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Changes to Ontario’s sport system are needed to make community sports run more effectively and allow everyone to take part in events that are fun and safe, according to the lead researcher of a new report calling for change.
“We have a really fragmented system where people are disconnected, organizations are disconnected,” Brock University sport management associate professor Kyle Rich said on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning this week.
“So we’re in a situation where they’re making the same mistakes in different places, maybe are struggling with the same things, when they could be helping each other. And so without that space to come together … we have a really, really fragmented system across the different regions and across the different sports.”
According to Rich, the Ontario Sport Summit Report — released May 19 — outlines how sport is being delivered in the province in the face of increased challenges. Rich collaborated with Ontario Sport Network, the Coaches Association of Ontario, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s Launchpad program, and the University of Toronto for the research.
Rich said while there are some organizations in the province “who are doing a great job,” how things are being run can be inconsistent across different places and organizations.
He noted that, in Ontario, there have been changes in the sports system, and “a whole bunch of brand new sport organizations” have entered the arena, but “we don’t really know what they’re doing because we’re not really following up with them and ensuring that these things are being implemented in the same way.”
Implementation of Rowan’s Law
As an example, Rich pointed to the implementation of Rowan’s Law in Ontario — the concussion legislation that applies to all organizations. He also pointed to changes to the non-profit governance landscape, and safe sport changes and rules.
He said organizations across the province have different sets of rules they should be implementing and following, but outcomes if they aren’t can be inconsistent.
Rich said he’s been having conversations with provincial leaders about what the study has found, but he doesn’t think “that this is necessarily a priority in where we’re going right now.”
“So, that’s part of what we’re trying to do here with this report… We’re trying to put it on people’s radar … and we’re asking people to actually write a letter to their MPPs to let them know that this is important,” he said.
Province says it’s making sport more accessible
The province’s Ministry of Sport says the government is making sport more accessible across Ontario by supporting grassroots programs, athlete development, and youth participation, while reducing barriers for people of all ages and abilities.
In an email to CBC News, the ministry said this includes “a historic $500 million investment in the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund” to ensure people have places to play and stay active.
The statement also points to “over $8 million annually for Provincial and Multi-Sport Organizations that support more than 3.8 million athletes, coaches, and officials, $6.3 million through Quest for Gold, almost $3 million through the Inclusive Grassroots Recreation program, and nearly $44 million over the next three years through Ontario’s After School Program supporting more than 13,000 children and youth.”
Sport organizations can take action
Marika Warner, director of research and insights at MLSE Launchpad, says instead of waiting for government to make changes, sports organizations can also take action.
“It’s not all about waiting for government to put something in place or for new funding to happen,” Warner told CBC News.
“It’s also about making programs more accessible, creating more on-ramps into programming — so low commitment, affordable models where it’s more about trying a sport and you aren’t being asked to commit thousands of dollars and multiple months to a program that they’re not familiar with.”
Warner said it’s about reducing barriers and refocusing around why sports exist and making participants feel like they belong.
“That sense of community belonging is a very powerful outcome of participation in sport and that needs to be the priority,” said Warner.
In March, a commission studying the Canadian sport system called for sweeping change to the way sport is structured, after its work found “the widespread presence of maltreatment and abuse” in a poorly resourced and organized system.
The Future of Sport in Canada Commission, led by former Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve, issued nearly 100 calls to action that range from immediately increasing funding to the sport system, to a long-term goal of creating a “centralized sport entity” to oversee sport in Canada.
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