Targets for Athlete Performance and the Sport System

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Finally, some sports recognize that specialized technical instruction is required, in addition to full time coaching. Synchronized swimming, for example, made requests for specialized instruction in acrobatics, ballet, as well as choreography. Men’s field hockey has plans to bring in specialists (recent and former international players) to instruct on critical tactics (ie. penalty corners) that could prove invaluable for success at international competition. This direction was viewed by the SRC as an example of enhanced programming that would give Canadian athletes the edge needed to produce podium performances in the future. Coaching is not adequately developed as a profession in Canada to provide the stability to consistently achieve performance results at major international competition. Too many coaches are surviving through one-year contracts under multi-partner cost-sharing models. This is a priority for the Canadian Sport system to resolve before performance excellence can be consistently maintained. Work Group #4 is aware of the work of the Coaching Implementation Group (CIG) that is currently under consideration and is supportive of most of the recommendations as they relate to an increased investment in coaching. Coaching Recommendations: Work Group #4 recommends that funding for coaching support should be allocated on a more long term basis so that more professional coaching opportunities, defined as full time, multi-year contracts that include professional development opportunities and benefits, can be created for national team coaches. A national funding partner coordinating body, similar to the SRP, should have the responsibility of assessing the coaching needs of sports and ensuring that adequate funding is allocated to meet the high performance coaching needs of priority sports. Further, the CIG recommendations related to the increased investment in coaching salaries are referred to by Work Group #4 for implementation. 2. Strategic Investment in Sport International research on sport development systems indicates that successful sporting nations target resources on a relatively small number of priority sports with potential for international success. International best practices of this would include Australia, the U.K., and Norway, which target resources on 8-30 sports. France uses a similar approach, but unlike the others, which focus primarily on either summer or winter sports, invests in both summer and winter sports. In Canada, Sport Canada funding is primarily egalitarian, with only minimal funding targeted on athletes and teams with medal potential through special programs (i.e. SRP, Podium 2002). There is an understanding and acceptance in the Canadian sport community that grass roots sport and mass participation can drive high performance success. That is, the larger the base of the pyramid, the larger the number of world-class athletes produced. Less commonly accepted, and exploited, is that high performance success can drive grass roots growth. The growth in girls and women’s soccer and hockey has been driven in part by the success of the national team. More interest in Triathlon, Beach Volleyball, Wrestling and Judo can also be associated with recent success at the international level. Recommendations: It is unrealistic to expect that a country with such a small population (33M) can support mass participation in all the Olympic and Paralympic Sports. Not all sports can achieve the mass participation levels of the most popular sports in Canada (soccer, hockey etc). Athlete Performance and Sport System Targets, Evaluation, and Investment Page 36
Realistic targets for participation levels, based on interest and cultural significance of the sport in Canada, should be determined, with appropriate Base Level Funding or resources directed to this grass roots growth and support, providing the NSOs meet the minimum government requirements and standards. The direction of a second level of Excellence Level Funding to athletes, crews and teams that have the potential to produce podium performances represents a change in funding and investment strategy. The reality is even with a substantial increase in funding, resources are limited, and therefore the traditional philosophy and practice of allocating few resources to all sports is untenable because it ensures that none of the sports will receive the resources required to achieve high performance excellence. This was one factor in the COC’s decision to identify podium performance as a priority in the SRP. During the SRP, there was a preponderance of new terminology used such as conditionality, prescription, targeted resources, excellence, investment, harmonize, streamline, accountability, and evidence of impact that were frequently used through the review process and should become commonplace within the Canadian sport system (and have been for some time in the private sector). Work Group #4 recommends that priority sports be identified based on podium potential, both short and long term, and that Excellence Level resources (funding, facilities, high performance support service infrastructure) be focused on these priorities. Base level resources should continue to be allocated to all sports, based on participation levels, cultural significance and interest in the sport in Canada. The number of priority sports will be determined by the funding resources available. This approach suggests that Canada will need to identify where the medals will come from. That is, sports with medal potential in both the short and long term. The SRP found considerable consistency in the issues and challenges facing team sports in Canada. There is a need for national and coordinated team sport strategy to address the critical path and model of athlete and team development, including: • the role of clubs, universities, professional sport, and CSCs in the model; • communication and monitoring the development of athletes training and competing abroad (NCAA, professional leagues); • sport by sport performance objectives; • domestic competition opportunities; • the higher costs of talent identification, monitoring, evaluation, preparation and training, international competition and insurance costs associated with teams; • and the recognition of the unique skills and achievement required to excel in various roles within teams. The implementation strategy must address the long term resources required for systematic development and repeatability of results while coordinating the commitment for action. Investment in team sports may appear to be at odds with the recommendation of focusing resources on athletes with medal potential, because a team medal counts only once in the medals count at the Olympic Games. However, as indicated earlier, the impact of an Olympic medal in team sports like hockey, basketball and soccer on the Canadian public and the sport would be enormous. Therefore, the return on investment in team sport should be evaluated in terms of the Athlete Performance and Sport System Targets, Evaluation, and Investment Page 37
Page 1 and 2: Targets for Athlete Performance and
Page 3 and 4: Action #2: Priority Areas for Actio
Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary The mandate of Fe
Page 7 and 8: F-T/P Initiatives Research on inter
Page 9 and 10: the hope of achieving results when
Page 11 and 12: 3. Establish a Canadian High Perfor
Page 13 and 14: Introduction and Mandate Canadian S
Page 15 and 16: • Face to face small group and on
Page 17 and 18: mask this impact somewhat. However,
Page 19 and 20: Figure 7 shows that the federal fun
Page 21 and 22: The key message here is that while
Page 23 and 24: important provider of facilities in
Page 25 and 26: Anti-doping controls Planned goals
Page 27 and 28: Based on international sport system
Page 29 and 30: • Provide recommendations for str
Page 31 and 32: The objective of developing ‘stre
Page 33 and 34: Analysis of Performance Required to
Page 35 and 36: Winter Paralympics: These were the
Page 37 and 38: The current Sport Review Process is
Page 39 and 40: The appendix presents characteristi
Page 41 and 42: In the fall of 2002, the Commission
Page 43 and 44: Group High Performance or Developme
Page 45 and 46: Recommendations: The desired action
Page 47: with medal potential, an amount tha
Page 51 and 52: Recommendations: The desired action
Page 53 and 54: Table 3: Priority Actions and F-P/T
Page 55 and 56: Table 4: Priority Actions and F-P/T
Page 57 and 58: • Ability to provide direct or en
Page 59 and 60: Several sports indicate that they u
Page 61 and 62: Targets for Athlete Performance •
Page 63 and 64: 5. Competitive Programs with Intern
Page 65 and 66: • The HPSC should include 7-10 hi
Page 67 and 68: References Chalip, L. Johnson, A.,
Page 69 and 70: Appendix A: Analytical Framework fo
Page 71 and 72: The SRC proceeded through the list
Page 73 and 74: AGE GROUP HIGH PERFORMANCE DEVELOPM
Page 75 and 76: AGE GROUP HIGH PERFORMANCE DEVELOPM
Page 77 and 78: Appendix D: Implementation Status o
Page 79 and 80: New recommendation for Sport Canada
Page 81 and 82: Able Bodied Provincial Level • Mu
Page 83 and 84: • The proposed $35 million from f
Page 85 and 86: Nat'l Slalom - Og - Prov Softball O
Page 87 and 88: Appendix F: Perceptual Map of Sport
Page 89 and 90: USA (USOC) Australia Canada Finland

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