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THROWING NEWSCanadian Olympic Committee Launches $8.7 Million Excellence Fund - Includes $1 million Commitment from Government of Canada February 26, 2003
TORONTO, Feb. 25 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC),
with the Government of Canada, announced today the launch of the COC's new
Excellence Fund, which will invest $8.7 million over the next two years to
support high performance athletes, coaches, national sport federations and
Canadian Sport Centres to help boost Canada's chances of success at upcoming
Olympic and Pan American Games.
"As the largest private supporter of high performance sport in Canada,
the Canadian Olympic Committee is taking a leadership role in investing as
much as it can to support Canada's athletes," said COC Chief Executive Officer
Chris Rudge. "Our new Excellence Fund will ensure that those athletes and
sports with the best potential for success receive increased support. We will
continue to work with the business community, Canadian government and private
donors to increase support for sport excellence in Canada."
The Excellence Fund, which is the only fund of its kind in Canada that
specifically rewards potential sport success and provides direct financial
assistance to high performance athletes and coaches, builds on existing COC
funding programs that combined provide approximately $13.3 million per year to
support high performance sport and Games missions. Since the aim of the
Excellence Fund is to generate incremental revenue for athletes and high
performance sport, the COC is encouraging the Canadian business and
philanthropic community to support the fund.
The COC is pleased that the Government of Canada, through Sport Canada,
is investing $1 million to the Excellence Fund to confirm its commitment to
Canada's high performance athletes.
"The Government of Canada is committed to working with partners to create
a leading-edge and athlete centered sport system. This joint investment will
enable our Olympic athletes to perform successfully and consistently on the
world stage," said Secretary of State (Amateur Sport) Paul DeVillers.
Petro-Canada, one of the COC's longtime sponsors, is also supporting the
Excellence Fund by contributing $750,000 from its Olympic Torch Scholarship
Fund.
Approximately $4.8 million of the Excellence Fund will be directed toward
athletes and sports preparing for the summer Olympic Games in Athens, with
half being allocated for 2003 and the other half being set aside for 2004,
contingent upon 2003 performances. Winter sport funding recipients, who will
receive $1 million from the fund, will be announced this summer. The rest of
the funding, approximately $2.9 million, will go directly to athletes ranked
Top 5 in the world and toward supporting the six Canadian Sport Centres
located across the country. The attached backgrounder provides a sport-by-
sport breakdown of the funding to summer sports in 2003.
To determine how much each sport would receive, a Sport Review Committee
of five technical representatives, chaired by Mark Lowry, the COC's Executive
Director of Sport, reviewed each summer Olympic and Pan Am-only sport over the
past few months to identify athletes, teams, coaches and programs with the
greatest potential for success at future Olympic and Pan American Games.
"This initiative of investing in athletes, coaches and sports with the
highest probability of success at upcoming Games is critical if Canada wants
to be competitive internationally," said Glenroy Gilbert, Olympic gold
medallist in the 4X100 metre relay in Atlanta in 1996 and a recipient of
funding as a National Sprint Coach. "I want to thank the Canadian Olympic
Committee for stepping up to the plate by creating the Excellence Fund to
support high performance sport. With additional support, more Canadian
athletes can achieve their dream of reaching the Olympic podium."
The COC, a private, not-for-profit corporation, is the largest private
supporter of high performance sport in Canada. It is responsible for all
aspects of Canada's involvement in the Olympic movement, including Canada's
participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of
programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and
educational means. For more information see the COC website: www.coa.ca
Ce communiquˇ est aussi disponible en fran¨ais.
BACKGROUNDER
Excellence Fund
The Canadian Olympic Committee's Excellence Fund is a new funding program
that was created to provide incremental funding to support athletes with the
best potential for international success. The Fund supports high performance
athletes, coaches, national sport federations and the six Canadian Sport
Centres. To generate additional funding for the Excellence Fund in subsequent
years, the COC is appealing to potential partners and donors in the business
and philanthropic community.
The Excellence Fund will provide $8.7 million over two years (2003-2004)
to support athletes preparing for the upcoming Olympic Games. Approximately
half the funding will be distributed in 2003 (including the $1 million
contribution from the Government of Canada) and the remainder in 2004, with
2004 funding being contingent on 2003 performance benchmarks. The $8.7-million
investment will be distributed as follows:
2003 2004 TOTAL
-------------------------------------------
Coaches/NSF program support
- summer sports $2,377,500 $2,377,500 $4,755,000
Athletes(*) 703,500 703,500 1,407,000
Coaches/NSF program support
- winter sports 500,000 500,000 1,000,000
Canadian Sport Centres 750,000 750,000 1,500,000
-------------------------------------------
TOTAL $4,331,000 $4,331,000 $8,662,000
(*)Summer and winter athletes preparing for the Olympic Games and ranked
in the Top 5 in the world will receive $8,000 annually in the two years
leading up to the Games.
Sport Review Process
To determine the breakdown of the funding from the Excellence Fund, the
Canadian Olympic Committee undertook a Sport Review Process, involving
detailed reviews of each sport by a Sport Review Committee of five technical
representatives, chaired by the COC's Executive Director of Sport.
The Sport Review Committee operated under the principle that funding will
support:
- athletes, teams coaches and programs with the HIGHEST PROBABILITY
of achieving podium and Top 8 results in future Olympic Games and
podium results at Pan American Games; and
- athletes and teams which are identified as having FUTURE POTENTIAL
to achieve podium and Top 8 results in future Olympic Games and
podium results at Pan American Games.
The objectives of the Sport Reviews were to:
- Identify athletes, teams, coaches and programs with the greatest
potential for international competitive success at future Olympic
and Pan American Games (podium and Top 8 finishes)
- Determine performance benchmarks for the next Olympic Games,
senior world championships and junior world championships (to be
re-assessed every two years)
- Understand each national sport federation's plan for achieving
international sport excellence in the future and consider possible
solutions to the major gaps affecting their success; and
- Provide recommendations for strategic and targeted investments for
support of athletes, coaches, national sport federation technical
programs and special projects, which will enhance athlete success
at future Olympic and Pan American Games.
The Sport Review Committee members were:
- THERESE BRISSON, member of National Women's Hockey Team since
1993. Career highlights include winning five world championships
(1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001), and gold (2002) and silver (1998)
medals at the Olympic Winter Games. Brisson is currently an MBA
candidate at York University's Schulich School of Business.
- DALE HENWOOD, president, Canadian Sport Centre-Calgary. Henwood
has been involved in high performance sport since 1976. He was an
assistant coach for Canada's National Hockey Team from 1983 to
1992, including for three Olympic Games (1984, 1998, 1992 - silver
medal in Albertville, France)
- BRIAN RICHARDSON, head coach, Canadian National Rowing Team. As a
head coach for the Canadian and Australian rowing teams since
1986, Richardson has seen his teams win 45 world championship and
Olympic medals.
- PHIL SCHLOTE, Manager, High Performance Unit, Sport Canada. All
information collected via the Sport Review Process is shared with
Sport Canada and incorporated into its annual Sport Funding and
Accountability Framework review.
- MARK LOWRY, Executive Director, Sport, Canadian Olympic Committee
(Committee Chair).
February 2003
Ce document est aussi disponible en fran¨ais.
Canadian olympic Excellence Fund Distribution 20032/25/2003
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Sport Athletes Year NSF Specific Request Programs
---------
2003
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Athletics/ Sprint, 2003 Coach support
Athlˇtisme Endurance Program Gilbert/Gmitroski)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diane Cummins; 2003 Camps, competition,
4x100M; sport med support
4x400W,
Jason Tunks,
Brad Snyder
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Boswell/ 2003 Travel support to US
High Jump team based coach
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Boswell 2003 Competition/Camp support
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 2003 $120,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSC - Calgary 2003 Sport Medicine/
Canadian Science support
Sport Centres for high performance
teams (AQSW, WR,
GYAG, AQDI)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 2003 $35,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSC - Victoria 2003 Sport Medicine/
Canadian Science support
Sport Centres for high performance
teams (RO, TR, AT)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 2003 $30,000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Programming 2003 $2,393,550
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For further information: Media Contacts: Jackie DeSouza, (416) 324-4122,
Cell: (416) 806-4342, jdesouza@coa.ca; Hˇl¸ne Lapointe, (514) 861-3374,
Ext. 227, Cell: (514) 971-1813, hlapointe@coa.ca
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