I don’t want to detract anything from all the Olympic hype, from the Canadian men’s hockey team winning the gold medal, Kershaw finishing 5th in the men’s 50km mass-start, from another Canadian men’s gold medal in curling, but I just have a few more things to say…
I just finished an article in the Edmonton Journal with some thoughts from silver medalist Helen Upperton. She drew inspiration from Kristi Richards, who finished 20th in women’s moguls after picking herself up, drawing energy from the once-in-a-lifetime crowd, to hit a big second air.
We have to change the way Canadians view amateur sports and fund amateur sports and keep this momentum going. Funding amateur sport needs to be as much philosophical as performance-based.
Upperton is not simply calling for governments and corporations to plow money into the upper echelons of sport. She believes she’s “a truly ordinary person” who grew up playing many sports and none exceptionally well. She loved it and had a great work ethic. And when the Calgary Olympics rolled through town, she got her Petro Canada torch and saw the luge and was hooked on the whole thing. ”You’ve got to start pumping money into grassroots and recreational sports programs and make sure that physical educations stays in the school system.”
It’s all about the amateur sport. I didn’t used to think that. I remember being excited when NHL players were going to be allowed into the Olympics in ’98. But now I think they’re all just overpaid.
It must have been ’98 as well because I remember loving aerials back in grade 6. I actually set up a ruler on the edge my desk and we flipped erasers and scored them based on each eraser’s air and landing.
I think I may have seemed a little pessimistic toward the Olympics in some of my last posts. But as I’m watching the closing the ceremonies right now, it’s pretty cool. It’s amazing how sport can bring so many people together, even people who don’t necessarily like sport.
This is the part we need. We need to motivate people to be active, to get involved, to go out and do something! Our society will be so much better off. If we are active, our kids are active, our communities are active, we will be happier, we will put less strain on the health care system, and we will just be better people.
Get together. Go out and do something. Inspire people.
::SAdamson
