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$6 million commitment for team sports “very significant step”, says Canadian Team Sports Coalition

TORONTO, ON – Capping off a week that began with one of its members claiming the final gold medal of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canadian Team Sports Coalition (CTSC) tonight heralded the Government of Canada’s recognition in the federal budget of the tremendous value of team sport.

“This is like a gold medal for team sports in this country,” said John-Paul Cody-Cox, Executive Director, Volleyball Canada. “The Government’s decision to specifically support the development of excellence in team sport will bring long-term benefits in so many areas, including the health of the nation.”

The commitment of $6 million annually to support team sports is contained in the broader $22 million annual commitment announced by the Government to encourage participation in amateur sport.

United in concern for the future of their sports, nineteen national sport-governing bodies joined forces in 2009 to found the coalition and collaborate on common issues and opportunities including sponsorship, public policy, sport tourism, multi-sport event hosting, athlete services and funding.

“Team sport faces unique challenges, and as sport leaders we know there are serious funding issues,” Graham Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Rugby Canada. “The funding committed by the Government today is a very significant step.”

“There has been an urgency for team sports to work together,” said Wayne Parrish, Executive Director, Canada Basketball. “The Canadian sport system had been focusing primarily on medal count to determine excellence funding. This model did not necessarily reflect the many benefits of team sport, such as leadership, the physical development of children, economic impact, community development and patriotism – values so readily apparent in the Vancouver Olympics and, we believe, well reflected in the team sport commitment in today’s budget.”

In December, the coalition published an independently researched report entitled Full Team Ahead: The Benefits of Team Sport to Canadian Sport, in which 572 high performance English and French Canadian athletes were surveyed to help prove the importance of team sport.

The survey revealed, among other findings:

• Participating in team sports is the foundation from which almost all elite Canadian athletes emerge, whether or not they move on to individual sports later in their careers.
• 90 per cent of the athletes surveyed participated in team sports in the developmental stages of their careers.
• 73 per cent of the athletes surveyed indicated that participation in team sport was very important to their development as an athlete.

The Full Team Ahead: The Benefits of Team Sport to Canadian Sport report also revealed that seven of the top 10 most popular sports (based on participation) are team sports and that team sports play an important role in building communities and in socializing young Canadians. Research also demonstrated that in terms of overall involvement in sport (through participating, volunteering and attending events) team sports outperform individual sports by a significant margin: 24 million Canadians are engaged in some manner in team sports, as compared with 10 million Canadians who are involved in individual sports.

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For further information, including complete 2009 Canadian Team Sports Coalition research results and report, visit www.canadateamsports.ca

Contact:

Bob Stellick, Stellick Marketing Communications
416-347-3191 – bstellick@gotoguys.net

Brian Findlay, Stellick Marketing Communications
416-802-4062 – bfindlay@gotoguys.net