Described as "probably the most dynamic fundraiser in all of Canadian universities", Zlotnik's creations designed to encourage investment in UBC sport include the Alumni Golf Tournament, the Thunderbird Golf Society, the Thunderbird Council and perhaps UBC's most successful fundraising event, the Millennium Breakfast, all of which help bring top athletes and coaches to UBC as well as encourage athletes to stay in Canada. Always a close and frequent advisor to UBC Marty has been a model for alumni engagement with much of the success of UBC's teams due to his passion and energy.
Marty Zlotnik, whose UBC career goes back to 1961, has always been a close and frequent advisor to UBC's Athletics Department - one of its true builders. And since his graduation from UBC in Commerce in 1966 and Law School in 1969, he has been a model for alumni engagement.
As a UBC student, Marty was a good athlete. He played on the Thunderbird football team in 1965, having had a stellar football career while at Kitsilano high school. His passion however was and is golf, as he played on the UBC Varsity team in 1961/62 and from 1966 through '69, serving as team captain those last three years. It was during the late '60s Marty began his contributions to UBC athletics as he is credited with keeping UBC's golf program alive during those challenging years. This quest was aided through the fact he served as president of the UBC Men's Athletic Association in 1968.
Zlotnik never lost touch with the campus nor UBC golf during the ensuing years as for the entire decade of the 1970s he organized and ran the UBC Alumni Golf Tournament which helped financially support the UBC golf team. This tournament evolved into the Father David Bauer event which continues to be a major fundraiser for UBC Athletics.
In 1984 Marty created the Thunderbird Golf Society and has since been heavily involved as its Chair. According to Zlotnik, this Society supports UBC golf to the tune of $35,000 per year and as of 2007 created an endowment of $940,000. These funds, raised through tournaments and generally through Marty's many connections and creative events has provided the funds to attract excellent coaches and golfers to UBC. This is a primary reason UBC has been so successful in both (U.S.) NAIA and Canadian championship golf tournaments, for both men and especially the women. This is confirmed by current UBC golf coach Chris MacDonald when he says, "Marty and the TGS set the stage for U.S. titles in 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2010 as members of the NAIA and several RCGA Canadian championships. Several players and coaches have since represented Canada on the international stage."
In 1995 Zlotnik was asked to start a new athletics alumni group to be called the Thunderbird Council. The Council's principal mission was and is to help with the politics of UBC relative to athletics, develop fundraising ideas for different sports and introduce the concept of UBC joining the NCAA. It can be said that the goals and concepts put forth by this Council have been largely met and are successful. The past years has seen UBC Athletics become much more buoyant financially which can also been translated to excellence on the field of play. "Marty is probably the most dynamic fundraiser in all of Canadian universities" says fellow UBC supporter Jean Forrest. "Nobody can come close to what he has done."
In 2000 Zlotnik created perhaps UBC's most successful fundraising event - the Millennium Breakfast. As Chair of this annual event he was the one responsible for convincing the university to match the dollars raised by the Breakfast and through the first eight of these events, from matched dollars, $4.6 million has been raised and endowed for scholarships. Coach MacDonald sees Zlotnik's vision as one of creating and sustaining sport programs at UBC which encourage top athletes to stay in Canada and combine their challenging athletic schedules with a Canadian education. And as a result much of UBC's recent success in attracting athletes and its penchant for winning Canada West and Canadian championships can be traced to events such as the Breakfast and therefore the passion and hard work of Marty Zlotnik.
In 2001 Marty was the recipient of the UBC Alumni Blythe Eagles Volunteer Leadership Award, a prestigious annual acknowledgement of UBC's very best in the field of volunteerism. Among Marty's further volunteer endeavors was Chair of the Greater Vancouver Open golf tournament, an event which raised a great deal of money for a wide range of local charities which included the UBC golf team. This BC Sports Hall of Fame inductee has also volunteered many hours to this provincial Hall serving on both it's Foundation Board and it's Board of Trustees. He was also instrumental in obtaining sponsors for the building of the UBC and BC Sports Halls of Fame websites.
In 2006 the CN Desert Classic in Palm Springs was created by Zlotnik to raise further funds for UBC's golf program which has since become a joint venture with UBC Alumni Association.
Much of the overall success of UBC teams and the health of the Athletics Department can be attributed to the passion, creativity and energy of Marty Zlotnik. Through these qualities he has helped cultivate many outstanding donors whose investment in UBC has been put to very good use. In the words of Jean Forrest when asked about Marty: "He's amazing, absolutely amazing!"
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
