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Study calls for increased sports aidOTTAWA (CP) — If Canadian athletes are to go faster, higher and farther in their bid for international medals, the federal government and private supporters must dig deeper, says a study on amateur sports.The report, released Wednesday by IT national sports officials, proposes a sports policy for the next eight years and sets ambitious performance targets for athletes.Total annual funding for amateur sports must increase by almost half, to at least $112 million by 1992, it says. The report adds that Ottawa should help Canadian cities attract international sporting events and set up training centres for elite athletes.The private sector as well as the taxpayers must be tapped, the committee says in the report, entitled Toward2000: Building Canada’s Sport System.Jean Charest, minister of state for Fitness and Amateur Sport, refused to make specific commitments but said there is “no intention onour part to play a lesser role.”Ottawa has provided an average of $54 million annually over the last two years, including $16 million in its Best Ever program to aid top international athletes.Lou Lefaive, president of the Sport Marketing Council and a committee member, told the conference that “sport is too important for government not to be involved, but the days when we merely tapped the government as the milk cow are gone.”Sports organizations must raise more funds from members and through innovative marketing, Lefaive said. Corporate funding is expected to grow for at least the next four years, he said, and should help reach a 50-50 balance between government and private sources jCanada's system of supporting elite athletes “is still in its infancy,” says the report, recommending a program to support 1,000 top performers. |Athletes, it says, make great personal sacrifices “and their achievements are of significantvalue to Canadian society.” 1Coaches, administrators and sports medicine practitioners also need increased funding, |it says, and the government should establish training links with major sporting nations notably East Germany, the Soviet Unioji, Czechoslovakia and China.The report says Canadians have improved in virtually all sports during the past four years, and the next four years should answer the question: “What does it cost to be No. 1 in the world in sport?” »It says Canada should aim to finish among the top eight countries at the 1992 Summer Olyrti-pics in Barcelona and in the top six at the Winter Games that year in Albertville, France. i Canada, it adds, should also maintain its high ranking in non-Olympic sports and sports ipr the disabled, should increase programs for recreational athletes and should make physical education mandatory throughout high school.!
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Thu, Sep 01, 1988
Page 23
Full Page
Clipped by
Jason P.
USA 01 Dec 2018
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