Sue Schwartz Honored With 2026 Dee Read Memorial Award

Featured image: Sue Schwartz at the Lake Louise World Cup in Alberta, Canada. Photo courtesy of Doug Campbell.

For nearly 40 years, Schwartz has helped shape alpine ski racing as a coach, official, organizer and mentor. Her latest recognition celebrates a career dedicated to the sport and the people within it.

I have known Sue Schwartz since I was 13 years old. Throughout my own years as an athlete and coach, she has been a mentor, a leader and a force in the ski racing world. Seeing her receive the 2026 Dee Read Memorial Award is something I am especially proud of, knowing how much she has given to this sport and how many people she has helped along the way.

Schwartz received the award October 17 at the Western North American FIS Technical Delegate update in Kimberley, British Columbia. The honor recognizes a Canadian FIS Technical Delegate whose dedication and service have made an exceptional contribution to alpine ski racing.

For Sue, that contribution stretches across nearly 40 years and almost every corner of the sport. She has been an athlete, coach, administrator, volunteer, international official and World Cup race organizer. Through each role, she has brought experience and leadership while helping create opportunities for the people coming behind her.

“Sue has devoted her life to the sport of Alpine Skiing, leaving a lasting mark on generations of athletes, coaches and officials,” said Doug Campbell, FIS TD Commissioner for Canada. “It is a privilege to recognize her remarkable service with the Dee Read Memorial Award.”

Following a trailblazer, building her own legacy

The award carries particular meaning because of the woman it remembers. Dee Read was Canada’s downhill and alpine combined champion in 1948 before building a career as a coach, sport leader and FIS Technical Delegate.

She also helped open doors for women in officiating, a legacy Schwartz continues through her own work.

“We are so fortunate to have such a dedicated and incredibly skilled officials’ community in Canada, led by our FIS Technical Delegates,” said Ken Read. “My mother broke ground, to become one of the first women world-wide to earn a FIS TD license and helped build this passionate community. Sue Schwartz represents the very best, with her wide experience, her commitment to athletes and her life-long dedication to building a better sport.”

Schwartz earned her FIS Alpine Technical Delegate license in 2012 and has served as Western Canadian FIS TD Coordinator since 2013. She has also spent more than a decade on Canada’s National Officials Committee, contributing to FIS symposiums, subcommittees and education working groups.

Her international assignments have included serving as the technical delegate for the women’s World Cup downhill and super-G in Garmisch, Germany, in 2016, and as a women’s jury member and start referee at the 2019 World Championships in Åre, Sweden.

For women finding their place in the technical and leadership side of ski racing, having someone like Sue in those roles matters. She brings a strong voice to the work while showing others there is a place for them to lead, too.

A career built across the sport

Schwartz grew up racing at Fortress Mountain in Alberta and later with the Sunshine Ski Club. Her coaching career began while attending Simon Fraser University, where she coached the university team.

That work took her across Canada and the United States, from club programs to provincial and university teams. Her coaching résumé includes the Alberta Ski Team, University of Colorado, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, among many others. She now coaches with Team Panorama.

Her professional roles have also included athletic director for Alberta Alpine, manager of entries at Alpine Canada and fluor controller for FIS.

Alongside that work, Schwartz has given years to organizing and supporting major events. She volunteered at the 1988 Calgary Olympics with her mother, Patty Schwartz, and at the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2015, she served as assistant coordinator of volunteers at the World Championships in Beaver Creek.

She was also part of the Lake Louise World Cup from 2002 through 2022, serving as chief of race for the women’s events from 2018 to 2022.

Those roles represent decades of work that athletes and fans may never fully see, but that racing depends on.

For me, this recognition is personal. Sue has been part of the ski world I have known since I was a young racer, and her influence has stayed with me as I have moved through the sport. I am proud to see her recognized for that commitment, her mentorship and the example she continues to set in coaching, officiating and leadership.

Based on a press release provided by Doug Campbell, FIS Alpine TD Commissioner for Canada, with personal reflections by Katie Twible.