By Hannah Sabaratnam

​​As a new school year begins, so will a new era of Bold leadership at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

Back in July, Louise Cowin retired from her position as executive director of Athletics and Recreation after serving the department for six years. The organization’s leadership structure will now consist of a two-person model with Nick Asquini becoming director of athletics after two decades with the department and Andrew Pettit remaining as director of recreation, equity and active well-being.

In a press release made on June 30, the Bold thanked Cowin for her “transformational leadership and dedication to student-athletes, coaches, and the broader TMU community.”

Pettit’s role will stay the same but will have greater responsibility within the department. Both Pettit and Asquini will directly report to Jen McMillen, vice- provost, students.

Before Cowin entered her position in 2019, TMU Athletics and Recreation already had flashes of success, including the women’s volleyball team earning the school’s first U Sports National Championship in 2018, setting the stage for her leadership to continue to foster the growth of the department.

However, during the 2019-20 school year—the first in her new position—Cowin, along with the rest of the school’s leadership staff, would face the enormous challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. With TMU’s campus shut down, there would be empty weightrooms, no intramurals and cancelled sports games.

“This is where [Cowin’s] leadership I think really [stood out] for us and institutionally, TMU I think did really well for our students and for our staff,” said Pettit.

Pettit explains that the athletics and recreation department along with the school were determined to keep its staff employed, while also opening facilities back as quickly as possible in a safe manner.

“TMU made a commitment and that’s through Jen McMillen…and up through the administration,” said Pettit. “The commitment to keeping staff engaged and employed and then [the commitment] to serve students.”

When services were given the greenlight, the department put effort into ensuring recreational activities could resume while also minimizing risk. New infrastructure was installed that allowed students to book a slot for their workout, facilities were modified to accommodate social distancing and screening protocols were put into place among various other precautions the department took.

“Some schools weren’t able to do that work either because they weren’t able to keep their staff employed or because they were worried about the risk of [COVID-19],” said Pettit. “We said ‘we can manage the risk.’”

With all of its efforts to stay open, Pettit is proud of the department’s work. Not only was there no transmission of COVID-19 in recreational facilities—as reported by TMU in 2022—but a sense of community prevailed. The opening of recreational facilities allowed students to interact with each other, while department staff had meaningful work to accomplish, maintaining their purpose.

For athletics, even with cancelled games, Asquini was sure sports would return to the university.

“I don’t think I was ever really concerned that sports was or wasn’t going to come back…it was an issue of when and what changes were we going to have to make operationally to make it feasible,” said Asquini. 

Similar to students who could sign up for online workout classes during the pandemic, Bold athletes also met online to train. The Bold’s sports performance staff were able to communicate and design workout routines for athletes that were shared through an app—one which is still used today. The development of this app has had positive results even outside of the pandemic era. 

“Our athletes learned how to train and stay ready for competition even though they weren’t able to be necessarily on the field on play,” said Asquini. 

Coming out of the pandemic, Bold teams remained competitive and the Recreational and Athletics Centre (RAC) would continue to improve. 

Under Cowin’s leadership, the Athletics and Recreation department saw the release of Raising the Bar, a five year strategic plan that spans from 2021 to 2026. Aimed at “building a healthy, active and engaged community where each person realizes their fullest potential,” Raising the Bar intends to drive success for students, student-athletes and the department itself. Both Asquini and Pettit agree that the plan has been effective in reaching its goals. 

Since the return of competitive sports in the 2021-22 school year, the Bold have seen the women’s basketball team win a national championship and the men’s hockey team become two-time Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze medalists. The latter also made three trips to the U Sports national championship, during all of which they placed fourth in. Looking at other Bold varsity teams, each have made several playoff appearances, consistently bringing TMU fans post-season action. 

“We feel good about the competitive success [and] the ability to preserve our competitive success over the strategic plan,” said Asquini. 

Asquini also pointed to other areas of growth and development outside of the field of play, including sport performance, fundraising abilities and connecting with alumni. 

“I think we are feeling pretty good about our progress,” said Asquini. 

On the recreational side, numerous projects have been completed under Cowin’s leadership, including the 2021 floor renovations at the RAC and Kerr Hall Gymnasium and creation of a functional training room that were previously squash courts. 

Pettit said the renovation of the RAC will remain as an area of focus for him, with multiple spaces in need of development. These include opening a new student lounge and redesigning the changerooms. While construction to changerooms will not start this year, preliminary work has been done to determine layouts and costs. Funding is still an ongoing process for the changerooms however, the lounge is set to open this September.

Programming for recreation increased under Cowin, especially in regards to drop-in sports participation. When Pettit started with the department in 2017, basketball was the primary sport for drop-in participants. Now, a wider range of sports are available such as volleyball, pickleball, soccer and badminton. 

Equity-based programming aimed at drawing in students from marginalized communities to participate in TMU’s athletics has also been a major part of Cowin’s tenure. While these programs have been in development before Cowin arrived at the school, Pettit says her commitment and their alignment on these issues were imperative to building environments that are a reflection of the TMU community. 

Cowin’s tenure also accomplished the athletics and recreations’ rebrand—changing it from the Ryerson Rams to TMU Bold. Pettit points out that while the impact of the change is more severe for athletics, there is still work to be done on the recreational side as well. 

“If we’re going to be about it in terms of equity and inclusion and truth and reconciliation, then this is what we need to do,” said Pettit. 

Name recognition was initially part of the challenge for athletics and new recruits but Asquini says that it was no different than what the university as a whole experienced. 

“If [students] weren’t familiar with the name change, if they hadn’t followed the story in the news, it was making them aware that this isn’t Ryerson anymore, we’re TMU now,” said Asquini. 

Now TMU, the athletics and recreation department and students alike “embraced the new brand,” according to Asquini. 

Moving into the 2025-26 school year and beyond, Asquini and Pettit have goals of their own. Plans like Raising the Bar, and previously Higher Expectations, have been a part of the department for some time. While there is no immediate timeline for when the next set of goals for the department will be released, it is to be expected that a new plan of action will be announced. 

Asquini’s goals are centered around the growth of the Canadian sport market. To him, the product of competitive sports has gotten stronger over the years, not just at TMU but around the country. It may not be realistic to achieve NCAA style recognition—Asquini points out—but creating a different version for the Canadian landscape is where he wants to move in the direction of.

“Our challenge is…to create a market for ourselves…that creates profiles for our schools, for departments and for our athletes,” said Asquini. 

On the recreational side, Pettit continues to strive to create welcoming spaces. In an era where diversity, equity and inclusion have been diminished, it has remained Pettit’s goal to create welcoming and accessible environments where students feel a sense of belonging, with a focus on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, the Muslim community—Muslim women in particular—and the disabled community. 

“We’re making sure our staff are trained and ready and that our community understands our commitments,” said Pettit. 

Additionally, Pettit wants to focus on new projects aimed at beginners who want to get into physical health and activity, which can be expected to begin this year. 

“Regardless of your social location, being a beginner is intimidating,” said Pettit. “Particularly in a space like this where your beginningness is on display for others.” 

Despite the change to a two-person model, collaboration is not reduced between athletics and recreation. 

“I think we really value the partnership with each other and the collaboration,” said Asquini. “We really respect each other’s expertise and each other’s areas.” 

Cowin’s previous experience at the University of British Columbia as the vice president, students has been a major takeaway for both Asquini and Pettit from her time at TMU. Her unique perspective and her direct connection to serving students has resonated with the two directors.

“[Cowin] is a very special person and I feel very fortunate to have intersected with her in general, but also at the particular stage of her career,” said Pettit. 

Now under Asquini and Pettit, athletics and recreation are still in a position to continue to grow. The strength of the competitive teams combined with the strong presence of TMU students in recreational facilities provides the hope that the department will continue to prosper even under new leadership.