Athletes get a boost
First cash boost since 2004 injects extra $5 million a year into Olympic dream pool
When Olympic gold medallist Erica Wiebe first received funding from the federal support program for elite athletes she broke down in tears.
“It was a life-changing moment,” she recalled.
The Ontario wrestler had moved across the country to attend university in Calgary and train with top athletes. She was working two jobs, had a hefty student loan and worried about how to her pay rent, all while she was preparing to represent Canada at the junior world championships.
“A lot of athletes live and die by getting carded,” she said.
Those athletes received a welcome boost in Wednesday’s federal budget, which called for an additional $5 million a year to go to the Athletes Assistance Program — commonly known as carding. It’s the first increase since 2004. “To see an increase is a cause for celebration because we believe funding directly to athletes is one of the best ways for the federal government to accomplish its high-performance sport goals,” said Josh Vander Vies, president of AthletesCAN, the association of Canadian national team athletes which has long been advo- cating for an increase.
There are about 1,800 athletes who receive the monthly stipend. For a senior athlete, it’s $1,500 a month. For a development level athlete, it’s $900.
If all of the new money from the 18-per-cent increase were to go directly to the monthly stipend, that would bump a senior card to $1,770 a month, and a development one to $1,060.
But the Liberal government’s budget doesn’t make it clear how the new money — which brings the annual program cost to $33 million — will be divided among monthly support and tuition or special needs assistance, also parts of the formula.
“We’ll be watching with great interest for those details,” Vander Vies said.
The budget increase isn’t quite as much as AthletesCAN, Sports Matters and veteran athletes such as Olympic kayaker Adam van Koeverden wanted to see. They pushed for a 24-per-cent hike, in line with the rise of the consumer price index since 2004.
“I know there are a lot of requests coming through to the (finance) minister and Prime Minister, and I appreciate that we got some attention and very heartened that sport is on the agenda,” van Koeverden said.
“I’m always a strong believer that more needs to be done in the gym, on the water, on the track and when it comes to funding . . . this is a good start.”
The federal government is also reviewing its high-performance sport funding strategy, which sees Own the Podium spend $64 million annually on athletes identified as having strong Olympic medal potential. But in the months leading up to this budget, Carla Qualtrough, minister of sport and persons with disabilities, spoke clearly about her desire for an increase in carding, which helps a wider pool of athletes.
“An increase in AAP, particularly when we think there hasn’t been a cost-of-living increase, is due,” she said in a recent interview. “We’re trying to figure out how to make that happen and I commend Adam van Koeverden for his colossus, Herculean efforts to bring this to attention. It certainly helps me … that he and other athletes are taking up the charge.”
Athletes have traditionally been uncomfortable talking about the need for public funding to pursue sport. No one takes up Olympic wrestling or bobsled to become rich: It’s a passion.
But in Canada, where lucrative corporate sponsorships are incredibly hard to come by for most Olympic athletes, and the demands of their training and international competition schedules make working a job on the side next to impossible, public funding is a necessity to success on the world stage.
“Athletes aren’t greedy people. They deserve this funding. It’s a valid career choice,” said van Koeverden, the three-time Olympic medallist who retired after Rio.
“When you’re racing with no sponsors on your boat, your back or your bike, but for your country, Canada, and listening to our national anthem when you win, I think it’s only right that Canadian taxpayers pay for that. And as a Canadian taxpayer, I’m very proud and happy to contribute to that journey.”
Wiebe has been luckier than many of her fellow athletes. She managed to secure a corporate sponsor for the year and a half before the 2016 Rio Olympics, and after winning gold there she’s had opportunities for paid speaking engagements and a couple of commercials. But even as a gold medallist she doesn’t have a direct sponsor now, and neither does Wrestling Canada, so monthly carding still matters a great deal.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of Canadians wondering why we’re spending more money on athletes, but I know for me as a development athlete getting carded was integral to my success (in Rio) six years later,” she said.
“We can never really quantify the value of sport in society, but I think as Canadians we do value sport and everything that it is to the athletes and the people that are watching or aspiring to get there.”