It's time WE Spoke up.

[Joel]

I think that after this past showing in the Olympics, athletics Canada must realize just how far we are beind the rest of the world in sports...except maybe diving.
Now, most of us are the future of this sport, both in competition, and support...and I think it is time that we stepped up and did something about athletic Canada's funding for athletes.
This is a Democratic Nation, and therefore, the people have a say....and I say we demand better. Together, we can make a stand for change, that may not end in funding like the USA, but it could better our situation. We just need to plan, and act.

[Joel]

as i can see there have been 100 of you that have viewed this post but not one has replied that a. i am an idealist living in a fantisy world or b. not one really cares C. everyone cares but thinks nothing can be done
this is our future lets make someting great of it a little is always better then nothing.

[the mole]

If I thought the COC would read this board I would say a lot.

First I'd start off by telling them that nobody cares about their statistics. They are sooo happy that 80% of the athletes made finals this year which is an improvement from Sydney. Well no one cares about percentages. They could have only sent Perdita, Van Koeverdan and Shewfelt and Canada would have had 100% of their athletes in finals. But people don't want to see that, they want absolute numbers. I would like to see more people in finals and more medals even if we sacrificed the percentages. Do people really talk at the water cooler at work about how the percent increase of finalists from sydney to athens. But I bet if someone they knew went to the Olympics that would be a lot more exciting. Well, there's my ramblings

[Joel]

Thats good, a great point....but once again, I am not posting in saying that anyone of importance will read the board....I am saying together on the board we can decide a plan of attack, and one or all of us, can write letters, make calls, do anything to make out points heard.

[money]

I think after watching this olympics its obvious what we should do...we should take all the money away from the 'classic' sports and put all our efforts into such high profile, exciting sports as trampoline and synchronized diving, and male gymnastics...thats were the glory is

[Canadian]

I don't think there is anything wrong and track shouldn't be funded more...the average citizen really doesn't care and shouldn't have to pay and that running should only be a job if your good enought to make money we shouldn't pay so pple don't have to work so they can try for the olympics

[why why why]

people just don't make a living at running right after university and then go to the olympics. Many of these athletes have to develop. And its harder to develop if they have to work 40 hours a week. If you give them some money and they work some then they can make it to that level.

[Fidel]

If thats the case, then I want a cut from all of Perditas sponsorship and winnings. Since I paid for some of it..I should get some back.

Since Canada is apparently turning into a communist society where we all pay into a fund that lets people not work and run for fun

[cmon]

you know I'm not a good guitar player but I think I should be funded so I don't have to work and I can practise and make a band...it doesn't work that way. Maybe I want to take acting lessons, should I be funded because I can't afford them. No!

[Guest]

Here's what I believe:

It's true, Canadians shouldn't have to pay for amateur sports if they don't care about them. BUT what did we see throughout the Olympics? Newspapers, sports commentators, and the general public complaining about Canada's poor showing. It's fine for people not to do anything to help improve amateur sport, and it's fine for people to complain, but we can't do both. If people are unhappy with the current situation then they must help to improve it in any way they can (not necessarily with more money) and if people don't want to be responsible for it then they can't complain.

[Many teams made]

Posted by: cmon Posted on: Today at 1:42pm
you know I'm not a good guitar player but I think I should be funded so I don't have to work and I can practise and make a band...it doesn't work that way. Maybe I want to take acting lessons, should I be funded because I can't afford them. No!


You obviously don't get it. You say you are not a good guitar player but think you should be funded and say this is the same as what these athletes are asking for. It is not the same. These athletes ARE VERY GOOD. A lot of them are Olympians...some of them are extremely good Jr's and espoirs who need a development time to get to the Olympians levels. Our Olympians need to be able to train full time in order to be medallists. And our Jr's and espoirs need not only to train full time, but to be able to afford to get to meets and get some competition. They sure as hell aren't going to get it from running OTFA's or the BC champs.

[this guy]

the money needs to be spent at the youth/junior level. we don't produce wolrd class juniors, so how can anyone expect us to produce world cass seniors?

if AC spent money on getting as many high school coaches certified/knowledgeable as possible, it would make a HUGE differrence. There are tons of talented ppl out there who could have done great things, and supported their training though sponsorships/winnings, but they were never given proper direction early in their carreer.

Also, if we get more interrested youth athletes, it will bring more money into the sport through their membership fees, more sponsorship dollars (sponsors will pay more if they see more ppl are interrested), and jus greater interest in the sport.

lack of funding didn't hurt ppl like perdita, sully, boswell who all have sponsorship deals and those like mackenzie, christopher, reed and reid seem to be able to get to europe and make big improvements on the funding they are getting right now.

[McBride]

Funding isn't neccesarily the answer, although I do think it should be increased. We have to start at the grass routes level and get younger kids interested in track and field. When your five or six you don't say I want to run xc internationally. You want to play hockey or soccer and wear the canadian jersey for that. We need to promote and our sport for the youth and develop athletes from younger ages.

[eight-hundred]

no way am i putting my kid in track...
theres way more exciting sports that pple actually care about...and thats the real reason for the lack of interest and funding in track and especially xc...you can make a lot more money in other sports because they generate a lot more fans and income...

[Jay D]

My opinion is that nobody in the 'development' stage in any profession gets a free ride. This is a part of the development--finding out how committed you are. That said, in nearly every field there are at least SOME incentives to stick around. More often that not, these incentives are part of a system that helps people give back to their profession. Student teachers don't get paid to practice teach, med students don't get paid while they're students. In law, business and academia, you spend a long time in the 'apprentice' stage being paid very little at all.
I'm a Ph.D student. In North America, most Ph.D students get paid a subsistence wage to learn how to be a professor, by professing or researching. It works out for everyone, and by the time I'm ready to support myself, I know how to support myself and I've already committed myself to the profession through years of work.

On to my second point:
At my school in the states, and many others, athletic teams have (poorly) paid positions for 'graduate assistants'. In Canada, this doesn't happen much. In fact, it would be interesting to know just how many jobs Athletics Canada or the COA offer to new graduates.

We know we have little to no coaching or infrastructure for youth track and field.

We know we need to find a proactive way to fund athletes.

Could we not push AthCan and the COA to earmark funds and positions for developing athletes? We can offer, in return, to enrich the sport through our continued involvement, not just because we love the sport and are willing to be poor, but because our work and energy is going back into the sport and we are getting something (at least a low paying job) in return.

The most embarrassing statistic from Athens wasn't the medal haul, or the percentage of finals made, it was the imbalance between athletes sent and delegates sent. Make the athletes the delegates, put the athletes into the system in proactive ways, and this won't happen. It's time for Athletics Canada to stop acting like the Moose Lodge for retired coaches and start turning itself inside out.

[dont get it]

so you do get some money in the development phase? Are you supporting getting money in the development phase or not?

I would not consider getting $500 a "free ride" when someone is training their ass off and REPRESENATING THEIR COUNTRY.

I like the idea about getting jobs for athletes that need more money and those jobs being in line with poromoting sport. That would be very nice to see.

[Just an Idea]

no money in the development phase eh??
What about the countless free rides down south for those people who light it up in highschool? More and More I am hearing about hockey players in Canada getting their schooling paid for.
I don't see how, not working, getting your very expensive education paid for, and only having 12-15hrs of class a week constitute a financial hardship in the development stage? The really talented canadian athletes get this treatment.

This CIS should start up an endownment fund whereby the interest generated on the fund could be allotted to assisting student atheletes. Obviously not everyone would get $$$, but it would be a start. I don't know where the CIS would get the $$ to start this thing up, but perhaps from the various CIS championships and/or corporate sponsorships, even some government seed #. It could emulate CODA, and should also promote strong academic standing in addition to athleticism. The interest could be allotted based on both proportion of student athletes per school, and the success of school's athletic programs.

Just an Idea

[Eddy WEST]

First off this is getting just dumb.

How much do you think a CIS championship profits outside of football and basketball? A curling championship, even volleyball would be LUCKY if they profitted 5000.....and that would take alot of luck. That school puts the money in there program to pay for there staff and teams.

This is not the NCAA....thats why people go to the states in the first place. Canadians dont place as high an importance on success in sports, DEAL WITH IT