Big Week

Things don't get much bigger than this upcoming week for both Canada's men's and women's field hockey teams. Both teams are fighting for their Olympic lives at the upcoming Olympic qualification tournament in India. The 6 team tournament kicks off on February 18 and last for 7 days with the finals on February 25, 2012. Unfortunately only one team (both men and women) will earn a birth in the Olympic Games and from first appearances both the men's and women's teams will be in tough.

The men's team enters the tournament ranked 14th in the world; A look at the schedule shows that Canada has a good chance of playing in the final but if they are to earn a ticket to London they will have to find a way will have to find a way to top one of the premiers nations in the world in India. Hopes are not as high on the women's side, however, a short tournament such as the Olympic Qualifier can produce some upsets.

For those keeping score at home Canada has qualified one Olympic team to the 2012 Olympic Games (that being Canada's Women's soccer team) to date. In 2008, Canada qualified four Olympic teams to the Games (Men's Field Hockey, Men's Water Polo, Women's Softball, and Women's Soccer). Let the results show that Canada will be hard pressed to equal its performance from 2008 in qualifying four teams, and this becomes even more apparent when we consider that Softball is no longer a part of the Olympic Games. Regardless, Heatstroke will be cheering for Canada and its team orientated athletes right through to the final whistle, commencing with action this coming weekend.

Lets hope that our Field Hockey Teams can follow the path laid down by the Canadian Women's Soccer Team who earned a ticket to the Games a few short weeks ago. Go Canada Go

That was Interesting

Heatstroke had an interesting day. For the first time, Heatstroke received a phone call from the head of a sports organization regarding the accuracy of an article. The individual in question was Lorraine Lafreniere - Director General of Canoe Kayak Canada who questioned the accuracy of a blog written on October 25, 2009.

The blog itself questions Canoe Kayak Canada's hiring of Lafreniere to replace the outgoing Anne Merklinger. Merklinger you see was the standard bearer in how one should run a sports organization. The organization had won 5 Olympic medals from 2004 through to 2008, with the creation of a development system that was the envy of many in Canada's sports community. Meanwhile, Lafreniere despite having been employed in amateur sport for 15+ years had yet to lead an able body NSO to the Olympic podium. Furthermore, her employment in sports had largely been restricted to the area of marketing. Interesting enough under Merklinger's leadership Canoe Kayak Canada qualified 18 athletes for the 2008 Olympics. As for Lafreniere? Canada has qualified only 8 athletes for the 2012 Games despite having benefited from millions of dollars in sports funding from Own the Podium.

Article aside, one has to question what Lafreniere is doing? Heatstroke doubts that Bill Bellichick - arguably the best coach in the National Football League (NFL) - is calling bloggers who question his decisions. Similarly - is Brian Burke GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs calling bloggers who question his trades? Or how about Stephen Harper - Prime Minister of Canada - is he calling bloggers who question his trade policy? Likely not.

Since day one Heatstroke has simply asked that Canada's amateur sports community professionalize itself. Lafreniere's actions - confirmed that despite overseeing one of Canada's most successful amateur sports organization she is in fact truly amateur. Ms. Lafreniere maybe it is time that you read the book!

Things I think

Interesting article in the Winnipeg Free Press today about how Mariam Chamilova Canada's best rhythmic gymnast may not compete at the 2012 Olympics on account of red tape and bureaucracy. Heatstroke admits to knowing very little about Rhythmic Gymnastics and whether Mariam C is as dominant as the article references. Regardless, Heatstroke argues that red tape and bureaucracy should not get in the way of sending our best athletes to the Olympics. Lets hope that Gymnastics Canada gets this rights thus ensuring that Canada's best team is competing in London.

Heatstroke is still looking for an explanation regarding the 6 team sports that were selected for Own the Podium funding. Some things just don't make sense. It is interesting to note, however, that the sports that were selected for funding cater to white upper class athletes while other team sports such as men's basketball and soccer cater to a largely blue collar and minority segment of the Canadian population. When one considers that once dominant sports like boxing and wrestling (also appealing to minority based athletes) are now barely able to sustain their programs on account of funding cutbacks one wonders if Own the Podium officials might be looking to shut out athletic opportunities for individuals of colour and socio-economic background. Conspiracy theory maybe, but every sport that largely caters to white middle class athletes has benefited from Own the Podium funding including rowing, canoe/kayak, gymnastics, diving, swimming, track & field, sailing and volleyball. Meanwhile weight lifting, wrestling (men), boxing (men), judo (men), basketball, soccer have seen their funding slashed.

Congrats to Brian Williams for being awarded the Order of Canada. Is there another broadcaster in North America that has done more for amateur sport than Brian. Heatstroke can't think of one.

Please Explain

In an effort to end Canada's nearly 80 year drought Sport Canada officials announced increased funding to a select number of team sports in preparation for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Canada you see has not won an Olympic medal of any colour in a team sport since Canada's men's basketball team won silver in 1936. Hoping to reverse this trend Sport Canada announced the Summer Olympic Team Sport Initiative. As part of this initiative the Own the Podium program has identified 6 sports that will benefit from this program; they are: Men's and Women's Field Hockey, Women's Basketball, Men's Water polo, and Women's Rugby 7's. Noticeably absent from this list: Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Men's Basketball, and Women's Water-polo

Consider the following

Canada's Women's soccer team narrowly lost to the United States in the quarterfinals at the 2008 Olympic Games in the process coming the closest of any Canadian team (at the Summer Olympics) in the last 20 years to win an Olympic medal. For the better part of the decade they have been ranked as low as fourth by FIFA (the sport's governing body) and are currently the defending Pan-American Games Champion. Meanwhile, in Men's Field Hockey odds are that they will not qualify for the Olympic Games in 2012 and are currently not ranked in the top 10 in the world.

Canada has not had a Men's Volleyball team compete in the Olympics since 1996 and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Meanwhile Canada is beginning to produce some incredible young talent in the sport of basketball including Tristan Thompson a recent first round draft pick in the NBA, and NCAA superstar Andy Rautins of Syracuse who is also playing in the NBA.

Canada's Men's Waterpolo team qualified for the Olympic Games in 2008 for the first time since 1996. They finished 11th. Further, in the past 15 years they have finished in the top ten at the World Championships once. On the other side of the spectrum, Canada's Women's Waterpolo team failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics however, they qualified for both the 2004 and 2000 Olympic Games. At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal they came 3rd. They finished 8th at the 2011 World Championships and second at second at the 2009 World Championships. It is however the men who get the needed funding from Own the Podium

Hopefully Heatstroke is not the only one scratching his head over these decisions. Someone within Own the Podium please explain.

The Other Side

Gymnastics Canada suffered a gut wrenching loss this past weekend. Canada's men's gymnastics team was in a last chance qualifier to determine the remaining four countries to qualify for the Olympic Games. Unfortunately for Canada the team finished 1/2 a point back of fourth and as a result will watch the Olympic Games unfold from Canada.

Watching the Olympic Games Heatstroke wonders aloud as to how often we catch ourselves thinking "what must it feel like to come fourth?" The years of preparation, the training and the sacrifice only to come one placing away from the Olympic podium. But what about those within Gymnastic Canada who too put for the effort, the sacrifice and the training only to never make it to the Olympic Games.

Sport is brutal. Either you win or you don't. There is no grey area. For that we love it. But there is a human component to it, and today Heatstroke can only imagine what those within Gymnastics Canada must be feeling.

Mr. Martin

There was a time when the sport of curling was the laughing stock of amateur sport. The sport's stars were often recognized more for their beer guts than their talents, and the sport largely catered to an aging demographic. Oh how times have changed.

Today, high performance curlers follow a regimented training program while the sport itself is going through a resurgence. Turn on the television lately. It is impossible to go through a week without seeing some sort of curling competition featured on TSN or some local broadcaster. There are made for t.v events of all varieties Skins Games, Men vs Women Contests, North America vs the World Challenges and of course there remains the sports staples, the Brier and Scott Tournament of Hearts.

Then there are the athletes themselves who understand marketing and in turn brands want to be affiliated with the athletes. For an example of this phenomenon look no further than Mr. Martin and his team. For many events Martin and his team arrive a day early and make the media rounds or put on a clinic for juniors, all the aim of promoting their sponsors. No wonder then that Mr. Martin and his group are sponsored by the likes of H & R Block and Uncle Ben's.

Meanwhile, in many other amateur sports - the athletes themselves remain committed to the training but the sports themselves are dying. Swimming, Diving, Wrestling, Athletics and countless others are afterthoughts for television networks and athletes do little to secure advertising dollars. For an example of this look at Rowing Canada. In two short weeks Rowing Canada officials will descend on Canada's most populous city for four days, but Heatstroke doubts very seriously that anyone will take the time to travel to a local club to teach a group of high school athletes.

Still wondering why curling is prospering.

Pan-Am Hope?

No province has done more for amateur sport in the past five year than Ontario. Sure British-Columbia hosted arguably the most successful Winter Olympic Games ever. And true Alberta using the legacy from the 1988 Winter Games has been instrumental in the development of our amateur athletes, but neither B.C nor Alberta can lay claim to the efforts put forth by Ontario.

Worried about the dwindling number of Ontario residents representing Canada on the international scene the McGuinty government introduced the Quest for Gold Funding Program in 2006. Under the Quest for Gold Program the Ontario Government has provided over $42 in direct financial assistance over the past five years to its amateur athletes. Furthermore, in 2010 the Ontario Government was awarded the 2015 Pan-Am Games and with it committed a further $1.4Billion dollars towards amateur sport facilities over the next five years. Unfortunately it appears that the sporting bubble may be bursting.

Reports are that the Ontario government is facing a $16Billion Dollar deficit in 2012 and with Moody's threading to downgrade Ontario's bonds, the province is under immense pressure to cut its deficit, and rest assured sport will be one of the first programs on the chopping block. Secondly a report from the Toronto Sun shows that the 2015 Pan-Am Games Bid is facing cost overruns in excess of $2.0Billion dollars. Reports are that the cost overruns has some wondering if the government should not consider scaling back some facilities and doubling up on others (I.E have Gymnastics and wrestling in the same facility). If reports are in fact true, the legacy from the 2015 Pan-am Games may not be as great as some were hoping.

With cost overruns and a provincial government looking for ways to slash its budget Ontario's sporting industry could be facing serious cutbacks here shortly. Until these two things happen however, Ontario's amateur athletes should acknowledge the efforts of its government to showcase amateur sport in Canada's most populous province.

Imagine

Imagine for a second. You are the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Own the Podium Canada (Seriously - Own the Podium is presently looking for a CEO to fill this role). Your job is to increase Canada's medal haul at the 2012 Olympic Games so that we finish in the top twelve in the overall medal count. You have millions of dollars at your disposal and have exactly four years to complete this daunting task. What would you do?

What would I do? I would look at Canada's culture and examine sports that are the very heart of the Canadian pshyche. I would divert monies to sports that are medal rich at a given Olympiad; implying they have a large number of medals at their disposal. And I would divert monies to sports that have proven success at one period of time, that may have fallen on hard times in the past couple of years on account of government cutbacks. I would look at putting money into boxing and men's wrestling.

In the 1990's these two sports won a total of 5 Olympic medals, but for one reason or another in the past 10 years have had their funding slashed on account of cutbacks. Furthermore, Own the Podium sees little opportunity for future Olympic medals (Heatstroke disagrees but we digress) in these disciplines.

Back to reality. In 2008 Own the Podium felt that the best way to increase Canada's medal count at future Olympiads was to funnel monies to sports that had a record Olympiad and at best could match their medal count in 2012. Heatstroke won't name the sports specifically, but does note that sports that receive the largest piece of the funding pie will be hard pressed to match - let alone beat their medal haul in 2008.

Will it work? Let the 2012 Olympic Games be the true test.

2012 - An Olympic Odyssey

In a few short hours the book will be closed on 2011, and a new one will start on 2012. For those in Canada's amateur sport community the hope is that the story on Canada's Olympic Team will read a Top 12 finish at the London Olympics. No one knows wether or not this is medal tally is possible but those within the know say that Canada will come a little short of reaching its goal.

According to a Globe & Mail report Lucian Barrro an Italian Sports Official predicts that Canada will finish the games with 16 medals, 5 of which will be gold, to finish 18th overall in the medal standing. A USA report predicts much the same with Canada winning 18 medals - 6 of which are gold to finish 17th overall.

Projected Gold Medallists for Canada include

Mary Spencer - Boxing - A three time world champion and arguably Canada's best chance for gold in 2012

Tara Whitten - Cycling - A two time world champion in the Omnion - and a certain hope for Canada in London.

Catherine Pendrel - Mountain Biking - Narrowly lost Bronze in 2008. She is know hoping to win gold in 2012 and enters the Games as the defending world champion in the sport.

Roseline Filion / Meaghan Benfelto - Diving - Having been together for 6+ years, the two hope to put their experience to work in 2012

Brent Hayden - Freestyle Swimming - Looking to avenge a poor performance in 2008, Brent enters 2012 as the World Champion in the 100m Freestyle

Ryan Cochrane - Canada's lone medallist in the pool in 2008, Ryan looks to upgrade his medal this year.

Heatstroke is proud of all of Canada's amateur athletes that will compete in London, but once again wonders aloud as to where Canada's minority athletes have gone - especially amongst our males. 2012 is shaping up once again, to be the 5th consecutive Olympiad where Canada's male medallists will all be white anglo saxon.

Redford's Tax

Earlier this week, Alberta Premier Alison Redford announced that she was contemplating a "sin" tax hike on booze and tobacco sales. While seen as an instant cash grab by most Albertans, Redford announced that the proposed tax hike was an effort by the Alberta Government to promote health and fitness in the Wild Rose Province.

“Albertans are really sensible. They want to be healthy, they want to be safe and they want government to take some leadership and say: ‘You know what, we’re going to make some choices and these choices are going to be conducive to building a safer and a healthier community where we’re able to make sure we have good programs in place and everyone in society can thrive".

Albertans know better. In 2010 the Alberta Government cut sport funding to the Health and Wellness agency, The Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wellness Foundation (ASRPWF) by 15%. Under Redford's new tax proposal there is no mention of restoring funding to the ASRPWF to pre-2010 levels. If the Redford government was truly serious about Health a proposed tax hike would be accompanied by a statement regarding increased funding to health and wellness. Unfortunately, once again Redford's comment was just an another example as to how government uses sport for its own self serving interests like tax hikes.

Alberta is not alone. In 2011 the Ontario Government released a comprehensive document detailing as to how the Province of Ontario would eliminate tobacco consumption and in turn make Ontario the healthiest province in the country. What was lost was not one new $ in sport funding accompanied the statement. Presently the Ontario government provides a $50 tax credit for fitness related costs to residents of Canada's most populous province. Wouldn't it be nice if the Ontario government was truly serious about the health and welfare of its citizens by offering a $1,500 tax credit and increased funding to school programs. Heatstroke thinks so.

Redford are you listening.

Bobbie Rosenfeld

In a few days sports writers across the country will come together to announce Canada's Female Athlete of the Year and the winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award. But to whom should the award go to.

Likely Winner

Christine Sinclair - Who could forget Christine's performance at the 2011 World Cup of Soccer, who with a broken nose scored a last minute goal to put Canada in a position to beat the defending World Champion Germany. However what is lost on most voters is that Canada's performance at this event was disappointing to say the least. Canada returned home from the 16 team tournament having failed to win a single game prompting the resignation of the team's coach Caroline Morace. The captain of this team was Ms. Sinclair.

My Vote

Mary Spencer - Mary is a World Champion in two separate weight classes in the sport of boxing. At the 2011 Pan-American Games she walked through her competition, and heading into London is a medal favourite for Canada. Results aside however, Mary's success in the sport is even more impressive when someone considers the state of boxing in this country. Once a powerhouse in the sport Canada, for the first time in its history, may fail to qualify a single male boxer for the Olympic Games in London. In the last 10 years the sport has seen a dramatic reduction in sport funding, and is now but a shadow of its former self. Which brings us back to Mary. Her success comes despite a sporting organization that lacks funding, coaches and facilities to train Olympic class athletes.

Boxing has fallen on hard times, but Heatstroke believes that the things are improving within the sport. Pat Fiacco - The mayor of Regina and a long time volunteer in the sport was recently elected president of the organization. With Fiacco now overseeing matters he has established a plan that will see the sport return to glory. Lets hope so, as Heatstroke believes that Canada cannot fulfill its objectives under the Own the Podium program without success from the sport of boxing

I'll have what they are having

Athletics Canada recently released its selection guidelines for athletes wishing to participate at the 2012 Olympics. While the news release garnered little by way of publicity, the release itself has Heatstroke wanting to know if Athletics Canada is in touch with reality when they state the following.

"Athletics Canada's objectives for the 2012 Olympic Games include improving on the country ranking, number of overall medals, top 8 and top 12 finishes from recent Olympic Games and World Championships. "Our results at the 2008 Olympic Games (in Beijing) were a clear improvement over Sydney and Athens, we're looking at building on this success and we expect more in London,"

At the 2008 Olympics, in the sport of Track & Field, Canada finished with 1 top 3 finish. 5 top 8 finishes and 8 top 12 finishes to finish 16th overall in IAAF's overall ranking. Heading into the 2012 Olympics Canada finished with one top three finish at the 2011 World Championships (Dylan Armstrong) and after that did have a single athlete finish in the top 8 of their respective event and had only 1 other athlete (Jessica Zelinka) crack the top 10. Having witnessed these results while observing the optimism within Athletics Canada I think I will have what those in Athletics Canada are having.

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Patrick Chan was awarded Canada's Male athlete of the Year for 2011, making Chan the fourth skater in Canadian history to be given this award. However, Heatstroke wonders as to why the award was not given to Dylan Armstrong. True, Chan won the world championship in 2011, while Armstrong finished second. However, Armstrong was the first Canadian to have ever one a medal at a world championship in a throw event, he won the Diamond League Title in 2011 and did it in a sport that has a much larger field of competition that does figure skating.

Armstrong is Heatstroke's male athlete of the Year for 2011.

LTAD.....

Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) seems to be the rage these days. We hear about it all the time as all sports are committing thousands of dollars to implement it's key recommendations. But are they, and should they? In Timbits hockey, soccer, basketball and so forth the emphasis is on skill development, games are kept to a minimum and when games are played no one keeps score. After all the "the first goal is about having fun." But no one has ever said that practice is fun and if you were to talk to my 5 year old boy he would say that practice is boring, and all he wants to do is play games. Kids as I see them thrive in a sort of competitive environment wether it be game of chase, a race or simply a game of tag.

Interesting enough however, once youngsters leave the confines of Timbit sports it is open season. The hockey season for 7 & 8 year old kids is now a 10 month affair with many kids required to participate in both on and off ice activities. At the Blackfoot Hockey Association in Calgary, Alberta 7 year old boys who are fortunate enough to make the Novice I Team have dry land training no less than once per week. I doubt it is much different in hockey associations across the country with parents now committing upwards of $10,000 per annum to have their kids play hockey. Hockey, however does not stand alone. Things are not much different in volleyball, swimming, figure skating, soccer and many other sports with many kids devoting their full attention to a single sport 5 days a week 10-11 months a year. The result is a system that goes against the very basis of LTAD.

So back to our original question; Should sports be following the key recommendations of LTAD and if so are they . You decide. For this blogger it appears that a happy medium may be best.

Are you Serious!

About a month ago a Toronto area school banned all hard balls including soccer balls, footballs and even tennis balls claiming that they were dangerous. A few weeks later the ban was lifted after angry parents filed complaints with the local school board. While we are pleased that saner minds have prevailed one has to wonder as to how a decision to ban active outdoor play was brought about in the first place. School boards have to understand that promoting active play helps kids with their studies and improves the overall school environment. Lets hope that school boards learn from this.....

The Canadian Olympic Committee recently announced that it would pay coaches for Olympic medals http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2Ga67jCzAndlXypJetF2NvO9wFQ?docId=CNG.223c07996df1426c0233f2eb2719da0e.761. While we promote the payment of cash bonuses to athletes who win Olympic medals - Heatstroke wonders if the payment of monies to coaches who produce Olympic medallists is a good use of funds. We agree that coaches are an important lifeline and are vital in the development of our athletes. However, Sport Canada rules place a limit on how much coaches can be paid here in Canada. As a result many of the world's best coaches refuse to come to Canada opting instead to pursue more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. Understanding this important point, Heatstroke argues that Sport Canada should remove its ceiling, and funds used from the OTP program be used to supplement the salaries of our coaches. Just a thought.

Those who follow the sport of rowing should pay close attention to the battle that is about to begin for the lightweight women's double. Three women all of whom have proven themselves on the international scene will compete for two seats in London. The battle to make the boat could be more heated that the competition in the Olympics. No wonder then that this boat is projected by many as having the best chance to medal in London.

Things I think......I think

Despite the fact that there are still 35 weeks until the Olympic cauldron is lit to commemorate the start of the 2012 Olympic Games - Canada's Men's Basketball Team already knows its fate at these games. For the third straight Olympiad they will watch the games unfold without them. Hopefully this trend can stop in 2016 which makes this blogger wonder aloud as to why Canada sent a totally inexperienced team to the 2011 Pan-America Games in Mexico.

With NBA players in labour unrest and their season in peril why wouldn't Basketball Canada invite Canadian born NBA players to participate in the Pan-American Games. Despite what many believe Canada is producing some great young basketball players including Tristan Thomson, Jamal Magloire, Andy Rautins, Myck Kabongo and many others. Unfortunately, many of these athletes are reluctant to play for Canada. With NBA players looking for court time, and Basketball Canada looking to start over shouldn't the 2011 Pan-American Games have been seen as a great chance to wipe to slate clean? We think so.

We all read in disbelief about the death of Canada's most successful athlete at the 2008 Beijing Games - Hickstead. His sudden death was sad for those who follow amateur sport here in Canada and even more so for those who follow equestrian. With the passing of Hickstead one wonders if Canada's sporting officials are scratching their heads as to how Canada will win 20 medals in London. I certainly am. I had him winning 2 medals in London.

Interesting article in the Globe and Mail about two weeks ago where former Canadian Men's Basketball Coach claims that our universities have to do more to keep Canadian athletes here at home. Ken we agree, but why isn't anyone doing anything.