Leadership: That difficult, problem-solving, flak-fighting pursuit upon which collective dreams are built.

     Susan Harris' vision, devotion to build a dream and skills at harnessing the talent of others (whether they want her to or not) are the defining ingredients that spawn her considerable accomplishments.

     In a few words, Sue Harris is Ms. Gymnastics' in Mississauga- and much more than that.
She has been described as a "builder, a "visionary", and even a "three star general" by those trying to put into words why ideas germinate in her care and tend to become substantial.

     In this role, she midwifed the sport of gymnastics in Mississauga from it's humble beginning, first as a teacher at Lorne Park Secondary School, then as a co-founder with Karen Pipe of the Mississauga Gymnastic Club in 1969 and still later in 1976 by being the driving force behind the establishment of the club's first permanent training facility and in 1984 of gymnastics Mississauga, a much admired world-class gymnastics training centre.

     Actually, the gymnastic club was the result of realization that budding talent needed to be coached more extensively that the high school setting would allow. The embryo years of the Mississauga Gymnastic Club were anything but a coach's dream. Sue recalls how she taught one of the club's first rising talents the basic elements of a compulsory floor routine needed for competitive purposes- right in the gymnast's living room.

     Although her accomplishments are many and varied, Sue has the tenderest spot in her heart reserved for coaching. "I enjoy being with kids," she says. "There's so much satisfaction in it, to help make them better people.

     "I would almost rather be known as a coach."

     As it turned out, fate had Sue's roles penciled in more prominently as a builder and a gymnastic judge. As an international judge- ranked in the top 10 per cent of all eagle-eyed evaluators of excellence in the world- and gymnastics official, she has carried the name of Mississauga to such prestigious events as the Pan-American Games ('87 and'95), Commonwealth Games ('78,'90 and '94). FISU Games ('79 and '83), World Championships (1993 and 1995) and the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

     At the time of her induction into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, having just returned from officiating at the African nations championships in Nambia, Sue stood tallest among gymnastics officials as the only female judge in Canada to have judged on all six continents.

     Not one to ask more of others than she was willing to give herself, over the years Sue has taken prime administrative roles, such as director of Gymnastics Mississauga (14 years), President of the Ontario Gymnastic Federation (three years), Director of the Canadian Gymnastics Federation (six years), Director of the Mississauga Sports Council (four years) and chair of the Mississauga Sports Dinner (three years) and many other pivotal appointments. All this, without neglecting the less glamorous foundations of the sport by coaching young high school teams and adult programs where her passion for gymnastics is infectious.

     Over the years, Sue has taken the sport of gymnastics in Mississauga to places many would have been scared to tread.

     From a handful of enthusiasts in the early staged, gymnastics Mississauga has grown to be the leading club in Canada with more than 2,000 gymnasts in various age groups and degrees of accomplishments streaming through the doors each and every year in the '90s. While catering to recreational gymnasts, who do it simply for the fun of the sport, the club also boasts an admirable record of accomplishments at the high performance level.

     As Sue points out, Gymnastics Mississauga has had at least one member on the Canadian Olympic Team every year since 1984. That, of course, wouldn't have been possible to accomplish without the building of a state-of-the-art training facility in '84. "That was a landmark," Sue says. "When that happened, I knew the future of gymnastics was finally secure in Mississauga. The sport would survive, we had done it."

     As a result of such an outstanding facility, the club was able to host high level Ontario provincial championships, Canadian national events and the significant international Canadian Classic meet.

     In the middle of all this was Sue Harris, a dreamer and doer.

     If Sue could dream it, she could do it. Vision, courage and persistence are qualities which lie at her command and have served her well throughout her long campaign against inertia. Hard as it is to believe, she even found time to be involved with synchronized swimming and help the Mississauga Canoe Club to a Canadian paddling championship as Masters paddler. The City of Mississauga and the sport of gymnastics are some of the many beneficiaries of this remarkable energetic sports career.

     "If you work with people, things will happen," Sue says.