For many in sports system, validation of sport report's findings just the start of work ahead to fix it

Those involved in the Canadian amateur sport scene have long known what the Future of Sport in Canada Commission’s final report laid bare on Tuesday.

“There is no doubt that Canada needs to invest more in sport. This re-investment is long overdue,” the report said.

Referred to as “broken,” “fragmented” and “unsustainable,” the report called for an overhaul of the Canadian sport system, including the creation of a Crown corporation that would oversee and streamline sports across the country.

It said that an underfunded sport system is an unsafe one in which athletes are afraid to speak out for fear of losing streams of financial support.

And it dove deep into problems with infrastructure, organizational alignment, funding sources, lack of grassroots participation and much, much more.

Now, the real work begins.

“What is still giving me a bit of anxiety and even pause for concern is that there's a lot of themes. Which means there's a lot to fix,” said Canada Basketball CEO Mike Bartlett, who also serves as co-chair of the summer sport caucus that oversees government advocacy efforts along with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Canada’s underwhelming performance at the Milano Cortina Olympics, with just five gold medals and 21 total podium appearances, could be attributed to a broken sport system finally revealing itself in results. 

Only one of those gold medallists is under age 25, and just two are under 30.

“We're hopefully going to start to see some change to the way [national sport organizations] are managed and the way funding is brought into amateur sport and stuff. It's been so bad for so long that we're now lacking a next generation,” said Hayden Mayeur, a 28-year-old speed skater who did not compete in Italy. 

Neither Bartlett nor Mayeur was surprised to see the results of the commission’s report, with both having lived the reality of a struggling Canadian sport sector for multiple years now.

Mayeur, in addition to two-a-day training six days per week, works on a ranch outside of Calgary and started a business called Hayloft, a mobile espresso service that touts itself as Team Canada owned and operated.

Eighteen Canadian athletes, all needing extra jobs to support their athletic endeavours, are now working under Mayeur, he said.

“This isn't the first time that it's been brought to the government's attention that funding's an issue in amateur sport. Obviously, this is quite a significant report that's been released now. So I would hope it has more impact. I have, perhaps, let's say a little more confidence than past times,” he said.