New Minister, Same Old Baloney?

It’ll be interesting to see if Gary Lunn is any different than any of his recent predecessors when it comes to lack of vision and passion in his new role as sports minister. The feeling from this corner is it’s unlikely, even if he does have a background as a junior skier on the B.C. team.

It’s a junior portfolio still, a demotion from his previous post in charge of Natural Resources. The Victoria Times Colonist reported that he declined to be interviewed on his new position and instead offered a statement declaring: “I am looking forward to the challenge of being Minister of State for Sport as Canada prepares to welcome the world at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010."

Hardly sounds like a man of vision. Sport in this country needs a strong advocate, not a Wal-Mart greeter.

Tracking a Good Cause: Canadian track and field coaches Derek Evely and Kevin Tyler are travelling to Ethiopia to take part in the Great Ethiopian Run on Nov. 23 and are trying to raise $5,000 in advance of the trip so they can bring over baby formula, food and medical supplies to help out three orphanages and a foster home.

Evely and Tyler, who run the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre at the University of Alberta, have developed a strong relationship with the Ethiopian running community and were invited to the event – which is Africa’s largest road race -- by legendary runner Haile Gebrselassie.

The four charities the money is going towards are: The Kebetsehay Children’s Orphanage; CAFAC Foster Home; The Holy Savior Children’s Orphanage and Association; and the Kechene Children’s Home Government Orphanage.

Cheques should be made out to the University of Alberta – tax receipts will be issued if you include your information – and sent to Derek Evely at: 11643 – 76th Ave.; Edmonton, Alberta; Canada; T6G 0K9

Evely can also be contacted at derek.evely@ualberta.ca

Coaches Corner -- Olympic Style

It was Coaches Corner, Olympic style.

The Coaches Association of Ontario held a workshop on the weekend entitled “Coach Reflections on Beijing: Conquering the Wall” featuring some of the top coaches in the country.

It featured (L to R) women’s softball coach Wendy Dobbin, whose team finished fourth; rowing coach Mike Spracklen, who coached the men's eight to gold in Beijing; Swimming Canada CEO Pierre Lafontaine, whose squad got a bronze from Ryan Cochrane; and triathlon head coach Joel Filliol, who guided Simon Whitfield to a silver medal.

The Star had an opportunity afterwards to stage a round-table discussion with these top coaches to bat around some of the main issues facing Canadian sport.

While to his credit Spracklen doesn’t sport a Don Cherry-like wardrobe, he is not shy about expressing his opinion and definitely had the strongest statements of the group.

Here are Spracklen and Filliol on the topic of Canadians not being comfortable with athletes who want to win:

Spracklen: "I was in South Africa (to give a coaching clinic recently) and we were out to dinner and a lady said, ‘What’s wrong with Canada? My niece went to a Canadian school, she was a fast runner, won all the races, and she was told not to win. What’s going on in your country?’ I sai, ‘That’s Canadian, I’m afraid.’ The gold medal that we won, I think our association would rather have 24 bronze medals to give to everybody than the one gold medal. I think they would change it if they could. They’d prefer to see everybody happy and everybody equal and they hate the word ‘performance.’ The guy that really wants to get to the top, they hate him. And it’s changing but it will be a long time. I find it very frustrating.”

Filliol: “Similar to what Mike just said, I found it interesting when triathlon declared what we wanted to do to get a medal (choose an athlete to specifically support Simon Whitfield to win a medal, not decide the team strictly on performances leading to Beijing). The response was interesting, even within the triathlon community. People didn’t like it. It upset a lot of people, that we weren’t about the individual anymore, we were trying to earn a medal for Canada, trying to win. I thought that kind of reflected where Canada’s at with success and support. It was interesting that it reflected a lot, not only the media criticism, creating a controversy out of it, but also even internally within our sport. Are we all trying to win or not? It felt like they weren’t trying to win. … Simon took quite a lot of flak from that. He had never felt that before from the community. He had to shut off comments from his blog because people were criticizing him so much for this, trying to win. It was interesting, reflecting a bit where we’re at.”

For the transcript of the roundtable, click here.

Stevie Y wants players to be village people …

Based on his own Olympic experiences, Steve Yzerman is convinced he wants his players to stay in the athletes village during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Some high-profile teams have chosen to stay outside the village during the Olympics – most notably the U.S. men’s basketball team, which prefers a five-star hotel.

But the Canadian hockey pros have opted for the village since they joined the Olympic arena at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

Yzerman, recently appointed executive director of the team, wants the tradition to continue.

“I was there in ’98 and ’02 and we were in the Olympic village and all the players really enjoyed it,” said Yzerman, adding that the issue will be discussed today in a conference call with Hockey Canada executives.

“The reality is it’s more convenievent to be in the village, you get all your meals there whenever you want them, it’s a lot quieter. I just thought it was great. The players really enjoyed and appreciated being around not just the Canadian athletes, but all the other athletes and really enjoyed getting to know, particularly the Canadian athletes, and spending some time with them. They really appreciated that. It’s part of the experience. I plan to have the team definitely stay in the village.”

Yzerman said he enjoyed the opportunity to compare notes with athletes in other sports.

“I was always a fan of speed skating, long track speed skating, so I enjoyed meeting some of the speed skaters and getting to know them, talking to them about skating and training and whatnot. And obviously the alpine skiing is a sport I’ve always been interested in. The players are sports fans and enjoy meeting the other athletes.”

Biathletes hope nude calendar a bestseller ...

After having trouble getting the bare necessities to train and compete, the Canadian women’s biathlon team decided to take their clothes off.

Five athletes from the team – including Zina Kocher, a World Cup medalist – posed for the calendar, entitled Bold Beautiful Biathlon, which is being sold online for $25 Canadian including shipping.

The athletes say they’re proud of the calendar, which shows them in strong athletic poses, including some with their rifles.

“We’re not just sitting around looking pretty,” said Megan Imrie, one of the biathletes. “We’re showing we have muscles and we worked hard for them.”

The biathletes were inspired by the Nordic Nudes calendar done by members of the Canadian cross country ski team in 1999. It turned out to be a successful financial venture for that squad which included Sara Renner and Beckie Scott and brought attention to the team. Renner encouraged the biathletes to go ahead with the project.

Kocher said they’re hoping to sell all 5,000 copies and raise $80,000. She said they appreciate the funding they get from Sport Canada and Own the Podium, but it’s not near enough to properly fund their team and produce medal winners.

“To put it in perspective, when I’m standing on the start line with a German athlete, she’s receiving in support what our national team budget is,” said Kocher. “It’s like I’m a two-cylinder engine and I’m racing beside a V-6. A lot more can be done.”

You have to give these athletes credit for taking the initiative, as tired as the idea of these calendars may be to some. It was something that worked as a great team builder for the cross country ski team. The biathletes also believe doing the project has brought them together as a team.

“The photo shoot was so much fun,” said Sandra Keith. “It was a great team building activity. We’ve really grown together as a team because of this project.”

Right To Play's Mission Lost In Translation by GMC

As part of the ongoing controversy over the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s (VANOC's) decision to keep the humanitarian group Right To Play out of the athlete’s village for the 2010 Olympics, GM Canada has made a generous offer to host some of the children that the charity supports at the Games.

The only problem with that is it’s not remotely what Right To Play does as a organization.

They don’t take children to the Olympics, or Disneyland for that matter, not that there’d be anything wrong with that, but it would do absolutely nothing to address the problems they’re trying to address in the world.

They bring sport and play programs to the most desolate parts of the world, where children have absolutely nothing, including often hope.  They train volunteers to set up programs in these places like Rwanda and Sierre Leone and those people train locals to keep those programs going after they leave.

There seems to be a huge lack of understanding of that when you see what GM Canada is offering as an olive branch, although it is a very well-meaning gesture on their part. Perhaps, that lack of understanding is a big part of this problem.

Right To Play does not want to bring kids from Africa and other places to watch bobsleigh; they want to give they something constructive to do and help them build meaningful lives.  They believe being in the athletes village, where they’ve been since 1994, has given them a valuable platform to do that.

More stories on Right to Play:

Group on IOC's hit list

Charity forbidden in athletes village

Sports help push peace message

 

IOC should also look at sprints in new tests

There’s an important piece of the puzzle that the International Olympic Committee seems to be missing in their plan to retest all the doping samples from the Beijing Olympics.

Most reports note an emphasis on the testing for endurance events, but it seems now there’s enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that a blood-boosting drug like CERA, which is the one being focused on, would also aid sprinters.

One of the revelations of the BALCO investigation was that athletes working with self-styled guru Victor Conte were getting the blood-booster EPO.

American sprinter Kelli White, who later came clean on her doping, said she found that she could train much harder while she was on EPO. American Antonio Pettigrew said he used EPO before, during and after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he was part of the men’s 4 x 400-metre relay team that was stripped of its gold medal after his confession.

Dr. Dave Smith of the University of Calgary’s High Performance Lab said it adds up that a drug like CERA, which supplies the body with more red blood cells, aids an athlete in recovery during training and allows them to do more work.

“The big thing we work on all the time is if you can get better recovery, you can do more intensity of work,” said Smith. “The more work you can do, especially a sprinter at a high intensity level, the better you’re going to be.”

The difference is that Smith is trying to help Canadian athletes do it the legal way.

VANOC singing new tune on Right To Play

It appears the Vancouver Organizing Committee is softening its position on having Right To Play in the athletes village at the 2010 Winter Olympics after all the adverse publicity the disclosure of their plans in that regard has caused.

As can be seen below in the letter to the editor they sent today to various Canadian newspapers, they are singing a far different tune that the one they were warbling last week when they were definitely declaring that Right To Play would not be in the athletes village.

Not only did they state they weren’t being allowed in the village, but VANOC v-p Andrea Shaw made a point of sending the Star a subsequent e-mail stating that it was their understanding the International Olympic Committee had taken the position that Right To Play could no longer be part of the Olympic Games.

Well, Emanuelle Moreau of the IOC told my colleague Jim Byers in an e-mail today that: “The IOC has been supporting Olympic Aid/Right to Play since its creation and has agreed to provide them with privileged access and position during the Olympic Games. We are currently reviewing the details of our collaboration.”

Stay tuned.

(Here's the VANOC letter; You might want to read the original story after reading this new position.)

Dear Editor,

Recent media coverage regarding challenges associated with Right To Play’s possible presence and role in the Athletes’ Village at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler requires clarification.

Right To Play is an organization the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has and continues to fully and whole-heartedly support. We respect their vision, mission and mandate and greatly admire the work they have done around the world. We have athletes and executives on our team who are Right To Play board members, ambassadors and supporters.

VANOC has been in ongoing discussions with Right To Play to establish a formal partnership that would allow them to deliver on a number of their key programs in association with the 2010 Winter Games. Over this time it has been extremely heartening to see them enjoy great success in securing many new sponsors to help fund their programs and initiatives. We fully support these fundraising initiatives. This new dynamic does, however, require both of our organizations to be diligent in protecting the rights we’ve promised to our sponsors.

Our 2010 sponsors have made significant and unprecedented financial commitments totalling over $1 billion to the 2010 Winter Games, the Canadian Olympic teams, Own the Podium 2010, numerous grassroots sports initiatives and other charities. As such, VANOC has a responsibility to protect the exclusivity that has been promised to our sponsors to ensure the success of the 2010 Winter Games and the long-term financial support of high performance and grassroots sport in Canada. As a matter of trust we must deliver on our promises, which will help ensure that support for amateur athletes will continue long after the 2010 Games.

One of these sponsors is General Motors, which has been unfairly blamed for interfering with Right To Play’s desire to have a presence in the Athletes’ Village. Not true. To the contrary, GM has strongly encouraged us to find a way to work with Right To Play. The 2010 Winter Games, Canada’s Olympians and children across the country who participate in sport are far better off because of sponsors like General Motors.

Our door is open to Right To Play and always has been. We have informed them that we would like to continue our discussions but with assurances that Right To Play activities and sponsors will not be positioned in a way that could infringe on the rights of Olympic sponsors. We are optimistic that a solution can be found through which Right To Play can do their great work during the 2010 Winter Games while we deliver completely on the promises we have made to our valued sponsors in return for their generous support for the 2010 Winter Games, Canadian Olympic athletes and sport in Canada.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Cobb

Executive Vice President

Revenue, Marketing and Communications VANOC

---

Right To Play put out this statement Wednesday:

"Right To Play is currently in discussions with VANOC, and we are hopeful of finding a solution that allows Right To Play to be in the Village while addressing VANOC's concerns regarding the rights of Olympic sponsors.

"Our primary focus is always the children in our programs. We work every day to improve the lives of children in the most disadvantaged parts of the world by using the power of sport and play for development, health and peace. The only way we can do this is through the generous support of our corporate partners and donors who believe in this mission. Our corporate partners keep Right To Play’s programs running.

Right To Play will be in Vancouver at the next Olympic Games as our heritage is the Olympic Games and the organization has been founded on the best values of sport. In addition, we are supported by Athlete Ambassadors from more than 40 countries – many of whom are Olympians.”

Right to Breathe ... more Right To Play

There’s a number that the stellar skiing duo Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi want you to know about – it’s 350.

The number 350 is considered the safe level in parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide for the global planet. Scientists say that CO2 levels now stand at 387.

Renner, an Olympic silver cross country skiing medalist, and her husband Grandi, a two-time winner on the World Cup alpine circuit, are staging an event on Sunday in Banff, Alta., to help create more awareness of the problem.

Calling it the “350 Ride,” they are planning on leading a group of 350 cyclists on a 20-kilometre recreational ride. They are hoping it will inspire political leaders to act and remember the critically important number, 350.

They were inspired when they heard environmentalist Bill McKibben, who launched the 350.org initiative, speak in Banff this year. Afterwards, they talked with their friends about what are the biggest differences they could make.

“The biggest difference we can make now is inspiring political change,” said Renner this week. “He started getting people involved and started to get people to know why the number 350 is so important and why everybody should know about it.

“It’s universally decided by scientists that this is the safe line for human life on earth. It seems to be such a huge issue and yet we have so little knowledge and so little political will to make differences.”

They decided on the idea for the ride while walking back from the conference.

“We did it on a whim and it’s good timing because of the election,” said Renner. “It’s just something we feel is important and I think a lot of people do also, so hopefully we get a good turnout and ultimately it sends a message to our soon-to-be government that Canadians really feel that this is an important issue.”

Renner and Grandi's passion should be admired. It's not like they're sitting on a ton of free time. Renner will just be getting back from a high altitude training camp in Mammoth Mountain, Calif., before the ride and Grandi's in the midst of a comeback after retiring following the 2006-07 season. They have a one-year-old daughter, Aria.

If you want to see one of Renner's speeches on the subject in 2006, check this out.

Renner and Grandi are both also members of Right To Play, the athlete-powered humanitarian organization that is being kept out of the athlete’s village for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics because it has sponsors conflicting with the organizing committee (VANOC).

Rumball on Right To Play: Speaking of Right To Play, among its athlete ambassadors who believe the organization will be hurt by its banishment from the village is rower Jane Rumball, a fervent supporter who’s just started medical school at the University of Toronto.

Here’s Rumball’s take on things:

“My feeling is it’s a real loss to Right To Play if they’re not able to have a presence in the Olympic village. Just noticing coming back from Beijing, they do have a real presence and a lot of athletes are just very interested once they see the signage. I think they had a sign about the fact your influence as an Olympian never ends.

“They’re really giving an opportunity to Olympic athletes to be able to give back. I think that’s really important. It’s the one sign in the Olympic village that your platform can be used for something beyond your own aims and goals.

“That’s the chord it struck with me when I first heard about Right To Play. That would have been about a year and a half ago. I’ve always wanted sport to be something beyond just self gratification, this idea of using sport as something to contribute to a worthy purpose.

“I struggled for years thinking ‘I have this sport, I want to use it for something good, I have this platform and limited window of opportunity, how do I then channel it, where’s my voice going to be?’

“Then when I heard (founder) Johann (Olav Koss) speak at a sports celebrity dinner in Hamilton and I heard him tell the story about Olympians being able to use that platform, to use this idea for sport for development.

“Intuitively, it makes sense that kids learning, playing, developing teamwork and learning the skills you use playing sport is going to help contribute to development later on. I think what was great about that celebrity dinner is I finally heard Johann’s vision and was able to say ‘Hey, this is something I can really relate to and get involved with.’

“I think that the problem is that people may not be able to see this as well if they don’t get to the Olympics and see this booth and say ‘Hey, what’s this about?’ … I mean anyone knows the more attention you can get to something, the more presence that you have, especially in a place like that.

“When the Games finish, when your races are over, it is a real time for self reflection because you’ve just accomplished a goal, you’ve just finished something you’ve been training for for at least four years. They have a chance to look around the village once or twice more before they leave. The presence of a charitable organization like Right To Play I think is crucial at that time.”

Right To Play booted from Olympic movement?

First, the athlete-powered humanitarian organization Right To Play learned they were being shut out of the athletes village for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Now, it looks like they could get booted out of the Olympic movement, too.

Andrea Shaw, vice president of marketing for the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), told the Star as much in a late night email she sent yesterday. This was after an interview earlier in the day in which she explained how Right To Play would not be allowed to set up a booth in the athletes village as done in the past because they had conflicting sponsors with VANOC.

"It is VANOC’s (our) understanding that the IOC has raised the same concerns on conflicting sponsorships with Right To Play and has taken the position that Right To Play can no longer be associated with the Olympic Games," said Shaw.

This could be a huge blow for Right To Play, which has been an integral part of the Olympic movement, although the organization has incredible support from its athlete base, which is primarily made up of Olympians.

Right To Play started out as Olympic Aid, created in 1992 for the 1994 Lillehammer Games in an effort to put more heart and soul into the sports extravaganza and try to spur an Olympic truce where all wars ceased during the Games.

Its greatest champion early on was Norwegian speed skating great Johann Olav Koss, who donated all his prize money in 1994 to Olympic Aid and leads the Toronto-based Right To Play to this day.

Koss made it clear in a statement to day they’ve not given up hope of remaining a part of the Olympic Games, despite VANOC’s statement.

“Right To Play is currently in discussions with the International Olympic Committee,” said Koss, President and CEO of Right To Play. “The Olympic Games are part of our heritage and always will be, thanks to the support of hundreds of Olympic athletes worldwide who share our vision of a healthier and safer world through the power of sport and play.”