Sport in Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A wide variety of sports are practiced in Canada. Ice hockey, referred to as simply hockey in the country, is Canada's official winter sport[1] and continues to be its most popular spectator sport and one in which teams representing the country have had the most success. Lacrosse, a sport with First Nations origins, is Canada's oldest sport and official summer sport.[1] Association football, known in Canada as soccer in both English and French, has overtaken hockey as the sport with the most registered players in Canada, but has never enjoyed sustained popularity as a major professional spectator sport, although there are several Canadian teams in the United Soccer Leagues, and Toronto was granted an expansion team in Major League Soccer to begin play in 2007. A uniquely Canadian code of football known as Canadian football is Canada's second most popular spectator sport,[2] and the Canadian Football League's annual championship, the Grey Cup, is the country's single largest sporting event.[3]
As a country with a generally cool climate, Canada has enjoyed greater success at the Winter Olympics than the Summer Olympics, although significant regional variations in climate allow for a wide variety of both team and individual sports. Major upcoming multi-sport events in Canada include the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2010 Winter Olympics. Other popular team sports include curling, baseball, basketball, rugby union and softball. Popular individual sports include both open-wheel and stock car auto racing, boxing, on and off-road cycling, golf, hiking, horse racing, ice skating, professional wrestling, rodeo, skateboarding, alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, swimming, tennis, triathlon, track and field, and water sports. The Lou Marsh Trophy recognizes Canada's top athlete; a list of Canada's Athletes of the 20th Century was published in 1999.
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[edit] Official sports
Canada is a nation with two official sports. Since its founding, and until 1994, the official sport was lacrosse, a sport invented by Aboriginal peoples. In 1994, First Nations groups objected to a government bill that proposed establishing solely ice hockey as Canada's national sport, arguing that it neglected and obliterated recognition of the game of lacrosse, a uniquely Native contribution. In response, the House of Commons amended the bill "to recognize hockey as Canada's National Winter Sport and lacrosse as Canada's National Summer Sport." On May 12, 1994, in Bill C-212, ice hockey joined lacrosse as official sports of Canada.
[edit] Ice hockey
The National Hockey League (NHL) is the world's premier professional ice hockey league. Of its thirty teams, six are Canadian: the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. The Canadian NHL presence peaked with eight teams in the mid-1990s, before the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver, Colorado in 1995 and the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix, Arizona in 1996. Hockey Night in Canada is the longtime national Saturday night television broadcast of NHL games featuring Canadian teams. Hockey Canada is the sports official governing body in Canada and member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Junior hockey (age level between 16 and 20 years old) is hugely popular in the country. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Western Hockey League form the Canadian Hockey League of top level or 'Major Junior A Tier 1' hockey.
[edit] Lacrosse
Lacrosse, dubbed "the fastest game on two feet," was named Canada's National Game by Parliament in 1859. Lacrosse is now the official summer sport of Canada. "Of all the sports programs, lacrosse is the fastest growing for both boys and girls," said Tass Filledes, assistant director of the MIAA and its executive.[citation needed] 81 percent of the lacrosse competition consists primarily of box lacrosse; field lacrosse and inter-crosse make up the rest. According to the CLA over 200,000 men and women of all ages participate in lacrosse. The game is associated with colleges, universities and secondary schools. The Halifax Metro Centre will host the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.
The Canadian Lacrosse Association (l'Association canadienne de crosse), founded in 1925, is the governing body of lacrosse in Canada. It conducts national junior and senior championship tournaments for men and women in both field and box lacrosse. It also participated in the inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in 2003.
The National Lacrosse League is a professional box lacrosse league, with franchises in Canada and the United States. Lacrosse is also pending approval to be on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport roster.
The 2006 World Lacrosse Championship was held in London, Ontario. The Canadians led by John Grant beat the United States 15-10 in the final to break a 28-year US winning streak.
Widely regarded as the best lacrosse player of all time, Gary Gait was born in Victoria, British Columbia and has won every possible major lacrosse championship.
[edit] Team sports
[edit] Australian football
Canada is home to the Ontario Australian Football League, one of the largest Australian rules football leagues outside of Australia. Canada holds the record for the largest attendance for an AFL/VFL match held outside of Australia (in 1987 32,789 people attended a VFL match held at Vancouver, Canada between Melbourne Demons and Sydney Swans - see Australian rules football attendance records). Subsequent Aussie Rules matches in both Vancouver and Toronto have drawn similarly large crowds. The governing body for Australian rules football in Canada is AFL Canada.
[edit] Baseball
The Toronto Blue Jays have been a Major League Baseball club since 1977. The Montreal Expos MLB club played in Montreal from 1969 until 2004 when they moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Blue Jays were the first non-American team to host a World Series Game (in 1992) and the only non-American team to win the World Series (back to back in 1992 and 1993). The Blue Jays had the highest attendance in Major League Basebal during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A number of Canadians have played in the major leagues, and several have won the highest honors in baseball. Canadian Ferguson Jenkins won the National League Cy Young Award in 1971 as the best pitcher in the league. Larry Walker was National League MVP for the 1997 season. Éric Gagné won the National League Cy Young Award in 2003. Jason Bay was the first Canadian to win rookie of the year honours in 2004, and Justin Morneau was the American League MVP for the 2006 season.
Canada had its own baseball league, the Canadian Baseball League, which only lasted one season (2003) before folding, although there is talk of a revival since the Expos' move. Canada participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, in which it upset Team USA in first-round play, [1] which some people in Canada call the "Miracle on Dirt" (a play on the phrase "Miracle on Ice" for the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team). There are a number of minor league, semi-professional and collegiate baseball teams in Canada: see List of baseball teams in Canada.
Great achievements in Canadian baseball are recognized by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
[edit] Basketball
Basketball has become a popular spectator sport in parts of Canada in recent years, especially in Ontario. The National Basketball Association expanded into Canada in 1995 with the addition of the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001, but the Raptors continue to draw healthy crowds at the Air Canada Centre. The 2005 & 2006 NBA MVP Steve Nash is from British Columbia and has played in international competitions for Canada.
Basketball's inventor, James Naismith, was Canadian; born in Almonte, Ontario, he was working as a physical education instructor in Massachusetts when he created the game in 1891.
[edit] Canadian football
Football in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s,[4] and over time, a unique code of football known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1882 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union. Currently active teams such as the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats have similar longevity. The CFL is the second most popular sports league in Canada,[2] and its annual championship, the Grey Cup, is the country's single largest sporting event.[3] Canadian football is also played at the high school, junior, collegiate, and semi-professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football League is a large league for players aged 18-22, many post-secondary institutions compete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport for the Vanier Cup, and semi-pro leagues such as the Alberta Football League have grown in popularity in recent years.
Great achievements in Canadian football are recognized by the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
[edit] Cricket
Although cricket doesn't enjoy high popularity in Canada as the game does in other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, Canada is nonetheless an associate state of international cricket, and has a team that tries out for the Cricket World Cup (Made it in 1979, 2003, 2007). Ottawa has many cricket clubs for people of all ages. In 2001 the ICC Trophy Tournament was held in Canada with Toronto hosting the finals. http://www.canadacricket.com/
[edit] Curling
The Canadian Curling Association is the sports's governing body in Canada. The Tim Hortons Brier is the national men's championship, and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the national women's championship. It is estimated that there are about 1.3 million curlers in Canada, which makes up about 94% of the curlers in the world. Curling is most popular in the prairie provinces with the most competitive teams in recent years coming from the province of Alberta. However, curling has a degree of popularity across the country. For example, a team from Quebec, which is not a traditional hotbed of curling, won the Brier in 2006.
[edit] Field hockey
Field hockey is generally restricted to spring, summer and early autumn seasons, except in southwestern British Columbia, where it can be played year-round. It is principally a girls' sport in schools, but is played by both men and women in adult leagues across the country. In 2006, registered membership was approximately 15,000, playing the game on either one of 400 clubs or over 600 school teams across the country. [5]
[edit] Rugby union
The sport is governed by Rugby Canada. Canada is categorised as a 'Second Tier' nation in rugby by the International Rugby Board and the national team have qualified for all five Rugby World Cups. British Columbia is something of a stronghold as its most heavily populated areas have a less severe winter climate than the rest of the country.
[edit] Soccer
Soccer is one of the country's most played recreational sports, particularly as a school sport. The sport's official governing body in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association. Whereas the national women's team is competitive internationally (Finished 4th place in FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, and 2nd place in FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship 2002), the national men's team struggles (Played one world cup, 1986 FIFA World Cup, withdrew in 1962).
Canada hosted the FIFA U-16 World Championship 1987 and FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship 2002. Canada will host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be played in the cities of Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Victoria and Vancouver in 2007. It is to be largest FIFA event ever hosted by Canada. Also in 2007, Toronto FC will begin play in Major League Soccer.
[edit] Individual sports
[edit] Auto racing
The Canadian Grand Prix Formula One auto races have been conducted every year since 1967, and since 1978 the races have been conducted at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. The track was named for Canada's first Grand Prix driver, the late Gilles Villeneuve, whose son Jacques won the Formula One championship in 1997.
Champ Car (formerly "CART"), another major open-wheel racing series, held races in the Canadian cities of Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton in 2005 and 2006. They have also held races in Vancouver, and in 2007 the Montreal event will be moved to Mont-Tremblant. Several Canadians have starred in Champ Car racing, most notably Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Tracy, who won the series championships in 1995 and 2003 (respectively).
CASCAR was the country's governing body for amateur and professional stock car racing until it was purcased by NASCAR in 2006. The highest teir of stock car racing in Canada is NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. There is also interest in NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) formed NASCAR Canada in partnership with TSN. Canada is NASCAR's largest market outside the US, and as a result a Nascar Busch series race is scheduled to take place in Montreal in 2007.[6]
[edit] Bowling
The sport of bowling takes several forms in Canada, including ten-pin and lawn bowling, but most notably Canada has its own version; Five-pin bowling, which was invented in Toronto. Five-pin is played in all parts of Canada, but not played in any other country.
[edit] Golf
Golf is a widely-enjoyed recreational sport in Canada, and the country boasts several highly-rated courses. The Royal Canadian Golf Association is the governing organization, and has over 1,600 associated member clubs and over 300,000 individual members.[7] The RCGA also conducts the only PGA Tour and LPGA tour events in Canada, and it also manages the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.
Canadian Professional Golf Tour, once known as the "Peter Jackson Tour" is an organization that runs a series of tournaments for professional players, some of which are conducted outside Canada.
- See also: Category:Golf in Canada
[edit] Tennis
As in many countries, tennis is a sport enjoyed year-round, indoors and outdoors, in all parts of Canada. For information about the professional events that take place in Canada, please refer to Canada Masters. A list of Canadians who gained fame playing tennis can be found at Category:Canadian tennis players.
[edit] Multi-sport events
[edit] Commonwealth Games
Canada is one of only six nations to have attended every Commonwealth Games, and hosted the first ever British Empire Games in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada also hosted the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, and the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia. Canada ranks third in the all-time medal tally of Commonwealth Games. Halifax, Nova Scotia is bidding to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
[edit] North American Indigenous Games
Canada hosted the first ever North American Indigenous Games in 1990 in Edmonton, Alberta, as well as the 1993 Games in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the 1997 Games in Victoria, British Columbia, and the 2002 Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[edit] Olympic Games
Canada has competed at every Olympic Games, except for the first games in 1896 and the boycotted games in 1980. Canada has previously hosted the games twice, at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and Vancouver is scheduled to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. A number of athletes have competed for Canada over the years.
At the summer games, the majority of Canada's medals come from the sports of athletics, aquatics (swimming, synchronized swimming and diving), rowing and canoeing/kayaking. Canada generally fares somewhat poorly in the summer games: in 2004 Canada only collected 12 medals (3 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze). This is especially astonishing when taken in comparison with countries that usually perform very well, such as Australia, which although it had 12 million less people, collected 49 Olympic medals (17 gold, 16 silver and 16 bronze). In the post-boycott era (since 1988), Canada's medal total ranks 19th, with the highest rank of 11th in 1992 and the lowest of 24th in 2000.
At the winter games, Canada is usually one of the top nations in terms of medals won. Canada is traditionally strong in the sports of ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating (especially the short track variation), and every Canadian men's and women's teams have won curling medals since the sport was added to the Olympic program.
After Canada failed to win any gold medals at both Olympics it previously hosted—the 1976 Summer and 1988 Winter games—various organizations including Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee collaborated to launch "Own the Podium - 2010", a development program to help Canada earn the most medals of any country at the 2010 Games.
The National Sport School in Calgary, founded 1994, is the first Canadian high school designed exclusively for Olympic-calibre athletes.
[edit] Pan American Games
Canada has hosted the Pan American Games twice. Both the 1967 Pan American Games and 1999 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[edit] Universiade
Canada hosted the 1983 Summer Universiade in Edmonton, Alberta.
[edit] Governance
Federal and provincial governments are both actively involved in sports, as each has areas of jurisdiction which overlap sports. Sport Canada generally directs (or at least co-ordinates) federal activity in sports. While the federal government generally tries to take a leadership role in areas of international competition (where its jurisdiction is clearest) some provinces, especially Quebec, are actively involved in sports at all levels, even with elite international athletes. Provinces will often focus on student athletics, as it falls more clearly in an area of provincial jurisdiction (that being education).
Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) is the national governing body for university sports, while the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association governs college sports. A factor which affects athletic participation levels in CIS member institutions is the CIS restriction that scholarships cover tuition only, drawing many of Canada's best student athletes to the United States where organizations such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) allow "full ride" scholarships which include tuition, books, housing, and travel. Another is the popular Canadian Hockey League (for male hockey players aged 15 to 20), which effectively serves as the primary development league for the professional National Hockey League, although CHL teams offer financial support for players who choose to play CIS hockey after leaving the CHL.
[edit] References
- ^ a b National Sports of Canada Act (1994). Consolidated Statutes and Regulations. Department of Justice. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
- ^ a b Canadian Press (2006-06-08). Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise. Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
- ^ a b William Houston (2006-12-20). Grey Cup moves to TSN in new deal. The Globe And Mail. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
- ^ Canadian Football Timelines (1860 – present). Football Canada. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
- ^ http://www.fieldhockey.ca/e/about/
- ^ http://www.nascar.com/races/bg/2007/data/schedule.html
- ^ http://www.rcga.org/english/About/purpose.asp
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