The athletes competing in this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan have made it to the top of the mountain, in some cases literally.
“ You can never really simulate what it feels like when you’re actually standing at the top of a contest,” said Cameron Spalding, a 20-year-old snowboarder from Peterborough, Ont., who competed in the men’s big air event last week and will compete in the slopestyle event on Feb. 16.
“ Especially something like the Olympics that’s this big.”
For most athletes, the journey to the top is a long, costly process; a majority of elite athletes actually go into debt to fund costs such as trainers, travel and team fees.
CAN Fund, a national charity, exists to ease that burden.
“The athletes are paying for pretty much everything,” said CAN Fund founder Jane Roos, who launched the charity in 2003 after a devastating car accident ended her own athletic career.
Since its inception, CAN Fund has provided funding to thousands of athletes trying to compete at the biggest athletic event in the world.
“They’re using [the funding] for physio, equipment, coaching, training, camps, food, team fees,” Roos said.
Such funding is necessary, Roos says, because competing at the highest level of sport generally does not leave time for a full-time job.
“ The athletes don’t have a plan B,” she said. “They’re all in.”
‘Empowering’ athletes
Since its founding, CAN Fund has raised $50 million from private donors.
This money has supported a majority of the athletes who have represented Canada at the Olympics and Paralympics. Roos estimates, for example, that the charity provided funding to 85 per cent of the 205 athletes competing at this year’s winter games.
CAN Fund’s funding model is simple: it provides athletes with money they can deploy wherever the need is greatest.
“The money goes right to them,” Roos said, noting flexibility is central to the organization’s philosophy.
To be eligible, athletes must be “representing Canada at the international level.” Each approved athlete receives $8,000 in direct support per funding cycle, and can apply twice a year.
“We write cheques for $8,000 and they use it for what they need,” Roos said.
“It’s empowering them,” she added, pointing to the myriad costs that emerge in the process of qualifying for the Olympics.
Amelia Smart, a 28-year-old alpine skier from Vancouver who is competing in her second Olympics this year, notes many winter athletes have to chase the snow. This can mean travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the off-season.
“[CAN Fund] really helps take a little bit of that pressure off,” she said.
Team fees can be another significant cost, ranging from $5,000 to over $30,000.
“I think people would be shocked to know that the majority of the athletes who compete for Canada have to pay a team fee that goes to their [sport’s] federation,” said Roos.
Smart used the money she received from CAN Fund this year to cover her team fees. That support makes it easier to focus on the slopes, she says.
“ If you’re not stressing going into your season that you have to pay X amount of dollars just to do what you’re doing, it takes a bit of the pressure off of results and having to perform,” she said.
Roos points to an honour system upheld by the more commercially successful athletes, chiefly professional hockey players and other athletes with major corporate sponsorships.
“There’s a really cool respect with CAN Fund,” she said. “Athletes who don’t need us — which are far and few between — they don’t apply.”
Security, focus
CAN Fund is not the only source of funding available to elite athletes. But other avenues have their limitations.
International competitions such as the X Games award prize money, but it is based on podium placement. CAN Fund support, by contrast, is guaranteed to those in its program, regardless of performance.
Sponsorship deals can be another source of income, but these take time to secure — and some athletes never get any.
Spalding’s teammate Mark McMorris, a 32-year-old, four-time Olympic medallist, has secured major sponsorship deals with international brands including Burton and Oakley. Spalding, who is 20, notes he has not “been on the scene for as long.”
“ It definitely takes a good bit to get to that point, especially when you’re younger,” he said.
Government grants can be another source of funding.
But Bruce Kidd, who competed in track in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, says Canada underfunds its elite athletes.
“We underfund our high-performance athletes,” said Kidd, who is today professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
Kidd points to the Scandinavian countries, which offer more guaranteed support to athletes, as a model to follow.
Norway, for example, has a program called Olympiatoppen, which is widely regarded as the gold standard for high-performance sports support. The government provides Olympic athletes with sustained public funding that covers coaching, training facilities and living costs.
In Canada, by contrast, the federal government uses a “carding” system to help cover high-performance athletes’ living and training costs.
Senior cards for the most elite athletes are valued at $2,175 a month — about $26,000 annually — while development cards provide emerging athletes $1,300 a month, or about $16,000 a year. Such stipends generally cover a fraction of elite athletes’ costs, which can easily exceed $50,000 a year.
In Kidd’s view, government funding for athletes should be more generous given that Olympic athletes represent Canada on the world stage.
The men and women on the Olympic team are “ exemplars of Canada and Canadian values,” he said. “ They’re not only outstanding athletes; they’re diplomats.”
In the absence of such funding, the charitable sector addresses an important need, he says, adding that “what Jane Roos has done with CAN Fund is highly commendable.”
Smart says the funding she receives from CAN Fund makes her feel supported by Canadians.
“It means the world,” said Smart. “It really makes us feel supported, even by people that don’t personally know us.
“If you achieve your goals at the Olympics, or if you don’t achieve your goals, every single athlete … has put in an immense amount of effort.
“It’s pretty cool that CAN Fund supports that effort.”
I have been a CAN Fund donor for over 15 years. Through CAN Fund I have had the privilege of meeting so many Canadian Athletes whom have shared their stories of their struggles to make it all work with so little funding.
I am so impressed with their grit and their determination to chase their dream to represent this country.
For me donating to CAN Fund is about creating opportunity for these athlete and provide them with support. To be able to help get them to their Olympic moment and represent Canada is a proud Canadian moment for me.
I, too, have been a CAN Fund donor for many years. My donations are just a drop in the bucket compared to what these amazing athletes need to train and compete for Canada on the world stage, but I do feel proud to be able to contribute something. I liked Bruce Kidd’s comment that the men and women on the Olympic team are “ exemplars of Canada and Canadian values,” he said. “ They’re not only outstanding athletes; they’re diplomats.” They do us proud! And, thank you CAN Fund for making it possible for us to contribute.
CAN Fund makes all the difference for our Canadian athletes. Big or small, every donation goes straight to the athletes to pay for what they need to be their absolute best. 12 Olympic Games later and still making a massive impact.
The cost of being an elite athlete is extraordinary! Seeing first hand how much CAN Fund impacts these athletes is truly amazing, and allows them to focus more on training and competitions to help represent Canada to their fullest.
As a lifelong fan of the Olympics I am always proud to cheer for Canada on the world stage. What CAN Fund does to uplift our athletes truly goes a long way in supporting them pursue their dreams! Canadian athletes receive far less support from their federation than other countries and I’m grateful CAN Fund helps level the playing field.
I think that Canadian athletes should be given the option to join the military: some basic training and exercises during their off-season, but otherwise free to train, travel and compete while drawing a salary. At the end of their careers, they might even find they like the discipline and re-up. It would also help increase our military expenditures while serving a civilian purpose. (Also think that Wildfire Fighting could be incorporated into military for similar reasons.)
Wasn’t the BC Lottery originally introduced soley for the benefit of BC amature sports? In the begining 90% of funds collected were to be directed in that direction. What happened?