member will select the recipient of the Dedicated Service Award.

Recipient Information

The recipient will receive a small token of appreciation, and their name will be engraved on a large plaque that will be on display in the CSCM resource library.

The recipient will also be asked to contribute an applied piece for distribution in the Sport Psychology Manitoba newsletter and the CSCM website. This information will also be forwarded to coaches and athletes via listserv and/or email. This piece will be created in collaboration with the selection committee and is meant to provide applied information to the athletes and coaches in the province of Manitoba.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood | Director of Sport Psychology
Phone icon 204.229.4390
email icon adrienne@cscm.ca