[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/jeff-giles-dn1.jpg” caption=”Jeff Giles was appointed director of McMaster Athletics and Recreation on June 1. Since then he and his team have begun mapping McMaster’s future as one of Canada’s premier athletics and recreation Universities. Photo by Laura McGhie.”]The man credited with helping to save the Canadian Football League is now leading the team entrusted with furthering McMaster's athletics and recreation programs.

Best known for his work as president of the CFL and of the Toronto Argonauts, Jeff Giles was appointed director of McMaster Athletics and Recreation on June 1. Since then he and his team have begun mapping McMaster's future as one of Canada's premier athletics and recreation Universities.

“In recent years, McMaster has invested in Athletics and Recreation programs and facilities and now is home to some of the best campus sporting facilities in the country,” said Giles, “but this is just the beginning. We have to use these great resources to take McMaster to the next level. We have to think big.”

Indeed, Giles and his team are thinking very big by working to improve an already outstanding Athletics and Recreation program.

“We currently have 70 per cent of students engaged in Athletics and Recreation on campus, be it working out at the Pulse or playing on an intramural sports team,” said Giles. “I'd like to see us up that participation rate to 90 per cent.”

Giles would also like to see the University become the number one place in North America for high performance athletes and sports medicine. To this end, the Ontario government recently invested $150,000 in McMaster's advanced rehabilitation facilities, including a hydrotherapy pool, which will benefit both athletes and the campus community.

A proponent of physical activity as part of a balanced education, the former Queen's track and field athlete recognizes the importance that sport and recreation play in the lives of university students. He also recognizes the need to elevate the status of university sport within Canada as well as the need to increase awareness of McMaster athletics within the community.

“We do have broad community-based support for athletics,” he said, “but there is always room for more engagement with the community.”

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Giles is the co-founder of MedProDirect, a leading edge specialty product and medical supply company. A chartered accountant, he has also served as director of corporate finance at Price Waterhouse Coopers Securities Inc. and is noted for negotiating highly successful television revenue agreements during his time with the CFL.