The BC Games Society is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to the Board of Directors: Joni Frei, an experienced athlete, coach, and administrator in the sport of softball, and BC Games alumnus Hunter Sones, a technology-sector professional, former President of the BCIT Student Association, member of BCIT’s Board of Governors, and national level athlete in biathlon and mountain running. They will join the 13 continuing Board Members who oversee the BC Games Society and will contribute their unique expertise and leadership to build upon the Society‘s success in sport and community development.
“We are very excited to have Joni and Hunter join our team” said Jamey Paterson, Chair of the BC Games Society, Board of Directors. “They both bring extensive and diverse experience to the Board and we look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
Joni Frei is a Chartered Professional Coach and NCCP Competition Development coach through the Coaching Association of Canada. Joni serves as an NCCP Master Learning Facilitator and Coach Evaluator for Softball BC as well as Head Coach of University of British Columbia Okanagan’s Softball team.
Joni earned an undergraduate degree from Georgia College and State University’s Department of Health Sciences in 2005, where she received numerous honours for her high achievement as a dual-sport athlete in softball and soccer. Upon the end of her playing career in the Dutch Softball league, Joni returned to North America to pursue her Master of Public Administration and a career in coaching. She has since coached at all collegiate levels as well as internationally and for Team BC at the 2014 and 2017 North American Indigenous Games, winning gold and bronze in Regina and Toronto, respectively.
Joni is the owner of Beyond The White Lines Softball, a training academy that uses softball as a vehicle to inspire and impact lives beyond the playing field, head coach of the “Canada Futures” collegiate prospect team, CEO and founder of the Institute of Women In Leadership (IWIL), and founder of “Grow The Game Uganda”. In January of 2020, Joni and her team traveled throughout Uganda providing player, coach, and umpire development clinics, while competing in the “East Africa-Canada Exhibition Series”.
Serving as the Director of Coaching for Softball BC, Joni’s mission is to advance coach development, communication, and promote women in coaching within the province. She created the Provincial Coach Development Program now represented in nearly all minor softball associations in B.C.
Hunter Sones currently works in business development at a Vancouver-based technology firm. Here, he contributes to the growth of North America’s fastest growing technology-sector ecosystem.
Throughout the 2020/21 post-secondary academic term, Hunter served as the President of the BCIT Student Association (BCITSA) and as a member of BCIT’s Board of Governors. Prior to serving as the President of the BCITSA, he served for one year as the organization’s Chair for the School of Business.
Hunter holds a diploma in Marketing Management with a specialization in Entrepreneurship from BCIT and is currently completing his Bachelor of Business Administration.
Prior to pursuing post-secondary education, Hunter competed at the national level in biathlon and at the international level - on Team Canada - in the sport of mountain running. In 2012, he competed at the BC Winter Games in Greater Vernon where he was presented with the W.R. Bennett award for athletic excellence. To this day, Hunter continues to be an active advocate for organized sport in BC.
“The BC Games Society has benefited greatly from many accomplished Board members over the years” said Alison Noble, President and CEO, BC Games Society. “We are so fortunate to have such a strong Board and now, even stronger, with the addition of Joni and Hunter.”
The BC Games Society is the leadership organization that guides the BC Winter and BC Summer Games and prepares Team BC for national multi-sport games. The 15-member board is appointed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport and is responsible for setting policy and direction to ensure the objectives of the Society are met.
BC Games Society Board of Directors
Jamey Paterson, Chair – Langley
Charles Bruce – Kamloops
Joni Frei – Port Hardy
Jim Martin – Prince George
Wayne Naka – Nelson
Breeanne Parisien – Elkford
Richard Peter – Vancouver
Veronica Planella – Victoria
Pamela Rai – Nanaimo
Niki Remesz – Kamloops
Hunter Sones – North Vancouver
Kyle Todoruk – Victoria
Christine Ulmer – Vancouver
Michelle Webster – Kelowna
Pansy Wright-Simms – Hazelton
For more details and full bios, visit our Board of Directors page.