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Post by wetcoast on Nov 2, 2009 16:07:09 GMT -5
Perhaps this new group of organizers forming a management team can enable a more diverse range of awards for athletes, check out the nominees below. AC does not appear to have a “Road Runner of the Year” or a “Cross Country Runner of the Year” or a “Race Walker of the Year”, they have an “Off-Track Athlete of the Year”.
Fred Begley Memorial Trophy
Off-Track Athlete of the Year
Simon Bairu Regina, SK Canadian Cross Country Champion
Reid Coolsaet Hamilton, ON Canadian Champion & Top Canadian finisher at
World Championships (Marathon)
Evan Dunfee Richmond, BC Canadian Junior Champion & CAN-USA Dual Meet
Gold Medalist (10km Race Walk)
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Post by ronb on Nov 2, 2009 18:33:44 GMT -5
I agree with you, CK, but that issue pales in comparison to some of the big issues we should be trying to address... Looking at what has happened in the USA over the last several years in the distance running arena, and how they have gone about it, we really need to play some serious catch-up. Aside from the message board chat, I'm not sure how many people really care...
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Post by ronb on Nov 2, 2009 20:14:57 GMT -5
alliance, association, coalition, conferation, foundation, friends, group, partners (or partnership), project, society, any other options  |
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Post by oldster on Nov 2, 2009 20:33:43 GMT -5
I'll add much more later, but I just wanted to second Ron and sask's suggestions re: what the main preliminary issues are. I see no reason why this can't be launched almost immediately. The number of people willing to pony up 50 bucks will be a good referendum in itself. At the very least, there will be a small pot of $ we can make available to some Canadian distance runners to help them cover some funding costs. But, we should definitely not be settling for the very least. And, in spite of all I've said about AC over the past few years, I'm willing to keep a completely open mind when it comes to working cooperatively with them (what choice would we have anyway, really?).
And why not simply: The Canadian Distance Running Project?
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Post by ronb on Nov 2, 2009 20:44:45 GMT -5
We need to develop a collection "agency" for funds raised, even at the basic membership level, and we need to agree on a couple of basic mission or principle statements, imo. As for the name, I like the Canadian Distance Running Alliance...somewhere between Friends and Project....and Confederation has a distinctive ring to it  but, I don't really care as long as a number of us can agree on the basic mission ---- As SB said, I think we are close to that.... |
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Post by ronb on Nov 2, 2009 21:23:35 GMT -5
Please weigh in, on this issue, whether you are pro. or con. or somewhere in between...
Don't just lurk....be counted !
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Post by oldster on Nov 2, 2009 22:13:02 GMT -5
Ron: You're right, "alliance" has the more correct ring.
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Post by HHH on Nov 3, 2009 0:26:10 GMT -5
Matt/Ron, Is this proposed organization/association to support distance running in Canada, or specifically 'competitive' Canadian distance running opportunities and athletes, and to lobby AC in that regard? Yes absolutely, the jogging and running to complete movements do not need our help to grow. It's keeping the guys and girls in the sport post university is what needs our help. |
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Post by HHH on Nov 3, 2009 0:28:10 GMT -5
4) The area where a new organization or support group could be most effective, in my opinion, is helping to create a more vibrant program at the National and International level, to inspire and support more of our young runners to "keep it going", and take their talent to the next level, and the next, and the next. I think there are a number of possible initiatives in this area, some very low-cost, and low-org., and others not so much. Perhaps we need to agree on whether this is just about cross-country, or just about the Worlds, or is an effort to raise the standards and depth in all our distance running events. I can see an initial priority on trying to evaluate and improve the Cross-Country Program, and seeing that as a) a worthwhile goal in it's own right, and b) a tool to improve the overall distance running program. Agree with your #4, I just wrote pretty much the same thing. I think world XC is a good start but definitely doesn't have to be the be all end all. We need to start somewhere and this seems like as a good place as any. |
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Post by HHH on Nov 3, 2009 0:31:04 GMT -5
alliance, association, coalition, conferation, foundation, friends, group, partners (or partnership), project, society, any other options The one thing we do want to think about is whether or not we want to eventually be able to give out tax receipts for donations. We certainly want to establish ourselves as a not for profit group but in order to give out tax receipts we need to become some sort of charity to do so. I'm not sure if legally we would be able to become this as it is pretty tough. To the best of my knowledge, the only athletics group that is able to do this is Athletics Canada. I'm pretty sure the provincial groups aren't even able to do this. |
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Post by HHH on Nov 3, 2009 0:34:53 GMT -5
We need to develop a collection "agency" for funds raised, even at the basic membership level, and we need to agree on a couple of basic mission or principle statements, imo. As for the name, I like the Canadian Distance Running Alliance...somewhere between Friends and Project....and Confederation has a distinctive ring to it but, I don't really care as long as a number of us can agree on the basic mission ---- As SB said, I think we are close to that.... The Canadian Distance Running Project exists to encourage and support distance running in Canada. The groups' mission is to help Canadian distance runners achieve their full potential at the highest levels of competition possible. |
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Post by ronb on Nov 3, 2009 18:56:32 GMT -5
Another idea that crossed my desk today, is to consider regional/geographic centres or hubs or whatever the right name is, and then have them brought together into a National entity,
with common goals and principles...
Maybe we could have 8 or 10 physical locations that share in the total vision of a Canadian Distance Running Alliance or Project...
Or maybe, there are about 8 or 10 of us pissing into the wind, and everbody else is happy with the status quo...
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Post by HHH on Nov 3, 2009 22:03:21 GMT -5
Another idea that crossed my desk today, is to consider regional/geographic centres or hubs or whatever the right name is, and then have them brought together into a National entity, with common goals and principles... Maybe we could have 8 or 10 physical locations that share in the total vision of a Canadian Distance Running Alliance or Project... Or maybe, there are about 8 or 10 of us pissing into the wind, and everbody else is happy with the status quo... At first I was against the idea of paying a membership fee but I think it would at least show us who was serious about being involved. As with many things, I think there are a lot of people who would like to help but don't want to do the ground work to get things rolling. I think if we build it, they will come. |
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Post by wetcoast on Nov 4, 2009 9:44:49 GMT -5
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Post by SI on Nov 4, 2009 10:16:31 GMT -5
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Post by krs1 on Nov 4, 2009 10:22:34 GMT -5
I didn't realize that when Nate Brennan ran a top 5 mile time on the world stage, yet he couldn't run the 1500m at World's. Did this really happen? No it didn't really happen, unless I imagined Nate running the 1500m at Worlds this year. |
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Post by wetcoast on Nov 4, 2009 10:47:44 GMT -5
This is why I asked, I did not know what transpired. I think the concerned commenter at the article comments section got some feedback.
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Post by oldster on Nov 5, 2009 0:04:22 GMT -5
There have been some new developments happening off-board re: future Canadian X-C projects and funding thereof. I'm certainly still for the founding of broader group to advocate for Canadian distance running vis a vis AC (which, I'm certain, will continue to inspire exasperation, and the occasional outrage, through its various actions); but, it looks as though there may already be a fund in place (and a tax deductible one at that) for us to direct any money we might want to donate or raise for the cause of Canadian X-C. Interested parties should contact me off-board for details (steve@physi-kultrunning.com).
To finish (for now), I'd just like to say that there are two things about Canadian international running that consistently astound, and even outrage, the ordinary citizens in my life when they learn of them: 1. That duly qualified Canadian athletes are often denied the right to represent Canada internationally, even when cost is not an issue; and 2. That Canadian kids actually have to pay their own way when they represent Canada internationally (the outrage part comes in when they find out that this routinely costs thousands of dollars). Now, I know that Canadians, like citizens everywhere, can be contradictory in their views (i.e. they sometimes want both good government programs AND low taxes). I also know that Canadians are often fond of making jokes when Canadian athletes get their assess handed to them in international sporting competitions. However, I do think Canadians find it genuinely absurd and unacceptable when they hear about their athletically talented fellow citizens being denied the privilege of competing internationally when they meet the standards set by the international competition itself, or when they hear about kids having to pay to represent their country internationally (everyone I've ever spoken to about this simply assumed, and quite reasonably, that "the nation" pays when our duly qualified Canadian citizen-athletes go abroad to represent us internationally). And the average Canadian is right to find this situation absurd and unacceptable. It is both of these things. And explaining to people exactly how this manages to be the case, in spite of the fact that several million dollars in tax payer money goes to support a federation devoted to promoting our sport, never seems to help.
In Canada, we have system of sport development in which the top athletes support the system, rather than the other way around. Think about it. The top athletes, who were developed almost entirely, if not entirely, by school, club, and university programs (i.e. at no or very little cost to the federation) then become the basis on which the federation funds itself! Their success internationally, which the federation will have had only a marginal, and late-stage role in supporting, becomes the basis on which the federation then wins the funds it needs to continue operating. This same federation then turns around and imposes limits on who can represent the country internationally in order to protect a source of funds that it had no real hand in creating in the first place! And, adding insult to injury, it then attempts to save money (for purposes only peripherally related to the actual, core process of developing the talent on which the whole operation depends) by having the youngest athletes pay their own way to represent Canada internationally! If this is not a description of institutional parasitism, I don't know what is. This is only a message board, but, one way or another, this situation simply has to be challenged.
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Post by ronb on Nov 5, 2009 0:13:11 GMT -5
Keep the cause going, oldster...
Apparently, my little joking threads about NCAA and OFSAA are off-limits, as am I now...
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Post by coachj on Nov 8, 2009 11:17:00 GMT -5
bump
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but, I don't really care as long as a number of us can agree on the basic mission ---- As SB said, I think we are close to that....
