THE GRANBY CHALLENGER
HONORARY PRESIDENTS :
- 1997 : Denis Dumas, president
of Le Groupe Teknika
and considered as the first tennis
pioneer of Granby ;
- 1998 : Alain A. Faucher, from
Faucher Dessaints, lawyers, adviser for « Les Loisirs
de Granby » and one of tennis pioneers of Granby ;
- 1999: François Godbout, member
of the national Davis Cup team in the 1960’s, elected to the Quebec
Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and then to the Canadian Tennis Hall of
Fame in 1995.
- 2000: Rolland Godin, pro
at le Club de Tennis de l’Île des Soeurs, member of the national Davis Cup team
for a decade, always showing up at all the tournaments held in
Quebec for
over 50 years, including the ones held in Granby from
1968 through 1974.
- 2001: Diane St-Jacques, federal
MP for Shefford county.
Great supporter of the Granby Challenger, Diane St-Jacques is one
of our most active members at the federal government in helping getting
financial support from her party. Great tennis fan, attending many
of the tournament’s official activities, Diane St-Jacques represents
in a marvellous way as the honorary president of the 6th
edition of the tournament the many fans of this sporting event.
- 2002 : Gilles
Blanchard, special attaché for the Secretary
of State for amateur sports. Former sports columnist at La Presse, Gilles Blanchard has written many articles
covering the tennis scene. his tournaments' presentations, commets
and most of all his analysis of the evolution of the sport is making
him an extraordinary commentator. since
the sixties, he wrote the best articles that was written about the
Granby's tennis history.
-
2003: Yvan Ponton.
A
comedian and a well-know referee at «La Ligue Nationale
d’improvisation», also a TV host, Yvan Ponton is better known to
tennis fans as the sports commentator at RDS. As the Challenger
finals were broadcasted through CBC-Estrie, the organizing committee
could not have done better in choosing Yvan Ponton as the honorary
president of the 8th edition of the tournament.
-
2004: Raymond Royer,
CEO at Domtar. In the sixties and seventies, Mr. Royer was one of
the great tennis players of Quebec. He has played more than once at
the Quebec Opens held in Granby. He also was well known in the
provincial league, especially in Sherbrooke and Drummondville. Many
young ones took advantage from his advice through the lessons or
sessions he gave in Granby. Many friends will be happy to see him
back at St-Luc as the honorary president for the 9th
edition of the tournament.
- 2005 : Everybody knows Marc Messier as a very
good actor. Born in Granby, Marc Messier worked for the
organization "Les Loisirs de Granby" when he was a teenager.
Tennis's man since he was kid, he played on our Granby's courts. Now
that he's very known from public, he was in the past years
honorary
president for the Canada's International in Montreal. For the
Challenger's 10'th anniversary, we are very proud that he accepted
to be our
honorary
president of the tournament.
-
2006 : Laurent
Valiquette
engaged himself as voluntary in tennis development in Granby, first
of all as a member of tennis committee in 1989 and then, as
president of Granby tennis club 1991 to
2005. He was responsible of the Challenger's organization committee
from 1995 to 2005. He won the excellence prize "Administrator
volunteer of the year" in 1998 and 2004 for his outstanding
engagement, prize given by the Tennis Quebec Federation (Tennis
Quebec). In October 2005, Eugène Lapierre, v.p. of Tennis Canada,
gave Laurent a great tribute, saying: "Laurent is the one that build
up the tournament, he's the man that makes people talk about Granby's
Challenger in glowing terms around the country and even worldwide.
He's worth it and it will be difficult, even impossible, to find out
another Laurent Valiquette."
THE GRANBY CHALLENGER
AMBASSADORS :
-
Bouchard, Serge,
from
National Bank,
-
Bonnardel, François,
Deputy of the National Assembly
-
Fournier, Jean-Guy,
communications director from IBM-Bromont
plant
and
Chamber of commerce board member, Granby-Bromont district;
-
Hébert, Raymond,
general manager of « Les Loisirs de Granby » ;
-
Gervais, Philippe
from National Bank, chief of marketing department and sponsorship
-
Goulet, Richard,
Granby
city mayor
-
Mercier, Pierre,
president of Le Trianon
-
Robidoux, Denis,
president of Charland, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile Ltée
-
Saad, Patrick,
president and general director of l’Hôtel St-Christophe
-
Vincent, Robert,
Member of federal Parliament for the
riding of Shefford
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