Meet Dave Best from Ontario. Dave was appointed to the Board of Pickleball Canada in the summer of 2021 and has spearheaded Pickleball Canada’s Youth/Jr. program.

Dave Best recently retired as a Professor and Coordinator of the Sport Business Management Graduate Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. The 12-month graduate program brings together some 35 aspiring sport administrators annually, preparing them for an exciting and successful career in the ever-growing sport industry, particularly the management and business aspects of the industry. Dave was the Program’s Director since 2007.

Dave has enjoyed a myriad of Canadian sport experiences. He started his professional career as a Secondary School teacher in Ontario, moved to become an assistant director at OFSAA in Toronto, then experienced 14 years with the Canadian Olympic Committee in Ottawa. Setting up his own business, Dave authored the definitive, best-selling, chronology of Canadian sport in the 20th Century (Canada: Our Century in Sport) while concurrently conducting over 150 strategic reviews and planning sessions for sport bodies across Canada.

Dave has active volunteer-based experiences. For 20 years he was actively involved in minor hockey in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario (Coach, Administrator, Club and Branch President). For the past 15 years Dave has been involved with rugby administration – as coach, Club President, Eastern Ontario Rugby Union President, and is currently the Governance Director on the Board of Rugby Ontario. Since 2012 Dave has also been the Chair of the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame.

Dave comes by his passion for sport naturally. A multi-sport athlete at university, Dave played football, rugby and hockey in Canada (1978 Vanier Cup champion) and rugby in the UK. He was also a competitive water skier and had a stint as a hockey player-coach in Solihull, England (Golf is his love these days, but sadly not his best talent.)

Dave graduated from Queen’s University with Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, and Bachelor of Education degrees. He followed this up with a Master of Arts (Business Finance and Sport Administration) degree from The University of Birmingham in England (Thesis – Comparative Analysis of Financial Operations in English Professional Football and the National Hockey League).

Dave lives in Ottawa with his wife, Carol Buckley, and has two sons, Scott, and Doug.

How to contact Dave: