HIGH ACHIEVERS: uOttawa, Carleton athletic directors Sue Hylland, Jennifer Brenning preparing for June retirement

By Martin Cleary

During the 2019-20 university year, the athletic department administrative teams at Carleton University and University of Ottawa put a ceasefire on their crosstown rivalry and worked together on a major, one-of-a-kind project.

For many months, Carleton athletic director Jennifer Brenning and her Ottawa counterpart Sue Hylland led the charge to organize and stage the U Sports Canadian university men’s and women’s basketball championships at the same site and on the same dates for the first time.

It was a huge success at The TD Place Arena as Carleton (3-0) won its 15th men’s national title and the Carleton women’s and Ottawa men’s teams finished at 1-2, after losing their respective consolation finals.

During one of their well-deserved breaks while organizing the double nationals, the conversation between Brenning and Hylland drifted towards their jobs and retirement. Both Brenning and Hylland had been pillars in the overall Canadian sports system for decades, but the clock was ticking and telling them to consider a new path.

At one point, Brenning said she was thinking about retirement in a few years. Earlier this year, she told Hylland she would be retiring in June.

Great friends and co-operative partners in sport, Hylland congratulated Brenning on her decision and added she may have something to tell her in the near future. That happened last Friday, when she posted an open letter on the Gee-Gees athletics’ website to announce she will retire as the university’s senior director of recreation and varsity sports (athletic director) on June 30th.

For the past eight years, Hylland and Brenning held the top athletic administration positions at Ottawa’s two universities during successful times for their sports programs and trying times during the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled the 2020-21 season and disrupted the 2021-22 campaign.

Brenning had an eight-year head start on Hylland as she became Carleton’s athletic director in July 2008, and will leave after 16 years as the fourth person in the role now labeled associate vice-president recreation and athletics. Hylland was named Ottawa’s athletic director in June 2016.

“I always felt I’d be at the University of Ottawa no longer than eight years,” Hylland, 64, said in a phone interview this week about the final step in her 42-year sports administrative career.

“I worked at the Canadian Olympic Committee the longest, the Canadian Association of the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity, and the Canada Games Council. I knew for sure my career at the University of Ottawa would only be a certain time.

“There was nothing in particular. It was time. I had a good run. I loved it. I feel there’s still more work to be done.”

Hylland also is looking forward to spending more time with her husband Larry Ring, the Gee-Gees’ football head coach from 1991-97, and her children as well as supporting her aging mother.

After several years of consideration, Brenning knew this was the year to sign off on her final assignment in university sport.

“I have been reflecting on when would be a good time. My husband has had some health issues and I want to spend more time at home,” said Brenning, who worked 11 years for U Sports when it was called Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and seven years at the University of Ottawa as its assistant director programs, responsible for varsity programs, intramurals and recreation, before coming to Carleton.

During her eight-year span at the University of Ottawa, Hylland has dealt with a variety of challenging issues and developed the overall sports/recreation program involving 35 varsity sports, using her multi-sport background to keep on an even keel.

“Running an athletic department is like running the COC or Canada Games all the time,” she said. “There are many partners, many sports, many venues. It’s crazy. It’s a complex array of partnerships. We are a big beast.”

Despite the long hours, there have been many rewarding moments for celebration.

Since Hylland’s start in 2016, the Gee-Gees have won five of their seven RSEQ women’s rugby titles, the 2017 U Sports national championship and played host to the 2019 nationals, when they won the bronze medal. The Gee-Gees earned two of their four OUA women’s soccer championships during Hylland’s reign and captured the 2018 U Sports national title on their home field, as well as the 2019 FISU World Cup gold medal in China.

A former All-Canadian basketball player and national championship silver and bronze medallist at Bishop’s University, Hylland cheered on the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team to back-to-back national bronze medals the last two years. She also supported the women’s basketball team to the OUA silver and national bronze medals in 2019.

Hylland bid for and won the rights to stage the 2018 U Sports national women’s soccer championship, which was won by the host team, and will likely volunteer when the university plays host to the first U Sports Canadian men’s hockey championship in Ottawa in 2025.

Besides dealing with the day-to-day issues, Hylland also looked to the future with her staff, knowing the growing student enrolment needed more athletic, fitness and wellness venues. She would like to see a new sports, recreation and wellness centre built within five to 10 years to replace the aging Montpetit Hall complex.

“It’s a big product. I feel good about the work that has been done behind the scenes. There’s a will to get to this. People are working quietly,” Hylland added.

“Not many campuses don’t have new facilities. That has got to be the school’s big focus. We’ve moved it up the priority list, but these are big, complex projects and need a lot of money and partnerships. The school has other projects and you can only do so much. I hope it can come to fruition in the next five years, some may say five to 10.

“I feel we’re building a caring community to give to the kids. When they leave, they should want to come back. This is all teamwork. It’s not just me. We’ve also built a new sports model that’s showing positive results.”

Brenning has been at the forefront of Canadian university sports for more than 36 years, whether at the national office or at ground level with the University of Ottawa or Carleton University.

At Carleton, she has been instrumental in helping to organize and stage five men’s and one women’s U Sports basketball championship tournaments and two men’s national soccer championships, including the greatly-affected 2021 tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Carleton took the silver medal.

During her time, she supported, watched and celebrated the success of the basketball program’s 12 men’s and three women’s national championships, the soccer program’s four U Sports national championship appearances in the past five tournaments winning silver (2021) and bronze (2018) medals, and the curling program’s national titles for women in 2014 and men in 2019.

Brenning will leave Carleton with great memories from a variety of avenues in her job. In her final year at Ottawa and three months before transitioning to Carleton, she was thrilled to see the Canadian university men’s basketball championship come to Ottawa, after a 20-year stay at the Metro Centre in Halifax.

Helping to revive the football program, which had been idle for 15 years, alongside the addition of a women’s rugby program, was a big accomplishment for Brenning in 2013.

“The first (football) home game was sold out. It was a crazy atmosphere and a lot of fun. I was so impressed with our community. This generation hadn’t seen football and they embraced it,” she said.

Brenning also felt a great feeling of satisfaction when the athletic department won a couple of student referendums, including one in 2012 to raise fees to expand the athletic centre and build a football locker room.

“It made me proud. It was a vote of confidence,” Brenning continued.

She also has fond memories of being in Regina in 2018 to watch Catherine Traer hit a buzzer-beater shot, nicknamed the Traer Prayer, to win the semifinals and advance to the championship game, where Carleton won its first national title.

Brenning also understands about modernizing the university’s athletic facilities.

“It’s more concepts and ideas right now, looking to see if we can expand the fitness centre,” she added.

“I’m pleased leaving now because of the incredible staff. The (varsity and recreation) programs are all doing well. The summer camps have grown over the last 10 to 15 years. I feel I’m leaving it in a good place, but there are challenges ahead.”

As Brenning and Hylland approach their final days as athletic directors, they’re working on completing yet another big project.

The Panda Game has been a major sore point in recent years because of unruly, post-game behaviour in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood around the TD Place Stadium.

But they feel they have created a game plan that can be used as a template for future Panda Games, which would have a calming effect on the largest athletic rivalry between the two universities.

The plan’s major elements are to continue to play the Panda Game on a Sunday, have a pre-game tailgate party on site, play the game and have a post-game party at one of the universities. The post-game party was at the University of Ottawa last year and it went well, said Hylland.

“We have to tidy up the financial side, what do we (each) contribute,” Hylland noted. “Jen and I will take a closer look (at that) so it doesn’t have to be rehashed every year.”

Once that’s done, it’s retirement time. Brenning plans to stay active and be involved with environmental issues. Hylland will focus on family and personal matters and be a volunteer or spectator at local sports events.