An important part of any multi-games event is the legacy they leave behind.
Usually these legacies are in the form of venues and cultural ventures that have been constructed for future generations.
Red Deer has had the privilege to host the Alberta Games numerous times over the years — and following the 1975 Summer Games they created what amounts to a living legacy — the Red Deer Games Foundation.
The foundation took a small grant from those games, put it in a trust, and from the interest earned off the trust they sponsor elite level athletes from Red Deer who do not yet qualify for national or provincial level funding.
“We were asked to distribute those funds to up-and-coming athletes that needed financial assistance,” said current foundation chair Hugh McPherson. “It started really small, and the amount of money they were giving was fairly small, but the dollars they were giving were going to athletes who showed potential but didn’t have access to major funding that came from the government.”
Over the years, the trust has grown.
The initial grant was just $8,500, but with the Alberta Games that have followed, subsequent grants have found their way to the foundation, including $50,000 after the ’88 Winter Games and another $100,000 following the 2006 Summer Games.
“Athletics in our province and anywhere costs a lot of money for the parents and the kids to try to get themselves to an elite level, we recognized very early that it’s only when they get to a very elite level that they can access federal and provincial and sport association funding,” said McPherson. “What our foundation is trying to do is trying to offset some of their minor costs for coaching and so on before they can access those.”
The foundation is made up of a dedicated group of volunteers, some of whom who have been on the board all 35 years. McPherson’s father Thomas was actually the original president while Hugh joined in 1988 and became president in 1998.
They sponsor athletes in all sports and have seen that money put to good use over time. The alumni contains some of the biggest names in Canadian amateur sports like speedskaters Jeremy and Danielle Wotherspoon and Steven Elm, freestyle skier Deidra Dionne, figureskater Jamie Salé, skeleton pilot Stephanie Nolin and luger Reagan Lauscher.
For Jeremy Wotherspoon, the money came at a crucial time as he was trying to make the jump to the national program where he would receive national funding.
“It’s pretty important because when you’re trying to make the jump from provincial level athlete to national level athlete, there’s not a lot of funding available,” said Wotherspoon, who is entering his final Olympic competition to cap one of the greatest speedskating careers in history.
“It’s pretty tough to get sponsorship at that level too, because you haven’t really made a name for yourself or got any real international results or even competed internationally. Having some funding to make it easier to train full time when you’re trying to make that jump is pretty important because a lot of athletes have to work to supplement their income so they can afford to train full time, so they end up getting enough money to train but the drawback is when you’re working a lot, it can have a negative impact on training. So it’s a bit of a catch-22.”
Not all athletes who receive funding, however, go on to the Olympics or even past the elite level locally, and the foundation is fine with that. They see themselves as much as anything as a vehicle of support for the athlete.
“The encouraging part is that not only have we been able to provide some seed money to some very high elite athletes like the Jeremy Wotherspoons and the Danielle’s and Dionne’s, but we’ve also been able to provide funding to kids that would encourage them to stay active in athletics, beyond the very beginner level,” said McPherson.
“By getting to them and encouraging them to stay in athletics, we are helping to build all of the kinds of the social dynamics and parameters that go with athletics, such as sportsmanship and all of those other things. For us it’s not just encouraging elite athletes, it’s encouraging kids to stay involved in community, to encourage kids to stay involved in athletic competition so they can derive all of the benefits of team sports and team play.”
The foundation accepts applications for the program twice a year — May 19 and Nov. 13 being the deadlines this year — and currently support a stable of nine athletes: Mark Hamill, tennis; Karis Langvand, fencing; Jessica Amy Sergeant, figure skating; Marni Stokoe, biathlon; Shylo Hendrickson, canoe polo; Jessica Johnson, synchronized swimming; Amanda Martin, trampoline and gymnastics; Nick Marchuk, karate; and Amy Severtson, figure skating.
For Stokoe, the sponsorship has been crucial as it has helped her to purchase a second set of skis so when she is at major competitions, she has the ability to adjust to the changing conditions.
“It has allowed me to buy a lot more equipment,“ said Stokoe, 17, who hopes to be selected to the national development team once she graduates from Hunting Hills High School and work her way to the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
“In races such as nationals, I find I have more choice when going into different terrain.
“It also helps mentally because it makes me feel like I’ve got someone behind me, supporting me. When you take that to a competition, you have a little more confidence, too.”
The athletes aren’t receiving huge amounts of money from the RDGF, but it is enough to take some of the pressure off of other funding efforts, as many are still going to school in addition to training.
“I don’t have time to have a steady job in the winter, so I do a self-run bottle drive — we have lots of friends and family who donate bottles and then I go around through my neighbourhood every few months and they’ve been good donating their empties and then I have a few restaurants who help out,” said Stokoe, who recently qualified for the provincial development team to go to an international event in France in early February, and then will be competing at nationals in Canmore the first weekend in March.
For more information on the Red Deer Games Foundation, go online to http://asdccentral.c/home/red_deer_games_foundation
Application forms can be found at all Red Deer recreation facilities.
jaldrich@www.reddeeradvocate.com