National Roundtables on Future High Performance Sport Funding

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

April 8, 2004

Chair:

The Honourable David Anderson
Minister of the Environment

Main Themes

• Funding stability is a necessity for long-term athlete development
  • Timeframe for development should be at least six years
• More money is needed at all levels of the Canadian sport system, and by all partners, including the corporate sector
• Overwhelming consensus that we cannot continue to try to be everything to everybody
  • In doing this, we fall short everywhere
• NSOs are the sport technical experts, and should be given more flexibility in funding from Sport Canada
• NSOs need to be more directly involved in funding decisions – not just through the COC, etc.
• NSCs are not being utilized to their full potential, yet are an extremely valuable tool for success
  • Athletes need to be full-time athletes
  • The policy behind the AAP needs to be clarified by the federal government
• Winter sports focused on 2010, while summer sports focused on ensuring that the system was in place beyond 2010.
  • All acknowledged the danger of lack of funds in system post-2010
• Some concern that with 2010 Olympic/Paralympics winter sports will be targetted.
• Access to facilities is a consistent priority
• Canada needs an international hosting program that provides Canadian athletes with competition opportunities at home
• Return of physical activity in schools is essential
• Increased funding for coaching is a priority
• A great athlete needs a great coach

Other Comments

• The government should take a leadership role
• All funding partners need to collaborate
• We need to bolster capacity – which can be done in 6 yrs
• Winter sports have determined that $30 million (new money) is needed in winter sports to succeed in 2010
• New funding should go through NSOs and NSCs
• The role of governments needs to be clearly defined – governments should consider getting out of the program delivery business
• Should money go directly to athletes?
  • 2002 Podium example where giving money to a team proved more successful than directly to the individual athletes
• The difficulty with getting corporate sponsorship stems from a lack of media attention to amateur sport
• Sports lack the capacity to attract corporate sponsorship
• Ending the Sponsorship Program hit sport hard
• Athletes need all the support and resources required to do their jobs
• AAP should be increased at all levels, with a focus on junior athletes
• Increased support for coaching, with a view to bridging the gap between the club level and the national level
• Funding to NSOs should be flexible
• Increase tax incentive
• Promote active/healthy living
• Important to not just target 2010, but beyond
• Diversification of funding sources is required
  • Need a more integrated approach
• The media should show more support – the CBC should take a leadership role, particularly in athletes development
• Financial responsibilities have been downloaded to NSOs – both from the COC and from the CBC
• There needs to be a balance between systemic and targeted approaches
• High Performance athletes should be used to promote health
  • There is a clear link between sport and health
  • While athletes choose to compete, they still need help
  • AAP should be increased to $2000/month
• Athletes are generally unprepared for the transition from junior to senior teams
• Successful sports in Canada have centralized
  • Relocating means financial loss for athletes
• Governments should take a leadership role on the nutritional supplements issue
• Lack of funding for the Sport Centre in Victoria (Pacific Sport)
• Link (or lack thereof) between sport and physical activity/health
  • Why are the two as separate at the federal level
• $100 million (in Sport Canada budget) seems to be a lot of money
  • Not a matter necessarily of more money, but better spending of money
• Money should be spent addressing the performance needs of athletes
• Sports do not have stability in their coaching ranks
• Coaching is critical
• Long-term development is a key
• There is a real need to develop National Sport Centres
• Call for more AAP funding across the board v. call for targeting sports/athletes
• All participants in the system do not share the same vision for high performance sport
• Major reform is required in coaching
  • The federal government should challenge provinces to provide matching dollars for coaching positions
  • Need full-time developmental coaches
• The organizational structure of sport in Canada needs revision
  • NSOs / PSOs are involved in the entire lifecycle of the athlete
    • As opposed to other partners, who get the athletes for specified periods of time (i.e. NSC's, COC, etc.)
    • These organizations need strong organizational foundations
• Calls for fundamental policy reform of the system
  • If federal government is going to target, this needs to be reflected in its policies
• Structural reform is required
• Infrastructure – talk of high performance funding and success cannot be done without discussion of the need for facilities
• Our system focuses on high performance at the international level
  • Need to focus on high performance at the national level
  • Need to give athletes an incentive to stay in Canada – in the form of training and competition opportunities
  • Athletes are headed to the US – where focus of high performance is on college competition – this can conflict with the Canadian focus on international competition
• We need a solid domestic international hosting program
• More money is needed for junior teams, which are for the most part self-funded
• For Aboriginal athletes, high performance competition happens at the North American Indigenous Games
  • This can be the transition to mainstream high performance sport
• The athlete development model for Aboriginal athletes is either non-existent or extremely under-developed
  • At this point, therefore, discussion of high performance sport is premature
  • Need the building blocks first
  • Need to focus on development
• There is no aboriginal sport policy in Canada
• Aboriginal sport is a parallel system
  • Approach should be wholistic
  • Direct funding to the ASC is required
  • Priority funding for NAIG is required
  • Need a sport excellence model
  • Need a total sport approach