Sponsored Athletes in the Cowichan Valley

Shaul Ilan
December 29 1952 - June 12 2009

Shaul was one of our great master's competitors at Valley Health and Fitness. Shaul maintained amazing year round condition and was walking proof that a healthy, active lifestyle can make one ageless. Shaul often competed against bodybuilders up to 30 years younger than he was, and beat them.

In the masters division, his overall condition was highly competitive and he enjoyed great success. Shaul was an outstanding ambassador not only for Valley Health and Fitness but for the bodybuilding community and for active and healthy living.

Matrix CWFL Cowichan Women's Football League

This league forms a bond with every person that steps onto the field and that relationship goes on for a life time. Mothers play with their daughters, and fathers coach their wives and daughters.

Each Sunday, you can see husbands and children down at the field supporting their wives, moms or sisters. We, as a league have always stood for excitement, enthusiasm, fair-play, action, fun and team work.

Playing by the rules is the number one priority for our league.

Visit the CWFL website for more details >>>

Tim Croswell

Tim Croswell is a natural bodybuilder who has been training at Valley Health and Fitness for many years. Tim has been training naturally for 13 years and has developed into one of the best natural bodybuilders we've seen. Tim is a family man, and works in Victoria as a registered nurse. He is married and has a 14-month-old son. Tim already has a rather impressive resume from previous bodybuilding shows. Valley Health and Fitness is proud to continue to support Tim as he works toward his pro card and strives to be recognized as an accomplished, natural athlete. It is also worth noting that Tim is very helpful to all our bodybuilding hopefuls at Valley Health and Fitness and is a very positive influence to have around. To date, Tim has competed in the Western Naturals twice and will be entering again in May 2006. He also competed at the FAME WEST championships in Vancouver. These shows are sanctioned by the BCABBA (British Columbia Amateur Bodybuilding Association). Tim's results are as follows:

2003, Light-Heavyweight division - 1st in division and 1st place overall.
*2004, Heavyweight division - 1st in division and 1st place overall.
2006, Heavyweight division (FAME WEST) - 1st in division and 1st place overall
2006, Heavyweight division - result pending


*In the 2004 show, we were proud to have 4 bodybuilders in the show that did extremely well. Both Charlene and Kim (see our news section) competed in that show as well as Shaoul who beat men half his age in the lightweight division!

Joel Verbruggen

Joel Verbruggen is one of our personal trainers at Valley Health and Fitness. He competed in the 2006 Sandra Wickham Fall Classic. This was Joel's first show, the pictures represent a time frame of sixteen weeks, from 205 pounds to 171.5 pounds at the weigh-in!

Also check the Personal Trainer bios for more information on Joel.

Charlene Akhurst

Charlene Akhurst is a Proud Mother of 4 Boys, a National Figure Competitor, Fitness Model and Personal Trainer.

Her greatest accomplishment is giving birth to 4 healthy children; being a mother is the most important of all her challenges. Another accomplishment she feels worth mentioning is her ability to compete at the National level without comprimising her values and remaining a natural athlete.

Last but not least, Charlene takes pride in having the opportunity to influence other mothers to take pride in their appearance by being fit. she very much enjoys coaching others and sharing her learning experiences with them.

Charlene Akhurst is a mother of four, National Figure Competitor, Fitness Model and Personal Trainer. During and before competition, Charlene works out 7 days a week, getting in 5 days of weight training (max 2 body parts) and 7 days of cario (30-40 minutes). Charlene follows a strict meal plan of 6 meals a day, each consisting of a protein, complex carbohydrate and a vegetable. She can't stress enough the importance of drinking lots of water!