Lisa Dempster, the minister responsible for sports in this province, stood up in the House of Assembly this week, and gushed over Newfoundland and Labrador’s performance at the recent Canada Winter Games.
Ms. Dempster heads up the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, into which sports is somehow lumped.
That sports and recreation doesn’t have its own portfolio tells you all you need to know about where it stands in government’s mindset.
But that’s another story.
Anyway, Minister Dempster trumpeted, “I rise today to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of Team Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2019 Canada Winter Games...”
Huh?
We finished 10th. But I suppose that’s a victory in itself given we placed 11th four years ago in Prince George, B.C.
We won two medals in Red Deer, Alta., a Special Olympics gold in figure skating, and a bronze in judo (and there were two judo bronze handed out, by the way, for whatever reason).
Now, do we expect Minister Dempster to rise to declare we were brutal?
Of course not, but a bit of honesty, rather than a whole pile of flowery conjecture, would have been the better approach than trying to play the people, who know better, for fools.
You know, “the results were not what we had hoped for, and as a result we must endeavour to find a way to close the competitive gap between our province and the rest of Canada…”
We’re not likely to hear those words uttered from within Confederation Building. We’re definitely not going to hear, “Government pledges to provide additional support to sports and recreation … an investment in our province’s athletes, but more importantly an investment into the future health and welfare of citizens through an increased emphasis on physical activity.”
I’d go so far as to say you’re more apt to read, “Quick, someone grab me an accordion” coming from this corner.
Jeff Babstock, the soccer Hall of Famer, told me this week a lack of sports facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador was a problem 40 years ago, just as there were few opportunities to face top-flight competition, not to mention a lack of quality coaching.
The coaching, Babstock says, has improved — though it says here we need more qualified instructors to coach our coaches — but 40 years later, we’re still in need of some facilities and we’re still in need of competition, the result of living isolated and the added cost to travel.
Minister Dempster said in the House this week government has committed over $6 million in 2018-19 to “support and advance” sport, recreation and physical activity. Six million is nothing to sneeze at, but a detailed breakdown of where that money goes is not known.
But I’m willing to bet — and this is purely my opinion, with no facts to offer support — less than half of that sum goes directly into sports, and elite programs such as Canada Games.
It’s almost impossible to get a gauge of what other provinces spend on sports and recreation, and even if you do uncover the numbers, there are many moving parts … i.e. the amount of money received in comparison to province population.
But you know Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia are heavily funded.
However, consider this:
In 2016-17, Sport Nova Scotia received $7 million in funding from the province. That’s just for sport.
Funding in Newfoundland and Labrador this fiscal year is over $6 million, but that’s for sport, and recreation, and physical activity, and, and, and …
Further to that, Sport Nova Scotia has a Support4Sport program, which is funded by the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation from which a portion of the sale of lotto tickets goes back into sport.
Same situation in Saskatchewan, where it was just announced in January sport, culture and recreation organizations — including SaskSport — “will continue to receive and benefit from Saskatchewan Lottery proceeds for the next five years.”
And here in Newfoundland and Labrador, our athletes get financial scraps, we’re still skating in rinks built in the 60s and 70s, and there’s not a single multi-purpose indoor sports facility owned by the people of the province.
The harsh truth is, Minister Dempster, we’re no longer any good competing on the national stage. Virtually every other province — P.E.I. included — has lapped us.
And a lack of government commitment to our athletes is a large part of the reason.
Nobody asked me, but …
I mean, come on. How can one take the National Basketball League of Canada seriously when, with three or four weeks left in the regular season schedule, a couple of players on a first-place team (Diego Kapelan and Obinna Oleka from the Edge) up and zip off to Mexico where they’ve signed to play ball? This didn’t even happen in the days of the old, dysfunctional Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. You need a tote board to keep track of this crowd. No wonder Carl English’s replica jersey is the only one for sale in the Edge gift shop. He’s the only one sticking around … In a document prepared for the provincial government by a Canada Games Task Force to review the Newfoundland and Labrador sport system, one message was abundantly clear: “the common theme among barriers identified in this report is the lack of financial investment.” That report was submitted five years ago. It may as well have been written in Crayon given the action it generated … Alan Ross died this week. He was 84. I didn’t know the man, but I sure heard a lot about him. He was a coach’s coach, so it’s no surprise his teams won Atlantic and national soccer championships. Ross was English. If you’re going to bring in a coach, you bring in an Englishman. If you’re going to bring in a baseball coach, you bring in an American. Look what the European influence did for rugby in this province? The importance of good solid coaching at the top cannot be underestimated … Congratulations to the best senior softball player Labatt’s ever producted (well, there was Len Beresford … and Ronnie Boland … and Joe Boland and John Hill, I suppose). Okay, congratulations to a pretty decent Labatt’s softball player (and Torbay’s Avalon East answer to Tiger Williams), Gerry Manning, on his retirement from the brewery …
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by email [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
