Could the Global Recession affect Calgary's Olympic Legacy?

The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics not only left a lasting imprint on the city of Calgary, it also created the foundation for the creation of a sporting institute where all of Canada’s best winter athletes could train in one location. The organization responsible for maintaining the facilities from these Games is WinSport Canada.

Committing the legacy of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games WinSport Canada has evolved into one premier sport-development organizations in the world. Consider that of the 156 Canadian athletes who competed at the 2002 Winter Games, 85 of them were from Alberta. At the 2006 Torino Games, 66% of Canada's medalists were Alberta based. And the facilities these athletes trained on were managed by WinSport Canada.

However, with the global economic downturn and a legacy fund tied to equity markets, WinSport Canada has lost 20% of its total value since 2007 and is now struggling to find the funds to pay for the day to day operations of the Olympic Oval and Canada Olympic Park. The net effect is that WinSport is trimming its budgets at its facilities. While the effect of these cuts will unlikely be seen in Vancouver it is possible that with in 2014 and beyond - the Calgary legacy and the subsequent success of Alberta based athletes may be coming to an end.

The Four Year Gap

Have you ever dreamed of seeing the Canadian flag raised at a major international sporting event in your honor? Most Candians have. In fact the dream is played out on a daily basis in backyards, arenas, playgrounds, and gymnasiums from coast to coast across Canada where young and old alike envision scoring that last minute goal, skating the perfect program, breaking the world record, and in the process standing atop the podium as an adoring country watches their every move. For many it is just that. A dream. But, for a fortunate few it is a lifestyle where an elite few with little regard for fame or money carry out their dream on a daily basis in virtual obscurity to the mainstream public.

It isn't until that five ring spectacle known as the Olympic Games approaches does the Canadian public begin to take notice of this dedicated group. And then lawyers, doctors, bankers, teachers, journalists and every one else in between become instantaneous experts on the successes and failures of Canada's amateur sport athletes and teams. Then once the cauldron has been extinguished, the chairs have been put away, and the two-week sporting spectacle comes to a conclusion the analysis concludes, the water cooler arguments are put on the shelf and Canada's amateur athletes return to their modest lifetstyle.

This blog attempts to go beyond the rings by examining the issues that Canada's amateur athletes face as they pursue that childhood dream that lives within all of us. Step inside Canada's amateur sport system and discover for yourself what traspires between the extinguishing of one cauldron and the lighting of another.