Canada’s Involvement in High Performance Sport

2.6Canada’s Involvement in High Performance Sport

Generally speaking, athletes think that the Canadian sport system has been moderately supportive in helping them achieve their goals (75 per cent say it has been moderately supportive – 13 per cent “highly”).

Relative to others, the perception of a supportive Canadian sport system is slightly higher among athletes who have not completed a post-secondary degree and lower among the oldest athletes.

Athletes with a university degree are more inclined than others to agree that Canada should rank among countries of comparable size and wealth in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition, Francophones and national team carded athletes are less likely than others to agree that Canada’s national sport goals should be linked to medal rankings at the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

3.Integration of Sport and Other Activities

3.1Quality of Life

As in past studies, nearly all athletes agree that their involvement in sport has enhanced their overall quality of life (93 per cent – which may not be surprising given the fact that nearly all athletes say that, if faced with the same decision, they would still choose to become a high performance athlete). On the other hand, there is a strong divide with respect to the impact of sport on personal lives, with similar proportions agreeing and disagreeing that their personal relationships have not been adversely affected by their sport career (relatively unchanged since 1992, but higher than found in 1997).

3.2Employment and Training

Slightly fewer than half of athletes (44 per cent) agree they are working only because they need additional money to pay their basic living and sport-related costs (down considerably since 1992 when nearly two-thirds felt this way). Just over one-third are satisfied with their current financial situation compared with their friends and peers outside sport (35 per cent), but more than half of athletes are not satisfied, which is similar to previous measures taken in 1992 and 1997.

Slightly more than half (59 per cent) of athletes feel that services provided by Canadian Sport centres have enhanced their overall ability to train and compete.

3.3Education

The large majority of high performance athletes are willing to make sacrifices in their employment or education in order to pursue their athletic career (82 per cent); and half (50 per cent) feel that their education has indeed suffered as a result of their sport career (relatively unchanged in the past 12 years) and roughly one-quarter (27 per cent) feels their education commitments make it impossible to train as much as they should.

Generally, younger athletes (less than 25 years of age) are more likely than older athletes (older than 27 years of age) to feel their education has suffered (65 per cent, compared to 36 per cent, respectively), and that their education commitments make it impossible for them to train as much as they should (44 per cent, compared to 17 per cent, respectively). On the other hand, members of this group are also more satisfied with their current financial situation, and are more positive about the services provided by Canadian Sport Centres in that they enhance their ability to train and compete. (It should be noted that younger athletes are more likely to be in university and since they cite a higher financial dependence on their parents, it is not unlikely to think that their parents are contributing towards their education).
The same can be said of full-time students (who are younger) compared to athletes who are not in school (who are older). They are more likely to agree that their education has suffered (63 per cent, compared to 44 per cent of athletes who are not in school), and that education commitments make it impossible to train as much as they should (63 per cent, compared to 15 per cent). They are also more willing to make significant sacrifices in their athletic career in order to pursue their employment or education (40 per cent, compared to 19 per cent of athletes who are not in school), and less willing to make sacrifices in their employment or education in order to pursue their athletic career. Full-time students are also more satisfied with their current financial situation compared to athletes who are not in school and are more positive about services provided by Canadian Sport Centres.
Anglophones are more likely than Francophones to agree that services provided by Canadian Sport Centres have enhanced their overall ability to train and compete. Anglophones are also more likely to feel that their involvement in sport has enhanced their overall quality of life. The opposite is true, however, when it comes to satisfaction with their current financial situation – more than half of Francophones are satisfied (53 per cent), compared with only one-third of Anglophones (31 per cent). On the other hand, Francophone athletes are far more likely than Anglophone athletes to feel that opportunities to advance have been hindered because of their language (13 vs. one per cent, respectively).

Naturally, as education increases, athletes become less likely to feel their education has suffered as a result of their sport career, but they are also less satisfied with their current financial situation, when they compared it with friends and peers outside sport.

Athletes who participate in winter sports are more likely than those who participate in summer sports to feel their education has suffered as a result of their sport career, but are less willing to make significant sacrifices in their athletic career in order to pursue their employment or education. This is perhaps not surprising given that slightly more athletes who participate in winter sports are pursuing studies, and most are attending school part-time (55 per cent, compared to 29 per cent of athletes who participate in summer sports).
Developing athletes are more likely than their more elite counterparts to agree that their education commitments make it impossible for them to train as much as they should and that they work because they need additional money to pay for basic living and sport-related costs.
Naturally, those athletes who have relocated in order to pursue their sport career are more likely than those who have not relocated to believe that their personal relationships have been adversely affected by their career. On the other hand, they are less likely to feel that their education commitments make it impossible to train as much as they should (following the pattern of older athletes over the age of 26).
Women are more likely than men to agree that their opportunities to advance in sport have been limited due to their gender (15 per cent, compared to two per cent, respectively). There are not enough cases, however, to be able to further identify any strong characteristics that set these women apart from other women. It should also be noted that the question specifically refers to “limitations due to gender”; which would likely illicit a greater response among women than men.

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