Karen McAllister-Kenny was with Brock for more than 40 years. Photo Credit: Brock Badgers
Not many people can say they turned a six-month contract position into a four-plus decade occupation, but Karen McAllister-Kenny certainly can.
On Friday, after 40-years at and with Brock University, McAllister-Kenny will call it a career.
And while McAllister-Kenny will retire as Director of Recreation, her path at Brock U started as women’s volleyball coach.
“It was an interesting start, because I was hired on what was called then a ‘ women in a non-traditional occupation grant,” said McAllister recently on the Niagara Sports Report on Newstalk 610 CKTB.
“Women coaching was a non-traditional occupation.
I came here for volleyball, and then had some other things added on. It was supposed to be six months.”
McAllister-Kenny joined Brock in 1983 after she graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology.
She was first hired by the late Bob Davis, who would later call her one of his greatest hires.
McAllister-Kenny would lead the Badgers to a provincial bronze medal, and was eventually named Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics Association Coach of the Year in 1989.
It was around the turn of the century when McAllister-Kenny moved to the recreation department at Brock.
The recreation department employs Brock grads, in addition to hundreds of students who act as lifeguards, program leaders and fitness instructors, something McAllister-Kenny hopes to see grow even further upon her retirement.
At some point over the past three decades most in Niagara either participated in a Brock recreation event or used one of the University’s recreation facilities- or at the very least knew someone that did. And they can thank McAllister-Kenny for that.
“Brock University is amazing, but Karen elevated the workplace and made it such a great place to work,” said the recently retired Aquatic Programs Co-ordinator Margie Lizzotti on gobadgers.ca
Lizotti worked for McAllister-Kenny in recreation for more than 30 years.
“She is fantastic and was our pillar in Recreation,” Lizotti added.”During the pandemic, she was our leader and was on top of everything. At the end of the day, Karen is there for you and your family. She is family. An amazing and wonderful human being.”
That respect led McAllister-Kenny to be elected into the Brock Athletics Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2003. McAllister-Kenny, who completed a Master of Education at Brock, and her husband Joe Kenny also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Brock University Alumni Association in 2018.
And this spring, she received the Marilou Iusi Memorial Service Award at the Brock Badgers Athletic Banquet for her dedication to Brock Sports and Recreation and the positive impact she has made on hundreds of student-athletes and colleagues.
McAllister-Kenny plans to continue recreational rowing, watching Brock sports on campus, and helping her husband around the house and gardening, “since he’s been carrying the load since he has retired,” she said with a chuckle.
Congratulations to Karen McAllister-Kenny on a career who’s 40-plus years is unmatched across many occupations.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
