Out-going CISM golf manager ‘considers it an honour’
July 10 marked the end of an era for Major Wayne O’Donnell’s golfing career: the lifetime golfer officially retired as the Canadian Armed Forces’ International Military Sports Council (CISM) golf team manager, a position he has been dedicated to since 2019.
O’Donnell picked up golf in grade school, with a membership at 12 Wing Shearwater’s Hartlen Point Golf Club. His love of golf propelled him into the competitive sphere, as he competed as both a junior and amateur until he joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1999.
“Then I played military golf for 25-plus years,” says O’Donnell. In 2006, O’Donnell earned his place on the CISM golf team, where he had the opportunity to represent Canada – and the CAF – on the international stage.
“To do this and put the flag on your chest and be an ambassador for Canada is one of the best honours in the military,” says O’Donnell, who looks back on his journey with CISM as a career highlight.
In addition to making 10 straight national teams and competing at the Forces and Families Open, a Professional Golfer’s Association of Canada event in 2013, O’Donnell also played alongside nearly 10,000 athletes at the Military World Games in South Korea and managed Team Canada in China in 2019. When asked about the difference between competing on an individual level and participating in CISM golf, O’Donnell says the military events are “more dear to my heart.
“Just the chance to play with your absolute peers, and the playing field is level. It’s also a chance to make friends internationally and gather and see them. There are friends that I’ve known now for 20 years. CISM golf is all about ‘Friendship through Sport.’”
While there are definite benefits to participating in CISM sport, from travel to being able to play the game you love in the fresh air and sunshine, O’Donnell says playing at the CISM level is not easy.
“As a player, you have to commit a great deal of your own time.”
Players build their resumes by competing in multiple events, training to be physically fit as they will be expected to play in a variety of different climates and altitudes: there have been times the team played in weather so hot the soles of their military parade shoes started to melt, and many of the CISM team’s members lost, on average, 15 pounds during the 11th World Military Golf Championship in Sri Lanka, in 2017. As an aerospace control officer with an air traffic control background, O’Donnell says CISM golf also helped him develop both his mental acuity and endurance, in addition to providing a platform on which to practice performing in high-stress situations.
“The chance to compete at a high level comes with some stress,” he says. “Getting to put pressure on yourself on the playing field – where lives aren’t on the line – is super beneficial.”
In 2019, when the position for CISM golf manager opened, O’Donnell seized the opportunity to give back to the program.
“It was the right thing to do: to stop playing and start managing.”
While the athlete O’Donnell was already under the mentorship of the current manager, the coach O’Donnell had not anticipated making the transition so early in his career.
“I was always planning on doing it; I just hadn’t planned on doing it so quickly. The competitive juices were still very much flowing.”
O’Donnell saw an opportunity to reinforce some of his beliefs concerning CISM sports, and encourage the next generation of military athletes to embody CISM’s vision of “mutual respect, solidarity and promoting peace.”
Though golf is usually seen as individualistic, at CISM, O’Donnell says, “it’s a team sport.
“And the Canadian team is able to take the sport and make it a ‘no-kidding team’ that’s able to compete together. Other countries try very hard to emulate us. They acknowledge, too, how very valuable that team dynamic is, and it relates back to what we do in the CAF.”
In addition to building a culture of teamwork and camaraderie, O’Donnell also wanted to educate athletes on the CISM program and make the process more open and accessible.
“A key point to tackle was to pull back the curtain and make it more transparent, and show how decisions are made.”
At its core, the retiring manager’s mission was to ensure everyone on the CISM team had the tools necessary to be the best representative of Canada.
O’Donnell takes pride in his team’s showings, but says “there are other rewards to being a manager, too; they’re just different from being a player.” The leadership experience that comes from managing a team of athletes at the international level, especially one representing the Canadian military, has benefits directly relatable to the military structure.
“As manager, you have to make sure that, for Canada, we take the best we can. It’s all about decision-making, and taking responsibility for those decisions,” he says. “Here at 14 Operations Support Squadron, I come in in the morning and I have to make decisions right away.”
O’Donnell’s dedication resulted in a proud representation for Canada at this year’s 15th CISM World Military Golf Championship, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, the third week of June.
“For Canada, it ended very well: we came home with lots of medals and an overall great showing.”
Among the showings were Sergeant Joel Simms, who initially tied for second place in the men’s individual ranking and ended third in the final scoring; Lieutenant-Colonel Jennifer Jones, third in the women’s individual; and Master Warrant Officer Michael Boozan, third in the senior’s division. The men’s team took second place, while the women’s team finished fifth overall.
Finally unpacked from his latest – and last – international military championship, O’Donnell says he feels ready to retire, and play golf “for fun” again: he considers Kingston’s Paragon Golf and Country Club “home.” Although he has cherished getting to meet new people, travel and learn about different cultures, O’Donnell is looking forward to skipping the airport lines and simply returning to the fairways where his passion for the sport first bloomed.
