Terry McKaig leaving UBC for BC Cancer Foundation

T-Birds Baseball Director Terry McKaig takes on a new challenge; departs UBC with lasting legacy

By Stu Walters

UBC Communications

VANCOUVER, BC - After spending the last 23 years as the lead architect of Canada’s premier collegiate program, University of British Columbia director of baseball Terry McKaig has decided it’s time for the next challenge. McKaig has accepted a new role with the BC Cancer Foundation as director of development in the Fraser Region.

McKaig’s own recent skin cancer scare was a driving force in contemplating the career shift beyond his lifelong passion for baseball with an opportunity to focus on making a difference in battling a disease that suddenly hit close to home late last summer.

In September 2020, the 49-year-old found out he had a form of skin cancer after a biopsy came back positive for a concerning growth on his face, an assumed result of countless hours of exposure to the sun’s harmful rays while rising through the ranks at ballparks around north America. It was a jarring experience for McKaig who counts himself as fortunate enough to have had successful surgery shortly after his diagnosis, quelling most of his fears.

“My skin cancer taught me a lot,” said McKaig. “I wanted to ask questions, learn more about cancer and how we can try and prevent it. When the opportunity at the BC Cancer Foundation arose, I knew it was something I wanted to do in this next stage of my life. I want to play a role in helping people overcome this terrible disease.”

The former outfielder on the Canadian senior men’s national team is used to covering a lot of ground, but in his new role as the Director of Development, Fraser Region, McKaig will be stretched to all corners from New Westminster to Hope and everywhere in between.

McKaig’s role will focus on rapidly growing the BC Cancer Foundation’s community of donors, volunteers, and corporate partners across the region. It’s work that will be critical, raising funds to help BC Cancer advance the world class care and research they’re known for and upon which so many people rely on. Over the next decade the Fraser Health region will see the most significant increase in cancer diagnoses in the province with a 35 percent increase in patients by 2031.

A daunting forecast but realities that further motivate McKaig, confident to step out of his comfort zone and be an influential force.

“I have confidence in my abilities no matter what I’m doing and I believe I’ve expanded my skill set over my 23 years of coaching, building and directing the varsity baseball program. The opportunity to join a team and take on cancer excites me. I can’t think of a bigger health issue than cancer, it’s impacted most people in some way or another. I can’t wait to connect donors to the BC Cancer teams who will help find more cures.”

McKaig is no stranger to setting and attaining lofty goals as proof of his legacy with Thunderbirds Baseball, a program he re-started from the ground up in 1997. Since then, he’s overseen 23 players drafted to the Major Leagues while many more have gone on to become community leaders.

Former coach Terry McKaig with his ace lefty Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC), who grew up to be a 17-game winner with the Colorado Rockies.

Since stepping aside from coaching duties to concentrate full time as Director in 2015, McKaig has been responsible for lifting the program to new heights. Former Vancouver Mountie Chris Pritchett took over running the program, which was unable to compete in Cascade Conference play due to border restrictions.

In the last five years alone, McKaig was the catalyst in raising significant funds for the construction of state-of-the-art facilities; the Rose Indoor Training Centre followed by Tourmaline West Stadium on the Point Grey campus.

McKaig also ensured UBC baseball carved out a presence on the global stage as the program made history by welcoming Japanese University teams onto Canadian soil for the first time at the Collegiate Baseball Classic in August of 2019. It was a tournament reciprocating UBC’s trip to Japan the previous summer.

“I did a lot of reflecting on my time at UBC,” said McKaig when asked about why the timing is right to jump at this opportunity. “We have the program in a place that I’m extremely proud of. It took so many incredible people and we surpassed my highest expectations. I think about all of my former players and assistant coaches first. The guys who made sacrifices to play for us and lay the ground work for what we see today.

“Then the amazing group of donors, supporters and alumni that behind the scenes have supported us financially to allow us to grow. To have all of our pro draft picks and a $10 million complex at a Canadian University, especially at UBC, means we have accomplished really big things.”