 |
Sylvia Sweeney | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Executive television producer, Olympian |
Sylvia Sweeney, C.M., (born October 3, 1956) is a Canadian executive television producer and Olympian. In 2017, Sweeney was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada "for her long-standing commitment to and creative leadership at the nexus of art and sport through her documentaries and world-stage productions." [1]
Sweeney was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Sweeney is the daughter of music teacher Daisy Sweeney and railway cook James Sweeney. Sweeney is the niece of jazz musician Oscar Peterson. [2] Sweeney was admitted to the Department of Performance (classical piano) McGill University in 1973. While at university, Sweeney played for the McGill Martlets basketball team. Sweeney also played for the national finalists Concordia Stingers (1977) and the Laurentian University Lady Vees (1978–79) where she won the collegiate championship in 1979. Sweeney also studied communications at Concordia University (1976-1977), French at University of Sherbrooke (1977-1978), philosophy and jurisprudence at Laurentian University (1978-79). [3]
Sweeney was on the Canadian basketball team at Montréal 1976, finishing sixth. Eight years later at Los Angeles 1984, she was a member of the team that finished just off the podium, losing to China 63–57 in the bronze medal game, finishing fourth.
Becoming known as “Canada’s First Lady of Basketball”, [3] Sweeney joined the national team in 1974 and spent a decade as a key member including serving as captain from 1979 to 1984. She was voted the Most Valuable Player at the 1979 World Championships in Seoul, won a bronze medal at the 1979 Pan American Games where she was the Canadian team flag bearer, and was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 1979 World Student Games in Mexico.
Sweeney was a member of the local organizing committee for the 1994 Men's World Championships in Toronto, director of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association, and served as the assistant chef de mission for the Canadian team at Atlanta 1996.
Annually, Canadian Interuniversity Sport and TSN present the “Sylvia Sweeney Award” to a Canadian women's university basketball player who best exemplifies the values of athletics, academics and community involvement.
Sportsnet produced a profile about Sweeney for its Black History Month series. [2]
Sweeney was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1996 [4] and the Québec Merite Sportif Hall of Fame in 2000.
In the 1980s Sweeney worked in television, first as a researcher, then as a sportscaster, and finally she became the weekend anchor for CBC Television in Montreal. That same year, Sweeney was hired as a journalist and host for CTV's W-FIVE .
Sweeney subsequently founded her own production company, Elitha Peterson Productions. She has produced award-winning documentary programming for WTSN, W Network, TVOntario History Television and Vision TV. Sweeney co-produced the 1992 documentary In the Key of Oscar that profiled her uncle, Oscar Peterson. [5]
In 1998, Sweeney became a director of the Ontario Media Development Corporation the province of Ontario's Film Commission responsible for issuing film tax credits to filmmakers in Ontario.
In 2002, Sweeney became executive producer in the Ontario division of the National Film Board of Canada.
In 2003, Sweeney was an executive producer on the documentary The Last Round: Chuvalo vs Ali. [6]
In 2004, Sweeney was named the president of International Performing Arts for All (IPAFA), the official supplier of arts and entertainment to the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Sweeney produced the 2004 Paralympic Salute to Canadian Athletes in Athens, Greece.
In 2008, Sweeney was the executive producer of the Marriage of Excellence concert series that was broadcast in Wuhan, China. The concerts showcased Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sheila E, the Oliver Jones Trio, George Sampounidis, Justin Hines, Kitorah, Tony DeBlois, Kat Dyson, Rhonda Smith, Ma Li, Taylor Dayne and others. These were the first concerts ever staged between the Olympic and Paralympic Games to promote the integration of able-bodied artists and artists living with disabilities.
In 2009 Sweeney was the executive producer of Quest for Excellence a documentary that was broadcast on Bravo Television in Canada.
In 2015 Sweeney became a member of the International Olympic Committee's Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission. And in the same year Sweeney launched the ArtsGames Movement.
In 2016 Sweeney was the executive producer of the International ArtsGames Committee's staged global ArtsGames Concert starring Sheila "E" in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, during the 2016 Olympic Games.
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Considered a virtuoso and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honours. He played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, simply "O.P." by his friends, and informally in the jazz community, "the King of inside swing".
Laurentian University, officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergraduate, graduate-level, and doctorate degrees. Laurentian is the largest bilingual provider of distance education in Canada.
Frank Wilton Marshall is an American film producer and director. He often collaborates with his wife, film producer Kathleen Kennedy, with whom he founded the production company Amblin Entertainment, along with Steven Spielberg. In 1991, he founded, with Kennedy, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, a film production company. Since May 2012, with Kennedy taking on the role of President of Lucasfilm, Marshall has been Kennedy/Marshall's sole principal.
Stephen Brunt is a Canadian sports journalist, well known as a former columnist for Sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet, and former co-host on podcasts for Sportsnet.
Oliver Theophilus Jones, is a Canadian jazz pianist, organist, composer and arranger.
Doug Falconer was a Canadian-American film producer, singer-songwriter, recording artist and professional Canadian football player, having played in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Oakwood Collegiate Institute is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the neighbourhoods of Regal Heights, Oakwood-Vaughan and Bracondale Hill.
Daisy Elitha Peterson Sweeney was a Canadian classical music and piano teacher, known for having taught many of the most notable figures in Canadian jazz music.
Canada Basketball is the governing body for basketball in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIBA and governs Canadian basketball at the international, professional, and amateur levels, including: the men's and women's national teams, 3x3 basketball, the Canadian Elite Basketball League, and youth organizations.
Perry Rosemond, CM is a Canadian television writer, producer and director.
Barry Michael Avrich is a Canadian film director, film producer, author, marketing executive, and arts philanthropist. Avrich's film career has included critically acclaimed films about the entertainment business including The Last Mogul about film producer Lew Wasserman (2005), Glitter Palace about the Motion Picture Country Home (2005), and Guilty Pleasure about the Vanity Fair columnist and author Dominick Dunne (2004). In addition, Avrich produced the Gemini-nominated television special Caesar and Cleopatra (2009) with Christopher Plummer. Avrich also produced Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Awards (2015) as well as the Canadian Screen Awards (2015-2017) and The Scotiabank Giller Prize (2015-Current).
The Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan Parapan American Games (TO2015) was a non-profit organization responsible for producing and financing the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games. It was established on January 21, 2010, about three months after the 2015 games were awarded to Toronto, Ontario.
Marion Beverly Lay, is a former competitive swimmer who represented Canada in the 1964 Summer Olympics and 1968 Summer Olympics. Swimming the anchor leg for Canada's third-place team in the women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, she won an Olympic bronze medal, together with teammates Angela Coughlan, Marilyn Corson and Elaine Tanner.
Dianne Norman is a Canadian former basketball player who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Patrick Anderson is a Canadian wheelchair basketball player.
Tracey Ferguson is a Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player. She has won several gold medals including at three different Paralympic Games.
Darda Sales is a Canadian swimmer, 4.0 point wheelchair basketball player and motivational speaker. She won gold medals with the 4x100 medley relay team at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney and the 2002 IPC Swimming World Championships in Mar del Plata, and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. She switched to wheelchair basketball after she retired from swimming in 2009, and won a gold medal in that sport at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto.
Maureen Orchard was the president of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation from 2002 to 2014, and its secretary general from 2014 to 2018.
U Sports women's basketball is the highest level of play of women's basketball at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. There are 48 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are divided into four conferences that are eligible to compete for the year-end championship. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years. The winning team of the U Sports women's basketball championship is awarded the Bronze Baby trophy. The championship has been played for since 1972, with the UBC Thunderettes capturing the inaugural championship.
 | ||
| | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
