Coalition forms to help raise awareness and funding for team sports

TORONTO - A group of sport bodies concerned over a lack of government funding for team sports have formed a coalition to raise awareness on the issue.

Hockey Canada, the Canadian Soccer Association and Canada Basketball are among the 19 groups that have formed the Canadian Team Sports Coalition.

Besides communicating the benefits of team sports, the group will collaborate on common issues and opportunities including sponsorship, public policy, sport tourism, multi-sport event hosting, athlete services and funding, the coalition said in a release Monday.

"There is urgency for team sports to work together," Wayne Parrish, Canada Basketball's executive director, said in the release. "The Canadian sport system currently focuses largely on medal count to determine funding. This model does not reflect the many benefits of team sport.

"In this coalition we have a new crop of leaders who are willing to work to bring these issues to the forefront."

The coalition released a report that said a large majority of Canadians participate in team sports, yet only seven per cent of the government's core athletic funding goes to team sport organizations.

The report, based on a survey of 572 high-performance English and French Canadian athletes, also found participating in team sports is the foundation from which almost all elite Canadian athletes emerge, whether or not they move on to individual sports later in their careers.

The other members of the coalition are: Handball Canada, Volleyball Canada, the Canadian Cricket Association, Rugby Canada, Water Polo Canada, the Canadian Lacrosse Association, Sledge Hockey Canada, Field Hockey Canada, the Canadian Blind Sport Association, Softball Canada, the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association, Baseball Canada, the Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Association, Football Canada, Broomball Canada Federation and Ringette Canada