HBC gives boost to Canadian athletes

NEIL STEVENS

Canadian Press

January 24, 2008 at 4:18 PM EDT

TORONTO — Sarah Conrad will need all the financial support she can get to achieve her dream of winning an Olympic snowboarding medal.
That's why the Hudson's Bay Company announcement Thursday of $2.9 million in aid, including direct support to 200 athletes, was music to her ears.
The 22-year-old snowboarder from Dartmouth, N.S., says the $5,000 she'll receive will go towards rent in Squamish, B.C., so she can train at the facility that will be used for her sport at the 2010 Winter Games.
"It'll make a world of difference," she said from British Columbia. "There's a lot of travelling involved and to be based out here is ideal.
"Training at the Olympic facility, that's huge for us."
Corporate sponsorships are uplifting to Canada's amateur athletes.
"It's great to see Canada getting behind us," said Conrad. "This will definitely help us get results.
"We're seeing athletes on the podium across the board and that's what we need. We've just got to keep it up."
Conrad heads to Asia on Feb. 11 for World Cup meets in Korea and Japan. Now she won't have to worry about whether she'll have a roof over her head when she returns.
About $2 million of the donation was raised through the annual HBC Run For Canada campaign. The $900,000 not going directly to athletes will help fund various national training centres and to supply resources to help athletes reach podiums.
This is the third installment — for a total of $6 million so far — of the $20 million that HBC has committed to raise by 2012 via the annual July 1 run.
"As one of Canada's leading retailers, we are proud to support the development of Canadian athletes working towards reaching their medal goals," said HBC president Rob Johnston. "Not only are we proud to dress the athletes competing at the Games, our commitment to raise over $20 million will have a direct impact on the ability of our athletes to compete on the world stage."
Among those to get $5,000 are Olympic hockey gold medallists Hayley Wickenheiser of Shaunavon, Sask., Jayna Hefford of Kingston, Ont., Vicky Sunohara of Toronto and Kim St. Pierre of Chateauguay, Que., speed skating star Jeremy Wotherspoon of Red Deer, Alta., soccer sensation Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, B.C., skiers Jan Hudec of Calgary and Manuel Osborne-Pardis of Invermere, B.C., and Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield of Victoria.
Ice dancers Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., are included, as are the rowers in Canada's world-champion men's eight.
The help touches all corners of the sports map to include swimmer Chanelle Charron-Watson of Gatineau, Que., wrestler Brittanee Laverdure of Watson Lake, Yukon, sledge hockey player Shawn Matheson of Chatham, N.B., and wheelchair curlers Gary Cormack of Kenora, Ont., and Gerry Austgarden of Westbank, B.C.
Of the 200 recipients of the HBC windfall, 100 are in summer sports, 60 are in winter sports, 30 are in Paralympic programs and 10 are designated as Commonwealth Games participants.
Freestyle skier Cord Spero can certainly use a helping hand.
"To an amateur athlete, $5,000 can make a huge difference," said the 28-year-old resident of Grande Prairie, Alta. "A lot of our expenses are paid for by ourselves so when we get this money it allows me to make decisions about my training to get the best possible results rather than basing things on affordability.
"That can be the difference between getting on the podium and being 10th. If I'm not doing everything I can, whether it be because I made the wrong choice or I can't afford it, somebody else out there can do everything he can and, if they're doing it, they'll beat me.
"This ($5,000) frees up a lot of decisions."
Spero is about to have surgery to repair left knee ligaments and is out of competition for the balance of the season, although he'll soon be back in the gym.
"It's the real grind now," he said. "This is when you need financial help the most because you're not sure what the team is going to cover and because sponsors are hard to find.
"When you're going to events, some things are covered and it's easy to set up your budget. When you don't know what you're future is going to be, it's more difficult."
The future for Spero and other winter sports athletes is, of course, Vancouver 2010.
"Everyone on our team is aiming at that," he said. "Everything along the way is just a milestone to get there."
Other major corporate aid is coming from Rona, Petro Canada, Royal Bank, Visa and Bell. As well, the three-year-old Canadian Olympic Committee speakers' bureau that supplies athletes to corporations as motivational speakers is flourishing. There also is the new COC excellence fund that is expected to dish out as much as $1.3 million annually to medallists.
Add it all up and there now is between $3.5 million and $4 million a year available through corporate channels to current and former OIympians and top prospects. That is on top of the monthly Sport Canada cheques of up to $1,500 that go to carded athletes.
"It's a lot more than where we were 10 years ago," says Marc Gelinas, the COC's director of athlete and community relations. "Is it enough?
"That question is always difficult to answer because it depends so much on the particular context of each athlete — what sport he competes in, what level of support his federation can supply, and things like that.
"We need to keep working in this vein because we want to make sure our athletes can focus on their training, competition, rehab and academics . . . which is why I'm pleased to see the HBC initiative."
So is Dominika Kopcik, a 19-year-old synchronized swimmer from White Rock, B.C., training in Montreal. She'll be going to Beijing for an Olympic qualifying meet April 14 and is confident that, with the added financial support, there'll be a better chance of earning Summer Games berths.
Equipment such as weight belts for training is always needed, and extra dance classes always pay off in the sport. Those things cost money.
"It's a tremendous help," Kopcik says of the $5,000 grants. "Honestly, I don't know how we would get along without it."
Like her counterparts in other sports, she's thrilled with the corporate support.
"Funding helps us become stronger athletes and that allows us to represent Canada stronger in all sports," she says. "It's breathtaking how extremely generous (the corporate sector) is being and how it has improved over the years.
"Our funding is building up and starting to match that of other countries, and we're starting to see the impact. We're all extremely grateful. It's an extremely positive thing for Canada."
Diane Gordon, director of community investment for HBC, said the 200 athletes were selected by the COC after consultation with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Canada and sports federations that evaluated athletes' ability to achieve podium success.
"We want to encourage people to support these athletes," said Gordon. "People know our athletes need funding but a lot of people don't really know how to help.
"If they want to do that, they can come out on July 1 and meet the athletes and participate with them. Anybody and everybody, bring your kids. It is through this event that people can make their contributions. The run will be held this year in 15 communities across Canada and even if you can't make it on July 1 you can go to our website and make a contribution to one of the athletes. The more money we raise, the more athletes we can help."
More than 13,000 Canadians participated in the 2007 run.

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