Rob Johnson traces his own love of physical activity back to a restless childhood.
“I always had more energy than was welcome,” he says with a laugh.
He grew up on an orchard, where there wasn’t much time to sit still, and that early restlessness combined with a passion for sports and an influential basketball coach turned into a career. After receiving his masters, Rob started teaching Selkirk College in Castlegar. It wasn’t long until he transitioned to UBC Okanagan — previously the Okanagan University College — as the Director of Athletics and Recreation.
Rob’s impact as the Director can still be seen around campus. He helped design the gymnasium when the campus was first being built. He co-wrote the funding application that eventually became the proposal for what is now the Bachelor of Health and Exercise Sciences program, and led the naming process that resulted in the “Heat” being selected for the Okanagan campus athletics teams.
He also built community around sport. Modeled after a UBC Vancouver tradition, he launched the Millennium Breakfast, an annual scholarship fundraiser that ran for 13 years and, during its run, brought in close to a million dollars for student athlete awards. He started the Okanagan campuses version of the UBC Big Block Club. Based on the university ring traditions, and to distinguish it from the Vancouver campus’ sweater, he created a ring awarded to varsity athletes who competed for two years. He secured federal funding for a team rooms addition, pushed to get the gymnasium’s indoor track completed, and, with groups of enthusiastic volunteers, successfully bid to host a number of provincial, regional, and national post-secondary championships in volleyball, basketball, and soccer.
In 2025, in recognition of his career and contributions to collegiate sport, he was inducted into the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
That passion and dedication for physical activity and sport also shaped how he teaches. Ask Rob what he wants students to take away from his classroom, and he doesn’t talk about drills or grades. He talks about capability and confidence building.
“All of us have no idea what we’re actually capable of doing unless we try,” he says.
When teaching physical education, rather than defaulting to the team sports most students grew up with, he built his courses around variety, so students could find out what they’re actually drawn to rather than what they’re used to. He’s especially focused on the basics too many students didn’t properly learn — how to throw, run, catch, kick, or hold a bat – fundamental movement skills. Over the years, he’s seen students with wildly different relationships to movement, some are passionate, some more neutral, and some have some residual embarrassment from years of being singled out.
“If you and I are doing math problems and I can’t figure them out, who knows? Maybe the teacher,” he says. “But if we’re outside throwing a ball, and I can’t throw a ball, everybody who’s outside can see I can’t throw that ball.”
That visibility, he explains, is exactly what often drives kids away from activity and keeps them away. It turns into a cycle that starts with one embarrassing moment and hardens into ‘I’m no good at it, so I don’t want to do it.’
“My approach has always been to try to spend the first little while getting people over their dislike of it,” he says, “I encourage them to just give it a chance.”
The goal is never mastery, it’s exposure.
“It’s not important to me that they be really good at any sport,” he says. “I want them to experience a variety of activities so they can find out what they enjoy doing. Being active is the key.”
Even within a sport, he pushed for formats that kept more students moving. For example, instead of full-sided soccer he’d have smaller teams and multiple games going to provide everyone an opportunity to get active — and touch the ball. One of his prouder accomplishments in teaching skills and persistence was teaching his class each year how to juggle. It’s simple enough that everyone can pick it up, he notes, and its often what sticks with people longer than anything else he taught.
“I get more comments about that than anything else,” he says. “People still come up to me, ‘You taught me to juggle and I still can!’”
He also emphasizes to his students that physical education in schools is an important matter of access. Community and club sports participation costs have raised exponentially, and attitudes toward girls’ participation can vary widely. This means that, for a lot of children, school may be the only chance they’ll get. That’s part of why he tells his students, that as future teachers they have a responsibility to bring energy to the subject even if it’s not their favourite to teach.
“Fake it till you make it,” he tells them, as students will often pick up on a teacher’s attitude fast.
After 39 years, Rob retired on July 1, 2026. As he looks to his retirement, his dedication for physical activity still stands strong, with plans to stay involved in getting kids active through refereeing or coaching — or perhaps another opportunity.
“I think there’s an opportunity for me to help out somehow there,” he says. “I haven’t exactly figured out how yet.”
Looking back on his career though, one thing is clear for Rob, it never felt like work.