Ottawa, Ontario—Lisa Cieplucha of Georgetown, ON, was honoured with the 2008 Jump Canada ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award in recognition of her dedicated support of Canadian show jumping at the Equine Canada National Awards Banquet in Ottawa, ON, on February 7.
Cieplucha was selected as the recipient of the prestigious award for her countless hours spent working with Equine Canada and Jump Canada. She has been involved in the horse industry for over 35 years. She was a rider under the guidance of Terrance Millar, as an owner and as an Equine Canada Official.
As an Equine Canada recognized official for the past 20 years, Cieplucha holds her Senior Hunter, Equitation, Hack and Jumper cards and she is a Federation Equestre International (FEI) C Jumper Official.
She has been a volunteer member of the Ontario Equestrian Federation (OEF) Officials Committee for over 10 years, more recently a Jump Canada Board member as the Officials Committee chair for the past four years. Cieplucha continues to act as the OEF Officials representative to the Equine Canada Officials Committee, and she will remain as a committee member on the Jump Canada Officials Committee.
Cieplucha has been a past clinician for both hunter and jumper clinics and has been involved in the development of rules and the continued education program for Equine Canada Officials.
She also judges across the country at some of Canada’s top Gold and Platinum level horseshows.
“I am so thrilled and very grateful of this wonderful recognition. I truly think people who volunteer and share their time do it not for the recognition but for the genuine pleasure they get from being involved in something they love, and in my case, helping to continue the betterment of our wonderful sport,” remarked Cieplucha. “I truly took pleasure working with and along side the many professionals on the Jump Canada Board and the great staff at Equine Canada. It really means a lot to me.”
“For the past three years, Lisa has devoted much time and energy to chairing the Jump Canada Officials Committee. We are very grateful to Lisa for her ability to juggle family and work commitments and still be such a productive member of the Jump Canada Board,” noted Jump Canada Chair, Elizabeth Bordeaux. “We are very pleased to present Lisa with this award as she steps down as committee chair.”
In its inaugural year, the 2001 Jump Canada ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award was given to Alan Chesler of Orangeville, ON, while Mark Samuel of Toronto, ON, was honoured in 2002 for his dedication to Canadian show jumping as the first Chair of Jump Canada. In 2003, Chesler was once again named the recipient based on his dedication to the success of the FEI Children’s Final held in Calgary, AB. In 2004, Craig Collins of Loretto, ON, was recognized for the hundreds of hours of volunteer service given to both Jump Canada and Equine Canada as a whole. Claudia Cojocar was the recipient in 2005 for the countless hours she devoted to the development of coaching standards. The Jump Canada Hall of Fame Committee was honoured with the award in 2006 in recognition of their dedicated support of Canadian show jumping. Victoria Andrew of Nepean, ON, has been closely involved with the coaching certification program and the transition to competency based education and training, and she was recognized for her efforts in 2007.
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