Words from Whistler

Canada House Rocks
Whistler Canada Olympic House was rocking today as it was open to the public in the morning for a pancake breakfast and in the evening everyone was celebrating the Gold medal ceremony for Jon Montgomery.

The pancake breakfast with maple syrup may have been an initial draw to check out the beautiful Canada House (also known as the Whistler Public Library centrally located right in Village), but the jam packed venue full with entertainment for the kids and a chance to mingle with the athletes was brimming with excitement. Naturally the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were present in the scarlet red surge and the majestic horses from the musical ride welcomed visitors to the home. Whistler Canada Olympic House has be designed to provide a meeting place for Canadian athletes, their families, guests and dignitaries. It showcases the beauty of both BC and Whistler with its unique and truly Canadian architecture.

Speaking about truly Canadian, the entire Village as well as COH rocked in the evening with the medal ceremony for Jon Montgomery, Canada's gold medalist in skeleton. As Jon jumped up on the top of the podium the cheers were heard in every corner of the town. And when the Canadian flag was raised high into the air, the chorus of O Canada was heard loud and clear both outside and inside COH. After the ceremony everyone returned to COH, including Jon's very proud parents and exuberant friends and family. Volunteers waved an enormous flag to greet our Olympian and Steve Podborski shared his heart felt words of wisdom. What I will remember is his smile, the sparkle in the eyes and the love for life shown by both Jon and his parents. To quote Jon's father "we taught Jon that when he starts something he should finish it. Today he definitely finished it".

Keep watching for more "Words from Whistler" as Debra Gassewitz, President & CEO, SIRC, continues her stay at Whistler. You can find Debra at Whistler Canada Olympic House.

Words from Whistler

Ski Cross was Wild

Today was the Olympic debut for Ski Cross and it was wild. Ski cross seems to be described as a cross between motorcross, roller derby and skiing. While the Canadian skiers had tremendous support as the hometown boys, it was great to see so many different countries participating and clearly demonstrating the sport has a global appeal. Errol Kerr, the friendly giant wearing green and yellow from Jamaica was a crowd favorite. Not only did he have his family in attendance to support him but two of the original Jamaican Bobsled members, who had participated in the Calgary Olympics of 1988, were on hand to cheer him on.


What made the event more entertaining were the descriptions of the skiers, or should I say cast of characters. Some of the skiers were described as having other hobbies such as BMX, football, anger management and bowling. Couple the hobbies with physical attributes that ranged up to 6’4” and 230 lbs and you have men who are going to fight for their space on the track. The blood shed and colossal collisions were reminiscent of warriors fighting for a space on the podium. The battle continued right into the final where Canada’s Chris Del Bosco looked like he would capture bronze until on the final jump, with the crowd cheering wildly, he flew like an eagle but turned sideways and landed in a faceplant. While the crowd was disappointed Canada did not bring home a medal, the entertainment value was 5/5. I look forward to watching the Women’s Ski Cross on Tuesday.



Keep watching for more "Words from Whistler" as Debra Gassewitz, President & CEO, SIRC, continues her stay at Whistler. You can find Debra at Whistler Canada Olympic House.

Newcomers and Physical Activity

Part of being Canadian means not only engaging in a healthy life style, but participating in some sort of physical activity. And there is no better place to do this than the vast and great outdoors of this country. There are parts of Canada that literally beg you to be outside, while there are others where the scenery may be more of the concrete persuasion, but the experience and outcome can definitely be the same.

Getting Canadians to be active is a key focus these days. However, newcomers to Canada sometimes find it difficult to become involved for a variety of reasons. Perhaps their customs don’t support it, or there is a lack of social support, or they need to spend more time getting settled into their new environment because some things are just more important. It also helps if communities recognize that their city or town needs to have recreational facilities for people to play games and participate in a variety of activities, have groups to join where new friends can be made, and the communications outreach to make sure everyone is invited and welcomed. When newcomers to Canada become involved in social and physical activities, they integrate faster and deeper with the whole community and all Canadians become healthier with a general overall sense of well-being.

There are many reasons why having an active lifestyle is a benefit to a Canadian’s life. Physical activity can be organized or as simple as walking the dog, riding a bike to the store or a day digging in the garden. The good news is that it all counts. Whatever the barriers faced by newcomers, there are ways to overcome them. But first, there has to be the motivation to get out of the house. From walking, running and hiking to skating, hockey or tennis – it just doesn’t matter how you are active. A lot or a little, the important thing is to get moving.

Related Resources:
Healthy Alberta
Public Health Agency of Canada

For more information about physical activity contact SIRC!

Have Your Say!

Sport Canada, a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage with the Government of Canada, works to help Canadians participate and excel in sport. Their mandate is to strengthen the involvement that sport has in developing the image of Canada, with respect to identity, culture and society, as well as to develop Federal sport policy in Canada, provide funding to programs in support of sport, and administer special projects related to sport.

The policy that governs sport in Canada is now up for renewal. The federal and provincial/territorial Ministers responsible for sport have agreed to go to the Canadian people for their opinions. Now is the time for interested Canadians and sport communities to contribute and to help build a sport policy that reflects the sport they want in Canada. The vision embraced by the policy will lay the foundation upon which Sport Canada will focus their efforts over the next ten years to improve sport in this country.

SIRC, the Sport Information Resource Centre, is working in cooperation with Sport Canada to conduct an electronic survey to collect the opinions of sporting Canadians for the renewal process. The best part is, it does not matter how you contribute to sport - athlete (recreational, club and elite), coach, administrator, physical education teacher, event manager, athletic trainer, sports commentator, researcher, business owner, fitness industry specialist, parent, grandparent, fan –the list goes on. The survey is open to every segment of Canadian society as it seeks to involve all those who do, and those who do not, currently consider themselves a part of either the sport community or the sport system, yet have the potential, the experience and the desire to contribute.

Think about your own experiences with sport, and now think about what you have to say about those experiences. Completing the Canadian Sport Policy Renewal Electronic Survey by June 27, 2011, will insure that the federal, provincial/territorial Ministers responsible for sport have heard the concerns of the nation. It’s your turn to be heard Canada. Take a few minutes to do the quick survey now, tweet that you’ve done it, and pass the link on to all your social and sport contacts.
For more information on the Canadian Sport Policy Renewal process contact SIRC!

Sport Tourism Leads The Way

The fastest growing segment in the tourism industry is definitely sport tourism, since hosting events is the perfect way to drive visitors to a town whether it is from across the province or around the world. From Little League tournaments to World Championships and beyond, cities are finding ways to host events like never before so that their hotel rooms are filled, facilities are utilized, restaurants are busy, and shops are active with visitors buying souvenirs.

Canada is passionate about sport and has been welcoming the world for many years with such events as the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups, and many more. One of the key objectives of the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA) is to market Canada internationally as a preferred sport tourism destination.

Cities like Kamloops, British Columbia, who hosted the 1993 Canada Summer Games, have used that legacy to continue to host events (national and international) and even turned their marketing campaign up a notch, and use the motto: “Kamloops: Canada’s Tournament Capital” Their experience in hosting successful events and working with key stakeholders in the city, insures that their events are well run and organized.

There is no convincing necessary on why the Niagara region of Ontario is a prime destination, as Niagara Falls is the “seventh natural wonder of the world” and one of Canada’s top vacation destinations. The Niagara Sports Commission has one of the greatest back drops in their backyard, and they can no doubt leverage this when bidding on events as their mandate is to foster economic and community development through sport. Wisely they have also chosen to focus on promoting and enhancing the opportunities for accessible sport through their newly launched Niagara Accessible Sport program.

The pie is large as sport tourism is the swiftest emerging sector in the global travel industry generating up to $6 billion annually, with Canada working hard to get its share!

Contact SIRC for more information on sports tourism!

Soccer ... Football. Potato ... Tomato!

Soccer ... Football, no matter what you call it, it’s the most popular sport played on this planet earth.

The International Federation of Association Football (aka Fédération Internationale de Football Association) commonly referred to as FIFA, hopes that the sixth edition of the Women’s World Cup currently going on in Germany, will continue to boost the popularity of women playing the sport somewhere, anywhere, close to the men’s version. Contested every four years, the first Women's World Cup tournament, named the Women's World Championship, was held in 1991 (with 12 teams), 61 years after the men's first FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930. The women’s tournament currently consists of 16 teams that compete over a course of four weeks, where the men’s tourney has 32 teams at the start line.

Despite Team Canada’s current standings in the 2011 tournament, and knowing that they didn’t play to their full potential to get them out of their Group, they did have that momentous opener against Germany in front of the sold-out hometown crowd of close to 74,000. Still say women’s football isn’t popular? And what about the true grit and determination of Canadian striker Christine Sinclair who had her nose broken only to come out and score Canada’s only goal of that game on a free kick, making her the first woman to score against Germany (the two-time defending champions) at a World Cup for almost 900 minutes of play?

In Canada, there was a surge in youth participation for girls throughout the 1980s, and by 1995 Canada had qualified for the Women’s World Cup tournament. Great sporting opportunities for youth continues to show that with these opportunities comes advancement, especially in the area of women’s sport. But it takes time. With Canada hosting the 2015 Women’s World Cup, just imagine what this event will do for women’s football participation in Canada.
For more information on soccer contact SIRC!

Additional Resource:
Canadian Soccer Association

The Science in Football

The fall classic of sports, football, is going full-on both north and south of the 49th parallel. Professionals in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) are back playing in stadiums all over Canada and the United States. High school students are also starting their new seasons. Without even knowing it or stepping into the classroom, the science of football is continuing to teach a multitude of lessons on physics.

Just throwing or punting a football includes the laws of physics, the quantitative science. The nature with which an athlete can adjust to their every changing sporting environment in a highly organized mental and physical way, is a reflection of their specific skill set and physical prowess. Seldom do they even realize how they are incorporating parts of physics into their game – acceleration, velocity, force and speed. Many factors of physics affect the movement of the football and thus how the athlete needs to respond in order to successfully kick, throw or catch the football. Some factors include:

• The vertical direction of the ball once released by the hand due to the influence of gravity
• The rotation of the football
• The velocity or speed at which the ball leaves his foot
• The angle of the kick

Given the number of collisions involved in the game of football, science is also incorporated in the way in which players displace their energy while negotiating themselves into and around each other. When two bodies try to occupy the same space at the same time, the force of that collision depends on the mass and speed of the bodies in motion. The faster the hit, the more force it generates.

So next time you are watching a football game, or coaching a football team, be sure to examine that while highly skilled players seem to make it all look so easy, imagine how many little scientific calculations need to occur in that endeavor.

For information on football in Canada, contact Football Canada and come check out what is in the SIRC Collection.

Knowledge in Action!

November is a busy month in the world of sport information sharing and knowledge transfer. With a variety of conferences and summits on the calendar, SIRC will be present in the following locations:

• Sport Canada Research Initiative Conference (SCRI) – Aylmer, Quebec (November 3, 2011)
SIRC hosts sport researchers, policy makers and practitioners sharing their knowledge and expertise with a vision to maximizing the practical applications of sport participation research and its potential contribution to sport participation policy in Canada. 


• Sport Innovation Summit (SPIN) – Toronto, Ontario (November 8-10, 2011)
Be sure to drop by the SIRC Resource Centre booth and check out the latest issue of the High Performance SIRCuit. 


• Petro Canada Sport Leadership Sportif Conference – Toronto, Ontario (November 10-12, 2011)
Debra Gassewitz, SIRC's president and CEO, will be presenting the Sport Management Stream Workshop 'Recruitment, Nominations and Orientation – How to attract and train sport leaders' on Saturday, November 12th. 


• Canadian Sport Policy Renewal  
The discussion paper "Towards a Renewed Canadian Sport Policy" is now available along with other sport policy renewal resources on the SIRC website.

For more information on our resources for these events, please visit SIRC.

SIRC Governance Resources and Webinars

Over the past year, SIRC has been working together with Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee to enhance the knowledge base about issues concerning governance within sport organizations. In an effort to help sport organizations develop and maintain effective governance practices SIRC has been gathering resources and tools that can assist sport organizations with their governance and made these available through our online Sport Governance portal.

Why should governance matter to sport organizations?

• Strategic thinking and direction-setting are fundamental to success 
• The sport environment is complex and the demands on leaders are significant 
• Management can thrive when supported by strong governance 
• Organizations need to be accountable to their members and stakeholders 
• Organizations want to be recognized as credible by the public 
• Funding partners expect results and accountability 
• Participants in sport have high expectations of their organization and its leaders. 

As part of our efforts to bring useful tools to the sport community SIRC has been working with experts in the governance field to develop a series of free webinars that focus on a variety of governance related topics. All webinars continue to be archived on the SIRC website so that anyone can go back and share with colleagues that may not have been available at the live presentation.

Topics already presented include:

• Governance and Operations presented by Marg Soden-Strus (en Français)
• Board Models and Structures presented by Rose Mercier 
• Implementing Your Strategic Plan presented by Dina Bell-Laroche (en Français)
• Board Orientation presented by Joan Duncan 

We invite those interested in governance concerns to register for the upcoming free live webinars on the following topics:

• Meeting Management and Facilitation presented by Nora Sheffe
  April 25, 2012 from 11:00 - 12:00 (EST)


• New Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act presented by Rachel Corbett
  English: May 29, 2012 from 11:00 - 12:00 (EST)
  French: June 5, 2012 from 11:00 - 12:00 (EST)
  
• 
  Board Evaluation presented by Judy Sutcliffe
  June 27, 2012 from 11:00 - 12:00 (EST)
  

Contact SIRC for more information on sport governance!

Train Like an Olympian

SIRC Newsletter now available online: Train Like an Olympian

With everyone talking about the London 2012 Olympics, it’s fun to see what elite athletes do to attain such high levels of performance. For most athletes, the Olympics is the peak of their athletic career and as such, they strive to reach the highest levels of achievement. Training is long and intense and sometimes comes with setbacks, but the greatest athletes keep pushing, do you have what it takes to be an Olympic athlete?

Read more:  http://www.sirc.ca/newsletters/August12/index.html