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.

The Things I think

It may seem hard to believe but Daniel Igali's gold medal in free style wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games was the last time a male athlete of colour won an Olympic medal for Canada at the Summer Olympics. Since the 2000 Olympic Games, medals won by Canada's male athletes at the Summer Games have been restricted to sports that are seen as being privileged by many, including equestrian, trampoline, diving, rowing, kayaking, sailing and to a lesser extent swimming. What ever happened to Canada's medal winning ways by minority athletes like Lennox Lewis, Donovan Bailey, Alwyn Morris, Mark McCoy and others? This blogger has some theories as to why this is so.

Rowing Canada officials are on record of saying that they want to see Canada's fortunes in scull rowing improve but then are fail to invite a single female sculler to their Olympic camp. Further if improving Canada's fortunes in scull rowing is truly in the cards why do Canada's rowing officials have prominent scullers like Jerry Browne, Kevin Kowalyuk, and Malcolm Howard fill seats in sweep boats. Something doesn't make sense.

Why is the International Amateur Boxing Federation discussing wether or not female boxers should be wearing skirts at the 2012 Olympic Games. Doesn't the organization have more important things to worry about? After all women's boxing is making it's Olympic debut in 2012 and this blogger things that the organization would be better suited to making sure the competition is well run and fair for all. Something that organization hasn't had a successful record of doing at past Olympiads (for male counterparts).

Swimming Canada

Swimming Canada may not be achieving the results it desires (yet) but you have to applaud the organization from the athletes right up through to the management.

From an athlete stand-point no other amateur sporting organization in Canada has done as much to garner attention. Consider that at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal athletes marched on the pool deck wearing Montreal Canadian jerseys which energized the home crowd. Some 6 years later at the Pan-American Games in Mexico athletes were seen wearing traditional Mexican wrestling masks which earned the athletes an ovation from the crowd.

From a coaching standpoint the organization has the respect of this blogger to recognize those coaches who are developing world class athletes. Randy Bennett - who is the swim coach of Canada's Star Pupil will head Canada's Swim Team into the 2012 London Games. Contrast this to Athletics Canada who has gone with the same staid coaches to the past 5 Olympiads. Swim Canada

And then there is the Executive Level of the organization who recently announced Vision 2020 - a road map for the organization to be amongst the top 6 nations at the 2020 Olympic Games. The plan itself looks to strengthen the grassroots program while creating a top development model.

No wonder the organization that virtually imploded in 2004 has done a complete 180 in the past 7 years and will look to win three Olympic medals in 2012. Here is hoping they succeed. They certainly deserve it!

Team Canada

For some sports the Pan-American Games are but an afterthought. Sports like rowing, track & field, and even swimming send their "B" Team to these games, preserving their best athletes for the World Championships while giving development athletes a chance at international competition.

For field hockey, water polo, diving, synchronized swimming, triathlon, dressage, handball, modern pentathlon, shooting, table tennis and canoe/kayak the Pan-American Games are a direct ticket to the Olympic Games. And based on what has transpired in Guadelajara Mexico, Team Canada will be have a much smaller presence in London than it did in Beijing.

Canada's Men's Water Polo and Field Hockey Teams qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games by winning Pan-Am gold in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 2007. In addition, Canada qualified teams in soccer and softball. Some four years later initial observations are that Canada might not send a single team to London.

The sports of softball and baseball are no longer part of the Olympic movement. The men's basketball team has already being eliminated from Olympic qualification. The women's basketball team has been relegated to a last chance qualifier. Our Field Hockey and Water Polo teams (men and women) have their work cut out for them after falling to win gold in Guadelajara.

And while it is noted that soccer and volleyball have not yet had their Olympic qualifier(s) yet, evidence is mounting that Canada will be lucky to send 1 or 2 teams to the 2012 Olympic Games; a significant reduction from only four years ago. A sad state indeed.

Nathan Kotylak

No one in amateur sport was more controversial this past year than Nathan Kotylak. For those who don't remember, Nathan was an up and coming Water Polo player who was photographed lighting a police car on fire in the riots after Vancouver's loss in game #7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

In confessing his actions to local authorities Nathan immediately created a fire storm in amateur sport circles, with many calling for a lifetime ban from sport. Adam Kreek - an Olympic Gold Medallist in the sport of rowing and now a sport activist posted a message on facebook questioning the rationale of a lifetime ban. The message lit up social networking sites with athletes former and current weighing in on the subject; some of who (including Nicole Forrester - an athlete rep) suggesting that athletes are ambassadors and should be held to a higher standard.

Perhaps, but Dany Heatley was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and both Hockey Canada nor the COC did anything about it. He would go on to win Olympic Gold for his country. Ditto for Todd Bertuzzi who is currently being charged for aggravated assault. How about Theo Fleury? There is Chris Pronger who has been found guilty of driving under the influence; He has 2 Olympic gold medals to his name. Craig Mctavish has not only played but coached for Canada despite pleading guilty to vehicular homicide.

So, why in August of 2011 did Water Polo Canada impose a 2 year competition ban on Nathan Kotylak for his actions in June? There is little doubt that the crime was serious and the man if guilty should be punished by the law, but why is Water Polo Canada taking action against the man? Hockey Canada did not, and it's athletes are much greater ambassadors than any Water Polo player that I know.

RMR: Rick Learns Gymnastics with Kyle Shewfelt

Changing Time

Canada has lofty ambitions in the sport of Track & Field at the 2012 Olympics. They have set a target of winning two Olympic medals in 2012. Dylan Armstrong appears to be a strong bet fresh off a silver medal performance at the Championships and being crowned shot put champion in this year's Diamond League. But after Dylan the cupboard appears empty.

Gary Reed has retired, as has Tyler Christopher. Adam Kunkel - a threat for a world championship medal back in 2007 hasn't been able to to find his form since tearing his achilles tendon some 4 years ago. Perdita, a fan favourite in the sport has relocated to Calgary, but she is on the downside of her career after failing to final in Daegu. Pryscilla Lopes Schlepp is hoping to return in 2012 after having a baby this year but only time will tell if she can regain her form.

With many of Canada's best athletes in the sport either retired or nearing retirement it is becoming evident that Track & Field is on the downswing here in Canada. In Daegu, only 3 Canadian athletes qualified for a final (Dylan included), and the names that once dotted the sports landscape - Bailey, Chalmers, McKoy, Williams are almost absent from the sporting scene here in 2012.

And despite it all, the cast of characters who lead the program remains largely unchanged for the past dozen years. Athletics Canada might it be time for a change in leadership?

Pan-Am Hope?

Has anyone noticed. The world's second largest sporting event is currently underway but is anybody following it. The media isn't. Canada's daily newspapers are void of any commentary regarding the games, and trying to find coverage of the games on television is akin to finding an ethical banker on wall street. However, maybe Canadian sporting officials want things to stay this way.

For anyone keeping track, Canada entered the games hoping for a third place finish in terms of overall medals. Thus far Canada is in fifth place behind world powers, Mexico and Brazil. And while it is acknowledged that Canada typically does not send its best athletes to these games, don't let anyone tell you that the games are not important. They are. More so for our pentathletes, field hockey and water polo players and for countless others because these games are qualifiers for the Olympic Games.

For a sport system that has seen its men's basketball teams fail to qualify for the 2012 Games, a women's basketball team who has been relegated to a second chance qualifier, a women's soccer team that finished a disappointing 16th at the world championships and then see its coach - Carolyn Morace resign a day later, Canada needs some good news stories in amateur sports. Lets hope our Pan-Am athletes provide some good news

We Are?

I am sure you have heard. Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Canada's historic day at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. In case you were stuck in a mine for the past 13 months - on this day - 1 year ago - Canada's Olympic Men's Hockey Team won Olympic Gold which elevated Canada's Gold Medal count at the 2010 Olympic Games to 14 - a Winter Olympic Games record.

The success of Canada's Winter Olympians prompted some renewed enthusiasm for future Olympiads, including London 2012. "Team Canada is going to be a different team (going forward), who see winning as something acceptable, correct and something they feel they could achieve," COC President Marcel Aubut said. "I think that's going to be a big difference with the kind of team going to London, Sochi and Rio."

Unfortunately the results from the 2011 Commonwealth Games tell a different story. For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games - India topped Canada in the overall medal count. Australia won as many gold medals as Canada did medals, England nearly doubled Canada's medal tally and Canada itself won fewer medals at these games than at any time since 1974.

Of course the argument can be made that many of Canada's best athletes did not attend, and to an extent that is true. But the same can be said for other many competing nations. Furthermore, Canada did send some of tis best divers, swimmers and track & field athletes to these games, sports in which Canada expects to win Olympic medals in 2012.

Another excuse trotted forward is that the Commonwealth Games are not the Olympics. After all, some of Canada's best medal producing Olympic sports are not contested at the Commonwealth Games. True, but make no mistake the Empire Games as they were once referred to have historically provided a preview of thngs to come. Lets hope that this time around history does not repeat itself. We shall see.

A Case Study

In my book Heatstroke it is suggested that the athletes have all the power to implement change if they so desire. And if anyone should doubt this very issue they should look no further than what has transpired with the Canadian Women's Soccer Team this past month.

In early February, Carolina Morace, the coach of the Canadian Women's Soccer Team announced that she would be quiting her post following this year's world cup on account of differences with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). The differences were never brought public but speculation mentioned that it largely dealt with money. Morace wanted greater control over how the money was spent. Further, she wanted her players to reciece greater compensation for their efforts.

After news of her decision became public, the players in a show of solidarity promised to boycott international competition until the association made a long-term commitment to keep Morace around. The decision quickly made national headlines and put the spotlight on the CSA to take action with the World Cup Tournament only months away.

The CSA took action and on February 26, 2011 some three weeks after the boycott was made public the players announed that they were ending their revolt. According to the players, the CSA was making genuine efforts to address issues with Morace.

And while the threat of a boycott proved that the athletes can initiate change one has to wonder why the players backed down from their stance. Invoking memories from the movie "Field of Dreams" where a voice from a field whispers "Go the distance," this writer asks the same from the soccer team.

After all nothing has really changed. The Morace issue while improving is not resolved and the compensation issue is now going before the courts as the CSA refuses to divulge information about its funding formula for the men's team (the women claim that they are unfarily compensated relative to their male counterparts.)

At a time when the women made a brash move and had the sporting world responding to their requests - proving the influence athletes can have when the join together - it also proved the naivete of our athletes. The women had the power to make real change and challenge the CSA to come clean. If only they showed the strength of their convictions. I Dare to dream

Return

I thought things might be changing by now. Weren't we told so. Canada's amateur athletes were walking taller than ever following a historic performance at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Things had changed. We weren't just talking the talk but we were now walking the walk. Canada now had am amateur sport system that we should be proud about. At least that is what we were told. And then 2011 hit.



In 2011, former Heritage Minister Bev Oda was found to have altered a document that would have provided $7MM in funding to a Canadian Aid Agency - Kairos - http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/02/20/pol-oda-feb18.html. Sports enthusiasts should follow this story closely as it is the Heritage Ministry who oversees Sports Canada. Who knows what impact Oda had on the sports portfolio she oversaw. We will likely never know but I have questions.


And then there is the latest matter surrounding Soccer Canada. http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/article/937939--women-s-national-soccer-team-keeps-up-pressure-on-csa. At issue is a discrepancy in funding the two programs get. Players on the woman's national team say that they are not being compensated fairly and threatened to boycott upcoming matches until matters were resolved.


Then there is of course a recent survey examing the activity levels of Canadians. A survey in which Dr. Rosana Pellizari - a medical officer with the City of Peterbrough - described as "shocking". http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2984042. The survey itself found that only 16% of adults and 7% of children and youth meet the mimimum level of activity as deemed necessary by the Canadian Society for Excercise Physiology. This after we have been continously told that improved medal performances will motivate Canadians to get healthy.


After all is said and done maybe things aren't as rosy as we want to believe. I have returned.