Canada Needs More Heroes

Every two years the world comes together for an extraordinary event ... the Olympic Games. The compelling moments that emerge from these games are priceless. Successful performances by Canadian athletes can hold a lasting impression on our country, our people, and especially our youth.
        
We are not inspired by sports alone; but by the attitudes, actions and sheer dedication of the athletes we admire. It is a proud moment for all of us when we see the Canadian flag raised, as our winning athletes stand on the podium. It’s a feeling we all want to be a part of.

Our Olympic and Paralympic athletes afford Canadians a rare opportunity to view patriotism, selfless sacrifice and the pursuit of excellence.

Youth Education through Sport

The philosophy of performance reaches further than the field of competition at the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary. The concept of being a champion on and off the competitive stage is one that the CSCC actively supports. We bring these values to the community in several ways, one of which is the Youth Education through Sport (YES) Program. 

This program helps to develop athletes as community leaders through public speaking. We send out Canada’s best athletes to speak to students in schools throughout the province about their involvement in sport, and the positive impact it has had on their lives. The informal and interactive presentations highlight the values of sport, thereby fostering the qualities of fair play, dedication, commitment, health and self-esteem.  The Y.E.S. Program provides athlete speakers as role models of these qualities.  Students are truly inspired by these exceptional athletes.

The Olympians, Paralympians and National Team athletes in the YES Program are trained in public speaking through Canadian Sport Centre Calgary Workshops.  These workshops assist the athletes in delivering their powerful messages and provide them with training in speech development and presentation.  Through the YES program athletes are able to give back to the community as well as have an opportunity to share their story of struggle and success. The athletes in turn receive an honorarium for their time and valuable stories they share.

In 2005, the YES Program was able to reach over 17,000 of Alberta’s youth, at no charge to the participating schools, thanks to the support of the EnCana Corporation.

YES Program Athletes

Claiming over one hundred graduates so far, Y.E.S coordinators hope to keep the program enrolling as many athletes and schools as they can, with thesupport of EnCana. Mary Ann Steen re-assures, "It’s a great relationship that we have with the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary. We really like the mandate of the program and as far as I’m concerned, we’ll certainly continue with our support for a lot of years".

Some of the athletes involved in the Y.E.S. Program through the CSCC include:

Deidra Dionne – Olympic Bronze Medallist, Freestyle Skiing
Kristina Groves – Olympic Silver and Bronze Medallist, Speed Skating
Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards – Olympic Bronze Medallist, Skeleton
Malindi Elmore – Olympian, Athletics
Steven Elm – Olympic Silver Medallist, Speed Skating
Christine Nordhagen – Olympian & Six-Time World Champion, Wrestling
Jeff Pain – Olympic Silver Medallist, Skeleton
Karen Clark – Olympic Silver Medallist, Synchronized Swimming

Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards

Sponsorship

The Y.E.S. Program iis free to schools in the City of Calgary thanks to the sponsorship of EnCana.

History

Founded by three time track and field Olympian, Diane Jones Konihowski in 1994, Y.E.S was designed to provide athlete speakers as role models with qualities that foster self esteem, fairplay, respect, dedication, and commitment. "Our goal is to use Canada's best athletes as positive role models to share their journey- not just to students interested in sports, but to all students participating in other activities such as music and drama." says Konihowski, adding that the program is also beneficial to the athletes, in that "sponsorship, [through EnCana], provides the opportunity to offer the athlete an honorarium.

Mary Ann Steen, Manager of Investments at EnCana, believes that supporting the Y.E.S program is a three way win situation. "For us it is a great opportunity to support athletes… the Canadian Sport Centre here in Calgary that does such good work for sport in Canada, and it is a good way to support the communites where our operations are based", said Steen, "Youth education is one of our primary values, just the fact that today’s youth are going to be the leaders of tommorrow, we really want to take an active role in helping to develop programs or provide financial support and other resources that can aid in their development".

EnCana, formerly the Alberta Energy Company (AEC) and PanCanadian, sponsored Konihowski’s first athletes speakers bureau in 1985, the "Power of Excellence Program". They followed her with their support during her move from the Alberta Sport Council to the National Sport Centre (now the CSCC) in 1994 and with the birth of Y.E.S.

Mary Ann Steen, Manager of Investments at EnCana, sponsor of the Y.E.S Program