Dan Near has been named the next commissioner of the Western Hockey League.

The 43-year-old Adidas executive will take over from longtime commissioner Ron Robison who announced in June that he would be stepping down after the current season.

“The trophies, the leagues, the teams, they all outlast us. We’re ambassadors, we’re shepherds, we help carry the sport from one era to the next,” Near said during a press conference Thursday.

“It doesn’t belong to us. We’re just gatekeepers.”

Prior to moving to Adidas, where he most recently served as the company’s global head of hockey, Near spent more than a decade in the NHL’s head office, specializing in marketing, retail development, and consumer product licensing.

“We set out to find an individual with a great business mind, someone forward thinking who has the ability to help grow the Western Hockey League brand and build upon the existing foundation. As we worked through the process, it became clear that Dan stood above the rest,” Bruce Hamilton, the Chair of the WHL Board of Governors said.

“We believe Dan’s experience with adidas Hockey and the National Hockey League makes him the perfect fit to build a strategy which will generate more growth for the WHL while we continue to be the world’s finest development league for junior-age players.”

Near will begin working in the WHL office on Jan. 1, before officially taking over as Commissioner on Feb. 15