Canada Sport System Essay

Governments have placed an increasing focus upon sport since the beginning of the 20th century. States have been attempting to develop the most effective sport system by taking differing views on sport policy objectives and values. This paper will use four factors to determine what makes an effective sport system. Sport systems must benefit the entire population, be open to public and private opinion, have policy goals and clear successes on the international stage. This paper shall compare the sport systems in Canada and China and using the criteria above, will argue that the current sport system in Canada is more effective.

The sport system in Canada began to develop in the late 19th century in Montreal. The Montreal Amateur Athlete Association

(MAAA) was one of the first organized groups dedicated to sport which would lay the path for the development and expansion of sport in Canada (Morrow & Wamsley, 2005). The MAAA became the Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) which dominated Canadian sport policy for nearly one hundred years until increasing government control took the reins of Canadian sport (Morrow & Wamsley, 2005).

This increasing government control began in the 1950s with the creation of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and cumulated with the disbandment of the CAAA in the 1970s (Morrow & Wamsley, 2005). Today, Sport Canada is the federal government organization that deals with sport in Canada. Sport Canada largely plays an advisory and funding role (Sport Canada, 2015). It runs three programs with two placing a focus on elite level sport and one on participation and development. The Athlete Assistance Program and Hosting Program are designed to aid elite athletes financially and to support organizations hosting major games. The Sport Support Program is designed to help develop coaches and athletes and increase participation from all Canadians. Sport Canada had a budget of approximately two-hundred million dollars in 2013 (Sport Canada, 2015). Sport Canada relies heavily on partnerships with the private sector, sport organizations and the provincial and territorial governments to meet its goals of participation and excellence (Sport Canada, 2015). Currently “Canadian Sport Policy 2012” is the document that lays out the objectives and values of Canada’s sport system. “A dynamic and innovative culture that promotes and celebrates

participation and excellence in sport” is its stated policy vision (Heritage Canada, 2012). Five policy objectives and seven policy values are stated which provide direction for the sport system (Heritage Canada, 2012). These policy objectives and policy values illustrate that the major focus is on areas of participation and excellence (Heritage Canada, 2012). These two areas are clearly reinforced by the multiple partnerships created by Sports Canada in attempt to ensure all Canadians have the ability to participate and that athletes can perform at the international level. Canada has also succeeded well at major international events. Third and fourth places at Winter Olympics and, at the last two Winter Olympic Games, standings in overall medals shows the success of Canadian athletes (Olympic - Olympic games, results, medals, athletes, n.d). Canada has also performed well at Summer Olympics by placing 13th and 14th in total medals at the previous two Summer Olympics. (Olympic - Olympic games, results, medals, athletes, n.d¬)
The sport system in China did not really exist until the early 1950s after the communist revolution.

Sport in China would begin to develop over the next few decades. (Whitby, 1999) The Cultural Revolution hindered the development of the sport system but in 1976 the system soared with the end of the Cultural Revolution and the economic boom (Whitby, 1999).The organization of the Chinese sport system is top-down with the central government holding all the power (Hong, 2008). Currently, the China General Administration of Sport (CGAS) and the Chinese Olympic Committee are the two bodies responsible for all sport in China (Hong, 2008). The sport system in China is heavily focused on the success of its elite athletes. The very structure of this sport system demonstrates this focus with development and training systems at all levels from city councils to national training centers for Olympic-level athletes (Hong, 2008). The central government in China plays an organizational role with a focus on national team development. Provinces and city councils are tasked with developing and training elite level athletes to compete on the national teams (Hong, 2008). Almost all funding for this development comes from the provinces and city councils with some assistance from the private sector (Hong, 2008). Up until 1995 there was no clear set of documents outlining the goals of the sport policy. In 1995 a restructuring of the Chinese sport system occurred creating a set of regulations to

guide the CGAS and the Chinese Olympic Committee (Jones, 1999). Two regulations in particular provide an insight into the policy goals of the Chinese Government. Regulation 3 states “Sport is valued for its contribution to the economic, social and military development in China (Jones, 1999).” Regulation 24 states “China promotes the development of competitive sport and encourages athletes to improve the level of their sport skills in order to raise the standard of sports competition and to gain honour for the country” (Jones, 1990). The sport system in China has one clear goal: to succeed on the international stage. China has dominated the Summer Olympics by placing 2nd in overall medal count at the previous two Olympics (Olympic - Olympic games, results, medals, athletes, n.d¬). China has also performed well at the Winter Olympics placing 10th in overall medal count in the previous two Olympics (Olympic - Olympic games, results, medals, athletes, n.d¬).
Canada and China operate their sport systems differently. However, Canada has the more effective sport system. The sport system in China is extremely focused on elite level athletes. The development and training of elite level athletes has caused China to create a training structure and sport system that focuses only on the very best of the population. This focus on elite sport benefits only the small fraction of the population who make it onto the international stage. Canada places a focus on participation and excellence which creates benefits for the entire population. Participation lets anyone in the population get involved in sport. It doesn’t create a barrier that impedes your progress if you aren’t talented enough. Canada also focuses on excellence which allows for elite Canadian athletes to compete and win on the international stage. Canadian success at the two recent Winter Olympics demonstrates that this focus on excellence has launched Canada into a more dominate position in sport. The sport system in China and Canada are both well structured but Canada has one distinct advantage that benefits the system. The sport system in China is heavily centralized and run from the top-down. The Canadian sport system is a combination of interest groups so it provides a much more open system (Sports Canada, 2015). This creates an effective system because it allows for inputs from all levels to develop a sport system that meets the need of the country. International success is what generally gets the most attention from the media and the public. China has dominated Olympic Games in recent memories but Canada has performed exceptionally as well. When examining medal win per capita, Canada placed 10/26 in Sochi and 40/84 in London (Nevill-Manning, 2014). China on the other hand, placed 26/26 in Sochi and 72/84 in London (Nevill-Manning, 2014). An effective sport system is able to capture medals with limited resources and population. If the sport system in China was truly effective it would be placing much higher in the medal counts per capita when compared with Canada. China should be winning more medals for the size of population it has. The sport system in Canada is more effective because it creates international success, benefits the population and allows for input from various groups when developing sport policy
Sport plays an increasingly more important role within China and Canada. The current Canadian sport system is the more effective system when comparing these two countries. The benefits for the entire population, openness to public opinion, clear policy goals and international success has allowed for a successful sport system to operate in Canada. China’s lack of public benefit, closed and top-down organization, vast policy goals and lack of stellar international success has demonstrated that its sport system is lagging behind Canada.