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“That depends on whether the moneygoes to the athletes or to theadministrators.”Trampoline could benefit from moremoney spent on training camps, andparticularly on athlete travel.Currently Canada gives pretty goodfunding to World Cup events for thetop two athletes, and minimal fundingfor the next two. It would be best ifCanada were able to fund four to sixathletes. Also very little assistance isgiven for travel to the WorldChampionships! In essence, moretravel money is indeed needed.Currently, Canada is doing a good jobat developing athlete support systemsnamelythe National Sport Centres.Unfortunately, however, “coaches aregetting left out of the equation.” Thebest coaches often leave for otherplaces (either abroad or to the Cirque)because they can make more money.What kind of support systems would youlike to see for coaches?“Increasing salaries would help.”As it currently stands, neither athletesnor coaches receive any form ofreward for winning an Olympicmedal. Mr. Ross would like to see anincentive system applied to sport inCanada. Perhaps if one has a cardedathlete, then one should get some sortof financial reward as well. However,an incentive system must be carefullythought out, lest it lead to corruptionand increased politics.Basically, two of the criteria neededfor an effective incentive system are: 1)credit needs to be given for results, and2) developmental through to elite levelcoaches need to be promoted andrewarded.University level gymnastics was also abig boon for developing coaches inCanada. It gave gymnasts somewhereto go after having finished their careersin the clubs, thereby retaining them forlonger. Mr. Ross himself was aproduct of University gymnastics. Ingeneral, it appears that more coacheswere developed through that systemthan are currently being developedthrough the club system. Reinstatingthe University system would be onegood way of developing futurecoaches. Trampoline has never been aUniversity competitive sport but hasthe potential to be a great one, as afirst year student with some acrobaticbackground could reach a decent levelin 3 to 4 years.Gym Coach Quarterly Page 18 November 2004