Last month, Wild Rose Member of Parliament Blake Richards invited two local residents involved in amateur sports to Ottawa to speak about their experiences to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
The committee recently began studying the importance of amateur coaching Canada.
When asked about why the study was being undertaken, Richards said it is important to hear from coaches to understand if anything should be done at the government level to aid them.
“It’s more than just developing athletes, it is developing young people,” said Richards.
It’s a timely discussion.
According to the Childhood Obesity Foundation, Canada has an epidemic of overweight and obese citizens.
The foundation states online that 59 per cent of adult Canadians are either overweight or obese – a number garnered from Statistics Canada. In addition the foundation reveals there has been a dramatic increase in children with unhealthy weight. In 1978, 15 per cent of kids were overweight or obese. In 2007, Statistics Canada reported 29 per cent of adolescents had unhealthy weights.
Holding excess weight increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, strokes and type 2 diabetes, according to several academic reports on the subjects.
I grew up on a farm in central Alberta. Although I readily admit I am not a gifted athlete, I played several sports while in school. As a farm kid, I was constantly outdoors, building forts, biking, horseback riding, walking miles and swimming in the nearby creek. My active lifestyle built up my muscles and gave me endurance as well as confidence.
My two children’s lives are very different. Living in the city, their upbringing has been the polar opposite of mine. Where I roamed freely for hours, they are stuck inside. Where I biked or walked to a friends house, they are driven.
To combat that and promote athleticism, my husband and I made the commitment to put them into competitive swimming.
My daughter, 15, now trains up to 16 hours per week, both in and out of the pool, while my son, 11, spends up to 10 hours a week honing his skills.
Both of our children seem to be well rounded. They are both able to maintain good grades, are fit and full of life. Most times they are also grateful for what they have.
Over the past six years, we have learned the value of having a good coach involved in our lives. We have also seen how devastating it can be for a child with an unskilled coach.
We have come to value what our children’s coaches put it into their lives and recognize how much passion it takes to reach out to kids and tirelessly explain the same skills.
Our children’s current coaches act as mentors, chauffeurs, friends, cheerleaders, counsellors, and physiotherapists to our children. Since they spend as many waking hours with my children as a I do, they are privy to inside information and are aware of their strengths and weakness.
I implicitly trust my kids’ coaches and deeply value what they bring to our family.
Yet their job isn’t easy. Typically extremely skilled (my daughter has been coached by a former Olympian), the level of pay for many coaches forces them to have another job during the day before heading to the pool for a minimum of two hours.
It takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice for my children’s coaches, who give up time spent with their families to be at the pool as early as 5 a.m.
According to Jamie Atkin, the head coach of Airdrie Edge Gymanstics Club who has trained world-class athletes, attracting and retaining the skilled coaches necessary to train athletes can be difficult.
Many lower and intermediate-level coaches are forced to give up a work-life balance. The hours and pay can be prohibitive for many, causing many sport programs to lose out.
Like Atkin, I am thrilled the standing committee is taking an interest in something that affects the lives of so many young athletes and their families around the nation. I hope the group comes up with recommendations to make the role of coach more respected, easier to maintain and rewarding.
