What can you do with a Recreation degree?

President of hockey operations

Kirt Hill

Kirt is the president of hockey operations and general manager for Edmonton Oil Kings. He has previously worked as a manager and director of player development and recruitment at Western Hockey League, and as an National Hockey League (NHL) amateur scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Waterloo prepared him for the day-to-day operations in the sports industry and provided a clear idea of managing large and small scale sporting events and understanding people and athletes from a recreational and competitive perspective.

Kirt's advice for students is to be open to all types of roles in high-performance sports and to network within the industry.

Assistant manager

Vince Boyer

Leveraging a previous co-op connection, Vince landed a position as office manager of OWL Rafting shortly after graduation.

In this role he oversaw guest communications, hired and trained a team of 50+ staff, completed managerial financial analysis, and more.

After moving to British Columbia, Vince became assistant manager at Sea to Sky Adventure Company, a tourism outfitter that offers guided tours, rental equipment, and lessons in mountain biking, water sports, and hiking. There, Vince oversees guest relations, leads guided tours, and manages the day-to-day operations.

Community director

Sara Middleton

Sara is the director of community impact at United Way Elgin Middlesex, a regional charity focused on poverty reduction and prevention. Her role includes planning and implementing the organization's Community Impact Strategy and allocating $6 million in community funding every year.

Program manager

Natalie Verschueren

At Focus on Nature, an organization that runs nature photography workshops in elementary schools, Natalie is responsible for recruiting, hiring, managing, and supervising paid and volunteer staff, as well as overseeing fund development, marketing, and community outreach activities and coordinating their workshops and camps.

While a student at Waterloo, Natalie participated in the Disney experience, taking courses at the University of Florida and working at Walt Disney World.

Lawyer

Ian Katchin

Ian is a partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group at the law firm of Fogler Rubinoff LLP.

Ian’s practice includes commercial litigation (with an emphasis on shareholder and partnership disputes), insurance litigation and coverage disputes, and construction litigation.

Ian also acts for lawyers, law firms and politicians on litigation and non-litigation matters.

Producer

Tanya Casole-Gouveia

Tanya began her social media career with an unpaid internship as a community manager for a livestream internet show.

After a year, through hard work, networking and a bit of luck she was recommended to work for CBC Sports for the Sochi Olympics. Since 2014 she has built her role and team at CBC and worked on the social experience for her 4th Olympic Games: Tokyo in 2021.

Occupational therapist

Sharon Chan

After graduating from Therapeutic Recreation (TR) at Waterloo, Sharon went to Queen's University for Occupational Therapy and shortly after landed a job as a registered occupational therapist with CBI Health Centre.

As a co-op student studying TR, she had opportunities to work in hospitals and volunteer for health care organizations. Additionally, having the chance to work alongside interdisciplinary team members allowed Sharon to understand the different scopes of practice that exist, and eventually, find her passion for occupational therapy.

Recreation therapist

Lindsey Oretan

In her role in the Specialized Mental Health program at Grand River Hospital, Lindsey supports individuals with a variety of mental health diagnoses, including depression, schizophrenia, concurrent disorders, and dual diagnoses.

She works with each individual to figure out what leisure interventions, individual and group- based, will assist in their recovery.

Therapeutic recreation specialist

Samantha Van deMark

Samantha discovered therapeutic recreation as a hospital volunteer during high school and saw how it could have benefited a close relative with dementia.

Through the Therapeutic Recreation Co-op program, she graduated with almost two years of work experience working with all ages in a variety of settings and was able to complete the course and internship requirements for professional certifications.

Shortly after graduation, she became a certified therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS), was registered with Therapeutic Recreation Ontario (R/TRO), and was working in her chosen field within a year.