The Saskatchewan Huskies have named a replacement for former athletic director Basil Hughton, who retired at the end of the 2016-17 school year.
Shawn Burt has been hired as the first-ever chief athletics officer (CAO) for Huskie Athletics.
READ MORE: Hughton calling it a career after nine years as Sask. Huskies athletic director
The Huskies created the new position in keeping with a major shift in philosophy that began last year.
“It’s a trailblazing event. No one else is doing this in Canada and it’s an important step,” Burt said.
“I’ve always said that Canadian university sport is grossly under-leveraged in this country, and this feels like the right place to do it and this team is really committed to it so I’m really excited to sink my teeth into this and get going.”
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The Aurora, Ont., native was previously the chief hockey officer at the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation in Toronto and has extensive experience in marketing, sponsorship and fundraising.
The CAO position will be more outwardly focused than that of the athletic director.
“We want to be Saskatoon’s sports team of choice in all 15 areas that we compete and then also look at the national stage and say, ‘look, where are our competitive advantages and disadvantages,’” David Dube, the chair of the Huskie Athletics board of trustees, said.
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Dube said part of the strategy to invest in areas where the Huskies can set themselves apart and make it the “very best athletics program in the country.”
Burt will report to the Huskie Athletics new board of trustees, which was formed last fall.
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