Sport Centre to Help Train Athletes

A new National Sport Centre for high performance athletes and coaches is now fully operational in the Atlantic region.

The announcement was made at a news conference today, May 7, at the Nova Scotia Sport Heritage Centre in Halifax and at the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in Fredericton.

The new centre will enable elite athletes in the region to receive enhanced training through top coaching, sport medicine, and sport science services. The centre will also provide athlete services such as career counselling and assistance with employment searches. The decentralized service structure will be developed to support high performance athletes training throughout the Atlantic region.

The funding partners are the federal Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Olympic Association, the Coaching Association of Canada, and the governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.

Senator Al Graham, Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister responsible for Nova Scotia, on behalf of Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, explained that the National Sport Centre--Atlantic Canada is part of a national network of centres being developed across the country.

"I am pleased that the establishment of this new centre means the Atlantic region will now be providing its high performance athletes and coaches with the same kind of support they already receive at National Sport Centres in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Toronto," said Senator Graham.

Carol Anne Letheren, chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Association, said the addition of an eastern sport centre is vital to the growth of Canadian athletes. "The Canadian Oympic Association is committed to helping athletes achieve a high performance level at centres across the country. The National Sport Centre--Atlantic Canada will help ensure that local athletes can benefit from the same services offered at other centres."

The new sport centre has an annual operating budget of $355,000, most of which will be paid by the partners through a multi-year funding commitment. Beginning in 1999-2000, the government of Canada and the Canadian Olympic Association will each provide $100,000, the Coaching Association of Canada will contribute $50,000, the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will each contribute $30,000, Newfoundland and Labrador will provide $15,000, and Prince Edward Island will contribute $5,000. The budget of the former Atlantic Coaching Field Office has also been incorporated into the centre along with the programs and services it provided.

John Bales, president of the Coaching Association of Canada, spoke about the benefits of the new centre. "The National Sport Centre--Atlantic Canada is an exciting and significant enhancement to the interprovincial partnership we have had for the past eight years with the Atlantic Coaching Field Office. We look forward to working with the provincial and national partners to provide high performance sport opportunities to athletes and coaches in the Atlantic region."

Robbie Harrison, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission, and Greg Byrne, New Brunswick's Minister of Justice and Attorney General, spoke on behalf of the four Atlantic provinces.

"The Atlantic region's present and future elite athletes will definitely benefit from the highly professional programs and services being offered at the new centre," said Mr. Harrison.

"The high performance athletes and coaches of this region will greatly benefit from the expertise and resources that will now be available to them, thanks to the co-operation and funding of the government of Canada, the four Atlantic provinces and the associated national organizations. As a result, this partnership will help our most talented athletes to better compete at national and international levels," added Mr. Byrne.

Tony Martin, chief executive officer and deputy head of the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission, was named chair of the board of the new sport centre. Ken Bagnell was named director of the National Coaching Institute and acting general manager for the centre working out of Halifax.