Meet The Community Minded Owners of the Saint John Riptide
You know the expression, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, in Saint John it takes a community to run a basketball team.
The Saint John Riptide, the Port City’s NBL Canada basketball team, has many people in its ownership group. To become an owner of the Riptide, you need to make a minimum buy-in of $10,000.
We reached out to some of the team’s owners to learn more about who they are and what they do outside the court. Who knows, their stories may inspire you to buy a piece of the team before the start of the next season.
Brice Belyea
Belyea is a founding shareholder of Saint John Pro Basketball Inc. and acts as Chairman of its Board of Directors.
Although retired from his business roles as the Chair of CANLink Global Inc. and Vice-Chair of CANLink Aviation Inc. (Moncton Flight College), Belyea spent much of his career in the Financial Services Industry in management and as an Executive Financial Consultant.
In his volunteer life, he is part of the team of business leaders that is engaged around poverty issues in Saint John, The Business Community Anti Poverty Initiative. He’s also co-chair of the Education Team for the Saint John Poverty Reduction Strategy called Living Saint John.
Scott VanWart
VanWart was born and raised on the West side of Saint John and has a passion for both basketball and Saint John. He has been around the game of basketball for over 25 years and played many years in the LMBA, at Barnhill Junior High, and St. Malachys High School. VanWart also spent a number of years representing New Brunswick at the Provincial level and later in life enjoyed volunteer coaching in the LMBA.
After graduating from Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Scott spent almost a decade helping to build local IT start-up Q1 Labs which was acquired in October 2010 by IBM. Following IBM VanWart spent a number of years with Silicon Valley based start-up Netskope before returning home to work as a Director of Product Management at Mariner Partners in uptown Saint John. VanWart and his partner now live in Rothesay with their six-year-old daughter Emily.
Bryan Soucy
Soucy was born and raised in East Saint John and currently resides in Quispamsis with his wife Angie and three children. As a successful business owner of an Electrical Contracting company (Security Electrical Ltd.), he has taken great pride in giving back to the sport of basketball, through sponsorship of youth teams and many sporting events. Soucy has donated his time coaching basketball for the past 17 years, most recently the KVHS JV Boys team. When provided the opportunity to be part of the Saint John Riptide family and promote basketball in Southern New Brunswick for our youths, it was an easy decision for Soucy and he is proud to be a supporter of Saint John Pro Basketball.
Sean Luck
Luck has spent his entire life in greater Saint John and currently resides in Quispamsis where he was recently elected as a first-time town counselor in 2016. As a pharmacist, he has been an active member of the local business community with ownership in pharmacies and commercial real estate as well as being a strong advocate for UNBSJ having obtained his Bachelor of Science and MBA from the local campus. He has been a long-time volunteer coach for youth sports and is passionate about the success of the Saint John Riptide for our local community pride and the role Saint John Pro Basketball can take promoting active sport and youth engagement within Southern New Brunswick.
Bob Owens
With over 35 years of industry experience, Owens has become well recognized for his expertise in the financial issues faced by professionals and business owners as CEO of OMG Wealth Management Inc.
Owen plays an active role in the financial services field, having been invited to speak at numerous industry functions across Canada and the United States. After 19 years with a major life insurance company, Bob and his partners established the Owens MacFadyen Group to offer independent, comprehensive financial management services to their clients. He has also been active with industry and community organizations, including past chair of CALU, Past Chair of Rothesay Netherwood School, Past President of Riverside Golf and Country Club and Past Chair of National Health Care Coalition to name a few.
Dave Grebenc
Part of the Innovatia team since 2005 and the company’s current CEO, Grebenc is a leader with a passion for sales, marketing, and product development. With over 27 years experience in the telecommunications and knowledge industries, Grebenc also plays an active role in the promotion and development of Information Technology within New Brunswick, serving on a number of boards and committees.
Paul Vaughan
Vaughan has been involved with the sport of basketball for nearly 40 years as a player, coach and administrator. Before joining the Mill Rats as an assistant coach in 2010, Paul served as president of the Kennebecasis Valley Basketball Association, vice-president of Basketball New Brunswick and has served on numerous boards and committees for large-scale events such as the NBIAA Final 12.
Arthur VanWart
VanWart spent over 30 years in the New Brunswick Education system and most recently was principal of M Gerald Teed Elementary school in Saint John. Now retired, Art spends his time with his wife Susan at their west side home volunteering, supporting the Riptide organization and spending time with their grand daughter Emily.
Jennifer Irvin and Ken Ward
As owners of Ship & Shore Cartage Ltd, Irvin and Ward are partners in business as well as life. So when they learned the Rip Tide was going through restructuring, they wanted to be a part of it. Through their children, they had become huge basketball fans over last few years.
Like their business, they felt the team suffered from some similar challenges. Both the basketball team and Ship & Shore suffered from a lack of brand recognition. For the last few years, they have been developing a strategy with the help of individuals and marketing companies to increase their business’s customer base. Their knowledge translates well to what the team needs, high attendance and higher brand recognition.