University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-2007 Exploring funding structures and "success" in elite Canadian sport: Athlete-centredness and Own the Podium. Keely Willment University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Willment, Keely, "Exploring funding structures and "success" in elite Canadian sport: Athlete-centredness and Own the Podium." (2007). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6971. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6971 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. Exploring Funding Structures and “Success” in Elite Canadian Sport: Athlete- Centredness and Own the Podium by Keely Willment A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Faculty of Human Kinetics in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2007 © Keely Willment Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Library and Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-34996-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-34996-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In this thesis I explored, through document analysis and interviews, how elite sport has been historically funded in Canada, the Own the Podium program, how elite winter athletes are currently experiencing sport, and the processes that can be employed to create an athlete-centred sport system. An analysis of the rationale for funding decisions and sport programs, and the solutions provided, revealed that winning medals as a quantifiable measure of success has long been a priority for decision-makers in elite Canadian sport. Currently, athletes are still the object of, not a subject in, decision-making. Sport programming decisions provide for theperformance of the athletes. Athletes largely feel powerless in influencing decision-makers or instituting change. To enhance an athlete-centred sport system, processes must be developed to formalize communication between athletes and administrators, and programs need to be developed to supportall areas of the athlete’s development, not just their athletic performance. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to many people for their assistance, both direct and indirect, in writing this thesis. Firstly, I would like to recognize those athletes who agreed to be my subjects. Your willingness to share your uncertainties and ambitions for your athletic careers and for the sport system is greatly appreciated. I also am thankful for the administrators who took time out of their immensely busy pre-Vancouver 2010 schedules to provide insights into the functioning of the current sport system. The support I received from the university community was appreciated. Thank you to my committee members - Hon. Pawley and Dr. Martyn - for the insights you provided. Thank you to my friends who enhanced my experience in Windsor - for sharing laughs and providing me with a sense of peace that I was not alone in the thesis battle. I would especially like to thank my advisor, Dr. Victoria Paraschak. I am grateful for all the contributions you have made, in planning and editing, but also in challenging me to think more critically about sport, and in effect, strengthening my desire to question other ‘natural’ structures. It was comforting to know that I could stop in at your home at any time and enjoy fresh baking, hot coffee, and great conversation. Thanks to my family, for their support throughout my university career. Thanks mom and dad for sacrificing your time to drive me from arenas, to the gym, to ball diamonds, to fields, and back again - and cheering me on from the stands. A special thanks also goes to Mike, for undertaking this journey with me, from across the country, and at times across the world. It was never easy, but knowing you supported me helped me make it through. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................... vii LIST OF APPENDICES.......................................................................................................viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Introduction and Statement of the Problem............................................1 Operational Definitions............................................................................4 Assumptions............................................................................................11 Theoretical and Practical Justifications................................................16 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Sub-problem 1........................................................................................ 20 Sub-problem 2........................................................................................ 47 Sub-problem 3........................................................................................ 54 III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Introduction.............................................................................................63 Sub-Problem 1 - Document Analysis...................................................64 Sub-Problem 2 - Interviews.................................................................. 68 - Document Analysis....................................................70 Sub-Problem 3 - Interviews................................................ 70 Limitations and Delimitations.............................................................. 71 IV. RESULTS Sub-problem 1........................................................................................ 76 Sub-problem 2............. 106 Sub-problem 3.......................................................................................136 V. ANALYSIS Sub-problem 1............................................................................. 157 Sub-problem 2...................................................................................... 173 Sub-problem 3...................................................................................... 188 Inter-problem Analysis....................................................................... 200 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. v i VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS...............212 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................