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Sport Performance Weekly
November 6th, 2006 |
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Canadian Sport News
CALGARY- Double Olympic silver medallist Kristina Groves of Ottawa is scheduled to compete in four races at a World Cup for the first time in her career this weekend as she leads an 18-member long track speed skating Canadian team to its opening international competition.
The first two World Cup stops are set for this Friday to Sunday in Heereveen, the Netherlands and the following weekend in Berlin.
Groves has added the 1,000-metre sprint to her plate along with her regular 1,500 and 3,000 middle distance events. Almost all the Olympic distances are scheduled at the first two World Cups. The 500 and 1,000 metre races will be contested twice at both stops.
‘’The 1,000-metre is a race that I enjoy and I think it will be beneficial for me this early in the season,’’ said the Calgary-based Groves, fifth in the 1,000 at the Turin Olympics along with her silver medals in the 1,500 and pursuit. ‘’Obviously after a hectic Olympic year, the training wasn’t as intense as last season. At these World Cups I just want to build rather than worry about medals right off the bat.’’
Groves, in her 10th season on the national team, is among a solid core of veterans on the women’s squad. She’s been a great example of perseverance for both the women and men skaters, gradually improving each season. She won her first World Cup medal in 2003 and notched her first World Cup win in 2004.
‘’I’m not the vocal type leader,’’ said Groves, who fulfilled a long time dream this summer by canoeing with her family in the Northwest Territories. ‘’I try to lead by example.’’
Joining Groves at the season opening World Cup on the women’s team are: Shannon Rempel and Brittany Schussler, both of Winnipeg; Krisy Myers of Lloydminster, Sask., Kim Weger of Regina, Justine L’Heureux of St-Tite, Que., Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., Michelle d’Amours of Ste-Foy, Que., and Shannon Sibold of Calgary. Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes are both skipping the opening World Cups.
On the men’s side, the Canadian team also has some solid veterans like Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., and Arne Dankers of Calgary. Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., is a young skater who appears on the fast track to success.
‘’I feel stronger for the start of this season than I did last year,’’ said Morrison, 21, who helped Canada to an Olympic silver in the men’s pursuit and was second in the 1,500 World Cup standings. ‘’My preparation has gone very well and I’ve posted some impressive early season times so far. I want to improve upon last season and I feel I’m headed in the right direction. My goal for this year is to really produce some exciting results in the 1,500.’’
Also racing for Canada at the World Cup this weekend are: Mike Ireland of Winnipeg, Brock Miron of Calgary, Vincent Labrie of St. Romuald,Que., François-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicholas, Que., Justin Warsylewicz of Regina and Mark Jesney of Saskatoon.
The other World Cups for the middle and long distance specialists are November 25-26 in Moscow, February 3-4 in Torino, Italy and February 17-18 in Erfurt Germany.
The sprint specialists have World Cups on the first two weekends of December in Harbin, China and Nagano, Japan. There is also a sprint World Cup event January 27-28 in Heerenveen. Calgary hosts the World Cup final featuring all distances March 2-4.
The world sprint championships are January 20-21 in Hamar, Norway, the all around worlds are February 9-11 in Heerenveen and the world single distance championships are March 8-11 in Salt Lake City. Innsbruck, Austria hosts the world juniors February 23-25.
The Canadian single distance championships are December 28-31 in Calgary. |
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Canadian Sport News
ZURICH- Brandon O’Neill of Edmonton ended a successful trip on sour note Sunday at the Swiss Cup gymnastics competition when he injured his left ankle on his last landing in his opening floor routine.
O’Neill, away from home for the past six weeks, then withdrew from the rest of the one-day team competition.‘’I don’t think there’s any serious damage but I didn’t want to take any chances with the World Cup final coming up in a month,’’ said O’Neill, whose bandaged foot will be examined when he returns home on Monday. ‘’The floor here was particularly hard and every landing was difficult. I fought through most of it, but on the last landing I heard some funny noises.’’
O’Neill arrived in Europe last month for four competitions. He helped Canada to a record sixth place finish in the men’s team event at the world championships in Denmark, won a silver medal on floor at a World Cup event in Germany and on Wednesday won the all around bronze at the Arthur Gander Memorial meet in Switzerland. |
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October 31, 2006
OTTAWA – The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) announced today that ice hockey coach Clare Drake of Edmonton, Alberta and Jean Blackie of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador are the recipients of the Geoff Gowan Award and the Investors Group National Volunteer Administrator Award respectively for 2006. CAC also released the names of this year’s Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award recipients.
The Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Awards will be presented to 40 coaches whose athletes won medals over the past year at open world championships, Olympic Games, or Paralympic Games.
From Alberta: artistic gymnastics coach Liang Cheng of Edmonton; freestyle skiing coach Murray Cluff of Cochrane; women’s national team hockey coach Melody Davidson, national goalball team coach Janice Dawson, cycling coach Tanya Dubnicoff, skeleton coach Teresa Schlachter, long track speed skating coaches Marcel Lacroix, Neal Marshall, Xiuli Wang, and Arno Hoogveld – all of Calgary; paralympic cross country skiing coach Kaspar Wirz and cross country skiing coach David Wood – both of Canmore; and women’s Olympic curling team coach Daryl Nixon of St. Albert.
The winners are to be presented with their awards at the Sport Leadership Awards Dinner on Friday November 3 in Vancouver. The dinner is the highlight of the three-day Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif 2006 conference being held at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre. |
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The Vancouver Sun
training I The Canadian sport system needs to take the nurturing of elite athletes beyond basic sport development, says Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Rudge.
In a speech Friday to the opening plenary session of the Canadian Coaching Association’s Sport Leadership conference in Vancouver, Rudge said he wants to see a “holistic approach to athletes’ lives.” “We have to find a way to develop their career dreams and aspirations and their education in parallel to sport, so that when they reach the end of their competitive career, there’s a natural progression and evolution into building a life and a career that takes advantage of what they’ve learned on the playing fields and allows them to utilize those skills and understand how to take that next step. We don’t do that well in this country.”
Rudge said universities and colleges don’t have the flexible education programs necessary to accommodate elite-level athletes. And because Canada doesn’t yet have enough “robust” sports institutes, there isn’t a system of career mentoring that athletes can tap into.“I think that’s exceedingly important. Sports science, medicine, all the other advances in technology are extending an athlete’s life now into the early 30s. “For someone to be going into a workforce in their 30s and having to start all over again is very, very difficult. Personally, that’s very, very high on my agenda.”
Rudge said with the Own the Podium program providing unprecedented support for winter sport athletes, the Road to Excellence program being developed for summer athletes, and the repatriation of sport executives like Alex Baumann, there is a strong base of building blocks in Canada for high-performance sport.“But there are more things we have to address. First and foremost is a much greater investment in coaching and technical support. In the months I’ve been spending with Alex Baumann as we’ve talked about his wanting to come back to this country [from Australia], this is No. 1 on his agenda. You’re going to see a profound impact on the role that coaches play and the support that they get as we move forward.”
Coincidentally, Petro-Canada announced a new initiative on Friday to annually support 50 pairs of athletes and coaches who are close to achieving national carded status. The athlete and his/her coach will each receive $4,000 to fund training and travel and the development of coaching skills. |
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The Ottawa Citizen
I am a 17-year-old amateur kayaker. As much fun as my sport is, there is a lot of hard work and discipline; both physically and mentally. On average, I train 10 to 12 times a week and pay more than $3,000 a year for the privilege.
The extensive training schedule, combined with school, leaves little time for a job to finance training expenses or upcoming university costs; there are no scholarships offered by universities for kayaking either.
Regrettably, I have witnessed many talented athletes quitting their sport they love based solely on financial reasons. More funding in amateur sports would alleviate undue pressure on athletes, giving more athletes the ability to devote themselves exclusively to their discipline. This would increase the number of world-class Canadian athletes and promote Canada’s status both nationally and internationally.
The Canadian government spends millions every year on health care and on promoting healthy lifestyles, lately on the prevention of childhood obesity. Athletics is arguably one of the best ways to become a healthy individual. Sports promote healthy habits, discipline, positive self-esteem, teamwork, leadership, lifelong friendships and more.
Those less fortunate (lower income families) would also benefit from equal opportunity to participate in sports. The experience to achieve athletic excellence and have the potential to become an ambassador for Canada should not be just for the “elite.” We can all be role models and an inspiration to each other. It is an investment in the future of our youth and in Canada.
Chris Cameron, Ottawa |
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Canada is reaching Down Under again in its effort to get on top of the Olympic medal standings.
Australian sports administrator Peter Davis was installed yesterday as the director of sport science, medicine and technology for the country’s winter and summer sport technical strategies by Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
The hiring makes Davis a key player in both the Own the Podium 2010 and Road to Excellence programs. In September, Alex Baumann was hired to be the executive director of Road to Excellence.
Davis’s role will be finding little technological and scientific advantages that can make the difference in training and game-day results.
Davis was the director of the coaching and sport sciences division for the United States Olympic Committee for five years, where he managed high-quality science and technology programs for Olympic athletes in both summer and winter sports.
Previous to his U.S. experience, Davis was the manager of sport sciences and sport medicine for the Olympic athlete program for six of the nine years that he was with the Australian Institute of Sport. |
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Section: The Oakville Beaver - News
Byline: Herb Garbutt, Special to the Beaver
Think of Olympic athletes and Oakville and the names of Donovan Bailey, Adam van Koeverden and Larry Cain come to mind.
But talk to Canadian athletes and those famous names now have to share the spotlight with Holly Micuda.
The 11-year-old Our Lady of Peace Elementary School student is becoming quite the celebrity among Canadian athletes since she began selling wristbands to raise money for Olympic athletes and Olympic hopefuls.“Everybody’s heard of her,” said van Koeverden, the kayaker who won a gold and bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004. “I told some people that I was going to a school where this girl has been raising money for athletes and they said, ‘Oh, you’re going to see Holly.’”
Micuda has sold more than 17,000 wristbands with the proceeds going to Canadian Athletes Now, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support Canadian athletes’ training, coaching and living expenses in preparation for international competition. She is featured prominently on the organization’s website (www.canadianathletesnow.ca), where the $3 wristbands can be purchased. The red and white wristbands are inscribed with Canadian Athletes Now on the outside and a slogan Micuda created—Don’t just hope they’ll win, help them win—on the inside.
Since she started selling the wristbands, Micuda has met many of the athletes she is helping—Becky Kellar, Sami Jo Small of the women’s hockey team, swimmer Mike Brown, beach volleyball player Conrad Leinermann, trampolinist Heather Ross McManus, wrestler Evan McDonald—and has been in contact with many more through e-mail.
Van Koeverden joined that list when he and MPP Kevin Flynn stopped by Our Lady of Peace on Thursday to congratulate Micuda for her efforts. Flynn added to her sales totals, buying 103, one for each MPP.“For such a young lady to take such an interest in Canadian athletes, and not just wonder about helping them, but to actually do something about it, is incredible,” Flynn said.“It’s amazing,” van Koeverden said. “If $2 goes to the athletes, she’s raised $35,000. That funds seven athletes. You consider the impact she’s had, and she’s only 11. I hope she realizes what kind of impact she’s had. We can’t thank her enough.”
The idea came to Micuda as she was watching the Turin Olympics. She had a class assignment about whether athletes deserved more funding. Unlike most people, she didn’t stop with an opinion. She took action.“I thought they deserved more fundraising and the wristbands were a big hit, so I thought I’d sell wristbands to raise money for them.”
Even Holly’s mom, Michelle Micuda, wasn’t sure how long the idea would hold her daughter’s interest but she soon found out.“None of us took it that seriously at first but she researched it all, found a charity by searching the internet and called them. The founder calls and leaves a message, ‘Holly, call me after you’re done your homework.”
It turns out Holly already had done her homework. She presented a case to Our Lady of Peace principal John Guzzo to sell the wristbands in the school.“Every time I asked her a question about how it was going to work, she had the answer,” Guzzo said. “She had the purchase price, where the money was going. She had all the right information.”
Canadian Athletes Now told Micuda that if she could raise $2,000, they would send an Olympic athlete to her school. She did that and Kellar, of the gold-medal winning women’s hockey team, visited the school.
The sales got another boost when Canadian Athletes Now (CAN) invited her to the Ottawa Marathon to sell wristbands at their booth. Micuda has since attended several events with CAN.
Though her original goal was to raise $2,000, now that Micuda has the support of CAN and the athletes behind her, she has upped the stakes substantially. She now hopes to sell 500,000 wristbands.“Whether it helps 10 athletes or 2,000 athletes, the fact that she showed this initiative is impressive,” Guzzo said.
Like many young Canadians who watch the Olympics, Micuda has her own aspirations of one day representing her country.“I figure skate,” Micuda said, “Going to the Olympics is kind of a wild dream.”
Of course, so is an 11-year-old raising $35,000 to help others achieve that goal. |
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October 31, 2006
Whistler, British Columbia – Coaches of Canada is pleased to award the Jack Donohue “Coach of the Year” honour to long track speed skating coach Xiuli Wang; and the Sheila Robertson award to Diving Canada. Ms. Wang and Diving Canada achievements are being celebrated at Coaches SUMMIT ‘06, the organization’s premier conference.
"Ms. Wang’s nomination emerged from a record twelve nominees for the Coach of the Year award. Xiuli was the 1500m world champion in 1990 as a member of the Chinese national team and joined the staff at the Olympic Oval after moving to Calgary in 1998. She has been a national coach of the all-round program since 2002 and was coach of four medalists at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turino, including speed skating stars Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves.
“Xiuli has been my teacher for six years and I can say from my heart that I have become a better speed skater with her. But, more importantly, she has shown me how to be the best person I can possibly be. She cares about me as an athlete and has nurtured me as a human being. I am grateful to share all of my success with her,” said Hughes of her coach.
The Coach of the Year award, named in honour of legendary basketball coach Jack Donohue, is presented annually in recognition of a coach's dedication to the profession and the outstanding performance of their athletes during the past competitive season. Xiuli will be formally awarded the honour at the Sport Leadership Awards Dinner in Vancouver on November 3, 2006.
“Xiuli Wang embodies all the qualities we look for in a recipient of the Jack Donohue Award. She not only raises her athletes’ performances to a higher level but also inspires them with her integrity, ethics and commitment,” said Ron Brown, Board of Director president, Coaches of Canada.
“To be recognized from among the many outstanding coaches in Canada is truly an honour,” said Ms. Wang of the award. “Other coaches and my athletes inspire me to grow every day as a coach and as a person.”
The list of nominated Coaches of Canada members for Coach of the Year also included Neal Marshall (speed skating), Murray Cluff (freestyle skiing), Tim Frick (wheelchair basketball), Lee Barkell (figure skating), Houshang Amiri (cycling), Glen Playfair (athletics) and Marty Calder (wrestling). |
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It was well documented at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin that 14 of Canada’s record 24 medals were won by women.
What wasn’t as extensively reported was that the athletes of four women head coaches accounted for eight of Canada’s medals, but that of this country’s 75 total coaches in Italy, only 10 were female.
Those numbers are of significant concern to the Coaching Association of Canada, which says the country is losing a huge base of knowledge because so few elite female athletes are staying in the system as coaches.“It always been around 10-14 per cent,” Sheilagh Croxson, a consultant to the Women in Coaching program, said in an interview on the weekend at the CAC’s Sport Leadership convention in Vancouver.“It’s not going up. It’s declining if anything. It’s hard. We’re trying so many things at so many levels. What I say is if we didn’t have the programs and [targeted] funding, it would be a lot worse. The demands of sport are getting more intense and so are the choices women have to make.”
Many of those women, particularly ones with young families, are making the choice to leave coaching, said Croxson, because there isn’t enough support to help them do both. And it’s becoming more difficult for coaches as national sport organizations seek even more commitment from athletes.“It’s something we’re looking at and trying to encourage national sports organizations to implement, to have somebody say travel with [a coach’s] baby. You’ve got to provide those things. But people want to look for the most economical way."
During a Saturday morning presentation to the conference, author Elaine Allison, an ex-prison guard and one-time union supervisor, championed the ways women can bring different perspectives to leadership roles. And she encouraged Canadian sport leaders to find ways to help women coaches balance family and career.
Croxson, a former head coach of Canada’s synchronized swim team, says there has to be a more “human approach” to the coaching environment.“You can’t do your best work if you don’t have balance in your life.”
While lobbying for more support for coaches, the CAC is pushing two programs to get more women into coaching and to increase the number working at the elite national team level.
The National Team Apprenticeship Program, launched in October 2005, and running through next September, offers $10,000 a year to six coaches, including former world champion cyclist Tanya Dubnicoff and six-time world champion wrestler Christine Nordhagen. Each apprentice is granted full accreditation at major international competitions and multi-sport Games when possible.“We want to see these coaches at the Olympics as part of the staffs in 2010, 2012,” says Croxson.
A second initiative involves a mentoring program for 20 young coaches. They will also serve an apprenticeship at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse next February.
One of those in the program is Nicole Collins, 25, a figure skating coach in Vanderhoof.“It’s really excellent,” said Collins. “It actually promotes me to a higher level competition than I coach currently. I skated at this level, but don’t have athletes at this level at my club yet. Getting all this information, attending the workshops and working with Canada Games athletes, it will help me with my growing club.” |
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