Message from Jeff Keshen, President, University of Regina

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Chris Getzlaf BBA'07 is a University of Regina alumnus, having graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree that he earned while playing as a receiver with the Regina Thunder and then the University of Regina Rams. Drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2007, he was soon traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he played in his hometown for nine and a half years of his outstanding 11-year CFL career. He also played for Edmonton for a year and a half before returning to the Riders where he retired as a Roughrider in January 2018.

That career saw Chris win two Grey Cups with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2007 and 2013) and play in two others (2009 and 2010). In the 2013 Grey Cup hosted in Regina, he was named the Most Outstanding Canadian. Upon his retirement from football in 2018, he had 414 career receptions for 6,192 yards and 41 touchdowns. He remains fifth all-time in receiving yards for the Roughriders and was named to the team's SaskTel Plaza of Honor in 2021, joining Roughrider legends including Ron Lancaster, George Reed, and Roger Aldag.

Our parents allowed us so many opportunities to participate in a variety of activities and sports which helped us eventually gravitate and excel in our respective sports at the professional level. They also instilled in us a great work ethic and focus. The individual sacrifices and determination to get to the ultimate level followed and I try to carry the same set of goal setting mentality into my post-football career."
-Chris Getzlaf BBA'07

Just as importantly, Chris maintained a strong community presence during his time in the CFL - and continues to do so in his post-football career as a financial advisor in Regina. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation, which was created in 2019 to enhance the team's community and charitable involvement across Saskatchewan.

Chris has traveled across Saskatchewan for speaking engagements, was actively involved in the Red Cross's Imagine No Bullying Campaign and ran the Getzlaf and Friends Charity Golf Tournament which raised more than $200,000 for the Children's Wish Foundation. Chris received the Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award and Mosaic Outstanding Community Service Award for his commitment to giving back. Chris is currently involved in the Regina Chapter of 100 Men Who Care and is a member of Advocis, the largest voluntary professional membership association of financial advisors in Canada.

During his four-year junior hockey career as a forward with the Calgary Hitmen, Ryan Getzlaf was a member of the gold medal-winning 2003 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Championship team. Ryan was picked by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2003 NHL draft. Two years later, he was a member of what many consider may be the best World Junior team ever assembled - the Canadian team that won the 2005 gold medal by beating the United States 6-1 in the final.

"Receiving this honorary degree from the University of Regina, in the city where I was born and grew up in, is quite humbling. It means that my career as a professional athlete, and my efforts to give back to the community at large, are being acknowledged by respected and highly accomplished academics and community members who have decided to grant this huge honour to me."
-Ryan Getzlaf

After making his NHL debut in 2005, Ryan went on to play his entire NHL career - 17 seasons in total, including 12 as team captain - with the Anaheim Ducks. During that time, he was a member of the 2007 Stanley Cup-winning team, as well as the Canadian Olympic teams that won gold medals in both 2010 and 2014. At the time of his retirement, after the 2021-2022 NHL season, Ryan held multiple Anaheim Ducks franchise records, including games played (1157), assists (737) and points (1019).

Ryan has recently agreed to serve with Team Canada as a player relations advisor for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Ryan remains active in a variety of charitable endeavours. During his time as a player, he created the Anaheim Ducks Learn to Play program for children, as well as the "Getzlaf's Gamers" program that allows underprivileged children to attend Calgary Hitmen games. For the past 12 years, in honour of his friend Hawke Miller, Ryan and his wife Paige have hosted the "Annual Getzlaf Golf Shootout" in California. This event has raised $5.7 million US for CureDuchenne, a foundation that funds research to cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

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Of all the things that Linda Vail Dodd learned at the University of Regina, one of the most valuable was how to turn archrivals into teammates. Fifty years later, those same teammates have become lifelong friends she still meets with at least once a year. "We came from fairly diverse backgrounds and there we all were, playing together," she says from her home in Regina. "It took a long time to get to know one another."

Dodd played four seasons with the University of Regina Cougettes basketball team before earning her Bachelor of Education as part of the first U of R graduating class in 1974. After growing up in Regina playing many different team sports at Davin Elementary School and Central Collegiate, joining the Cougettes basketball team was a natural choice.

In Linda's first year, Sheila Ward coached the team before Sue Higgs took over for the following three seasons. The Cougettes' best record over Dodd's four years was 8-and-8, but that wasn't what it was all about for Dodd. "Every day was great because we got to go play basketball," Dodd says. Most of the women on the team had never flown before, so travelling by plane to other provinces in the Cougette dark green blazers, green skirts, and white blouses was a highlight. So was being named GPAC first-team all-star in her third year and GPAC second-team all-star in her fourth.

In the summers, some of the athletes and Physical Education students taught the U of R's Summer Sports School, contributing to Dodd's career choice in education. After graduation, she applied for a teaching job and was hired in Regina as a physical education teacher at Balfour Collegiate. She then spent time teaching at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (now Saskatchewan Polytechnic).

Her next position was at Harrow DeGroot School. Dodd finished teaching every day at 2:30 p.m., allowing her the opportunity to coach the Cougar women's basketball team for one season in 1981-82. "It was certainly different from coaching high school, with so much higher expectations placed on the players," she says before noting how much she has enjoyed watching the team following her time with them. "The sport has grown so much in the city. We've been fortunate."

Linda Vail Dodd BEd'74 seated bottom right in her #15 jersey on the Women's Cougars basketball team C 1970s. Photo: University of Regina Athletics

"Everyone started having children and the bench became the babysitters. If a baby needed the mom, then mom came off the floor, and someone else went on. My eldest daughter wasn't even two months old when we went to our first basketball tournament."

In 1983, Dodd applied for a position at the Regina Public School Board as a consultant for Outdoor Environmental Education, defining the rest of her career. She stayed in the position for 23 years until retiring in 2006.

"We spent all of our days outside playing in the bush with kids. It's about science and nature, and the best job I could have ever had. It wasn't what I planned, but such a great experience. I'm so glad that I took that route."

Dodd also worked on programs such as Project Wet and Project Wild with the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Canadian Water Resources Agency, facilitating workshops for educators to learn about these resources and to apply them to their teaching situations.

Meanwhile, Dodd has stayed involved with basketball. After graduating from the Cougettes, she played in a senior league with her former university teammates. "Everyone started having children and the bench became the babysitters. If a baby needed the mom, then mom came off the floor, and someone else went on," she says. "[In 1984,], my eldest daughter wasn't even two months old when we went to our first basketball tournament."

Dodd has two daughters, neither of whom played basketball, as they both became involved in rhythmic gymnastics. "They loved what they did, and I loved what I did. That was important." Both of her daughters live in Regina today, as do Dodd's four grandsons.

 Besides the years when her children were young, Dodd has remained an avid fan and season ticket holder for the Cougar basketball games. She enjoys attending alumni events to catch up with her teammates. Her connections from the U of R continue to weave themselves through all aspects of her life.

She credits her time playing basketball as the foundation for the rest of her life. "Sport is such a personal growth experience," she says. "If I had moved to a different university, I might not even have tried out for the basketball team. For me, everything just fit together. I'm very grateful for all of the opportunities I had to play sports after high school, starting with the U of R Cougettes."

Banner photo: Trevor Hopkin, U of R Photography

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