Canadian
athletes are homebound after a dismal showing at this fall’s
Sydney Olympics. And that means funding for Canada’s amateur
athletes has come into question.
Blaming fingers are pointing in many directions. But those fingers
should be pointed squarely at us.
Canadians don’t care about their amateur sports. That’s
why there’s no money. Just ask Olympic athlete Sara Renner.
The 24 year-old cross-country skier says she struggles with the
$1,100 allowance she receives each month from the federal government.
To get more exposure, she and four friends on the ski team are
giving more exposure – posing tastefully nude in a calendar
that sells for $30 a copy.
She hopes the calendar will boost her income and the cross-country
ski team’s popularity. Right now, she says they don’t
get much of either.
But she doesn’t blame the government for her woes. She says
amateur athletes don’t receive enough public support to
attract big funding dollars from the feds.
“Canadians give attention to their athletes once every four
years,” says Renner from her Canmore, Alta. home. She says
Canadian media coverage paled in comparison with stories that
appeared in the Australian press when her team swept the medals
at a recent US national competition. And Australian athletes
weren’t even competing at the event.
“Sometimes I ask myself ‘why do we bother,’”
she says. “Canadians only take their pro sports seriously.”
This lack of support reared its ugly head at the Sydney Olympics.
Despite having fewer people and resources than Canada, Australia
placed fourth in the medal count. Canada came in a distant twenty-fourth.
Scott Stevenson, executive director for the Canadian Amateur
Diving Association, says there’s one big difference between
the two countries – support for amateur athletes. Australia’s
is huge and Canada’s isn’t, he says.
Stevenson says the best way to garner the same type of enthusiasm
in Canada is to follow Australia’s example by hosting the
Olympics.
Jeff Evenson, Special Advisor with Toronto’s 2008 Olympic
bid, agrees.
He says hosting the Olympics “can serve as a catalyst”
for development of amateur sports.
If the Olympics do come to Toronto, the infrastructure required
to host them can do “nothing but good to boost our support
and involvement in amateur sports,” he adds.
Stevenson says the diving association has also been working on
the image of amateur sports to increase popularity and money.
“We look at it two ways,” he says. “Public recognition
is half the battle. If we make a few bucks doing it, that’s
the other half.”
He says amateur sports need continued support during non-Olympic
years.
So while memories of Sydney can slowly fade with time, Canada
needs to step up and support its athletes. Otherwise, in eight
years, we might be embarrassed in our own backyard. |