week 12 - professionalism, hockey and government involvement in 20th century canadian sport
TRANSCRIPT
Week 12 - Professionalism, Hockey and Government
Involvement in 20th Century Canadian Sport
1900-1960+
•$ $• Era of the Pro• Prostitute status in ’00 to Our Best• High quality performance• era of strong sport performance for
Cdns
R TaitMcKenzie
’32 OlShield
Brothers ofthe Wind
Joy ofEffort
Hanlan & HanlanClub to promote
Paris Crewpromoted themselves
Louis Cyr promoted himself as entertainer-strongman
Edouard “Newsy” LalondeBest lacrosse player of ½ century
Imperial tobacco company cards Issued in 1911
BA Scott and St Lawrence foundation to promote and invest her commercial interests
Burns (bornNoah Brusso)and pro promotion
Jimmy McLarnin ltw(1923-36)retired becof skilful promotion
Lionel Pretoria Conacher
Pro in Football, Hockey, Baseball, Lacrosse, Boxing, Wrestling
King Carl
Cdn hopes
“Say it ain’t so, Ben”
Bennies JohnsonFastest Junkie on Earth
Hockey
• History• Leagues• International competition• The monopoly• The dominant sport• Marketing violence• Canada’s game?• The Sweater
• Shinty• Hurley• Shinny• Bandy• Montreal 1875 – 9 men per side• McGill University rules• Montreal City Hockey League -
1885
• AmHA – 1886• OHA – 1890• Lord Stanley – Sir Frederick Arthur
Stanley• International Hockey League – 1904• National Hockey Association, 1910• Pacific Coast League: The Patricks• National Hockey League 1917• Western Canadian Hockey League
1922
Taylor’s salary of $5200 in 09 made him most highly paid pro player in any sport at the time
Lester Patrick
Hockey’s Popularity
• 1. Town boosterism• 2. Commercialization• 3. Popular press• 4. International competition• 5. American Money• 6. Radio• 7. Television
US, Czech, Sweden28 for 1 against
1920 WinterOlympicGames(unofficial)
1924 Chamonix, France
• Toronto Granites• First Round: Canada 22 Sweden 0
33Switz 0
20Czech 0
1924 Team
1924
• Round 2 • Canada 19 Britain 2
6 US1
1928 St. Mortiz
• Toronto Grads: 3 pools• Canada 11 Sweden 0
13 Switz0
14 Britain0
1932 Lake Placid
• Winnipeg
1936 Garmish-Partenkirken
• Canada-Britain
1948 St. Moritz
• Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers
1952 Oslo
• Edmonton Mercuries
American $$
• US owners – monopoly• Mobility, pay, playing rights
Hockey Violence
• The law• Expansion after 1967• The Broad Street Bullies• The Big Bad Bruins• Don Cherry and the marketing of
violence as entertainment
Why?
• Safety valve theory – letting off steam• Intensity creates hair trigger tempers• Puts people in the seats• How boys and men learn to understand
sport and its relationship to masculinity – confrontation is a test
• Respect from opponents – stick work
Canada Cup 1976;1st time pro hockeyplayers includedin all national teams for “best” in the world
Summary
• Small town, big city identification
• International success = expectation + national identity
• Stars – icons of Canadian culture• Monopoly
American Gothic ?
Canadian Gothic ?
• “Hockey has left the river and will never return. But like the “street,” like an “ivory tower,” the river is less a physical place than an attitude, a metaphor for unstructured, unorganized time alone. And if the game no longer needs the place, it needs the attitude”
Government Involvement in 20th Century Sport
Megan PopovicUWO Doctoral CandidateKin 263: Canadian Sport
History
Denis CoderreSecretary of State- Amateur Sport
• “Sport…heart of Canadian life…benefits for each and every Canadian, for our communities, and our country…qualities we value as Canadians – fairness, team spirit, hard work, dedication, and commitment…hard-working, dedicated and committed high performance athletes are role models for our children…physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being…develops character…discipline and perseverance…way for Canadians to get to know each other.”
Intentions of Lecture
• Examine the larger social structure and cultural environment in which sport and physical activity function
• Look at the potential contribution of sport policy in strengthening citizenship and social cohesion
• Ask: – Forces and events caused gov’t action?– Key Actors?– Consequences of Actions?
Citizenship
• “On one hand, citizenship is a legal, political, and social reality, a distinct way to organize and experience membership in a social and political community. On the other hand, it is both an idea and an ideal: the particular way in which we reflect upon evaluate this membership”
Contribution of Sport Policy to Citizenship
• 1. Promotion of national identity and minority identities
• 2. Attainment of social rights and cultural rights: sport as common good
• 3. Participation in the life of the political community (volunteer involvement)
• 4. Set of moral qualities (civic virtues)
Question to Consider:
Have Canadian sport policies contributed to the development of
citizenship?
Stakeholders
• Athletes• Coaches• Administrators• Educational
systems• Canadian public
• Sport organizations• Federal
government• Provinces/
municipalities/territories
• Canadian media
Sport and Rec and the Welfare State
• Welfare State:“the state has direct economic stake in
the provision of public education, public health care, the setting of minimum wage, the regulation of profits, pollution and environmental degradation, and the development of legislation aimed at fair employment practices and equal opportunities for all citizens”
• Citizenship Regime-a specific form of recognition of certain
rights that is association with a dominant form of legitimate state action and the state’s relationship with society
-each citizenship regime links to:- a specific type of rights (R), and-a legitimate form of state action (A)
Period: 1930-1945
• Role of state: Emergence of welfare state
• Citizenship regime: Liberal– R: Civic rights– A: Responsibility for self
• Policy objectives: Specific intervention, moral reform, employability
1930-1945
• Pro-Rec program –B.C. in 1934• Strathcona Trust• Charitable organizations: YMCA, YWCA,
Boys and Girls Club, Rec committees
“Liberal” –specific state interventions to support citizens, specifically youth, to enable them to take control of their lives to became responsible and productive citizens
Period: 1945-1975
• Role of state: Consolidation of welfare state
• Citizenship regime: Social – R: Social rights– A: Social justice
• Policy objectives: Right to sports, disease prevention
1945-1975
• 5 BX/ 10 BX RCAF Programs– 5 Basic eXercises for Men– 10 Basic eXercises for Women– Graduated callisthenic exercises – Very widely distributed and sold– Indirectly government since RCAF– Note: Militarism of Strath Trust,
NFP Act, and 5BX/XBX
CBC Archives
• 5 Basic eXercises – Broadcasted Aug.
16, 1961– “RCAF exercises
performed for 11 minutes a day are ideal for both the champion athlete and the modern housewife”
• 5 Basic eXercises - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives
1945-1975
• Bill C-131 Fitness and Amateur Sport Act– Larger forces and events:
•Post-war internationalism in sport•Impact of television•Urbanization and industrialization•Socio-economic changes•Growth of government
CBC Archives
• “Armchair Suicide”– Broadcast July
16, 1968– “The sudden
death rate climbs as lazy Canadians sit in front of the boob tube, experts say”
• Committing armchair suicide - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives
PM John Diefenbaker
• Believed success in sport by Canadians would have positive effect on national pride:
“In the field of sport today there are tremendous dividends in national price from some degree of success in athletics. The uncommitted countries of the world are now using these athletic contests as measurements of the evidence of the strength and power of nations participating.”
Fitness and Amateur Sport Act 1961
• “to encourage, promote, and develop fitness and amateur sport in Canada” (Canada 1961: Chapter 59, Section 3)
• that a national fitness, recreation, and amateur athletic program be established
• that an Advisory Council be established• that provision be made through grants and
training courses for training of personnel and for research and surveys
• that federal assistance be given in the preparation of informational and educational material on fitness, recreation, and athletics,
• that $5 million be made available• that a cabinet committee be established to
consider the manner of presentation of the national fitness program
F & AS Money Spent On:
• Federal-provincial cost-sharing programs• Grants to sport governing bodies• Hockey • Coaching leadership and training
programs• Bursary programs for elite athletes• Canada Games (“Unity through sport”)• Scholarship and research programs
F & AS Act
• Few grants to grass roots level• House of commons debates through
1960s clear –quest was for international sport prestige
• “they watered the flowers instead of the fields”
Administration of F & AS Act
• Administered by National Advisory Council
• NAC interested in mass participation and fitness
• Gov’t interested in gold medals• NAC advisory only and always in
conflict with Ministry of Health and Welfare
Task Forces
• Trudeau government set up dual study commissions in 1968
“There are a certain number of symptoms which worry me –the fact that hockey is our national sport and yet in the world championship we have not been able, as amateurs, to perform as well as we know we can.”
Task Forces
• 1969 Report on the Task Force on Sport in Canada– “Task Force Report”– Looked at sport in
Canada– Nancy Green + 2
non-sport admins– Concern: hockey
and international sport
Task Forces
• 1969 A Report on Physical Recreation, Fitness and Amateur Sport in Canada– The PS Ross Report– Look at fitness of Canadians and
resulted in ParticipACTION
1969 Task Force Report
• Report heavy emphasis on revitalizing sport in Canada re performance
• Most comprehensive on Hockey Canada and ways to WIN!! (not since 1961 had won world championship)
• Best result: Sport Canada, Recreation Canada
1969 Task Force Report
• Noted how Pro sport had destroyed regional competition
• Problems unique to Canada –huge geographical mass; 1000s of $$ rinks; apathetic public; lack of athletic development programs
• Significant and comprehensive report
F & AS Act Contributions?
• Systematized sport organization• Created a bureaucracy of sport
including large administration center in Ottawa
• Creation of National Coaching Assoc; Canada Fitness Awards program; set up grants-in-aid to athletes program; founded Cdn Academy of Sports Medicine; grants to international sport groups and games (ie Olympics)
F & AS Act Contributions?
• Set precedents for provincial government programs/services
• “Best Ever” programs like Best Ever 88
• Became THE control agency for sport in Canada at all levels
• Bureaucratized sport; one more step in its institutionalization
Period: 1975-2000
• Role of state: State-Province Restructuring
• Citizenship Regime: Neo-liberal – R: Rights based on proven needs– A: Citizen responsibility
• Policy Objectives: Promotion of healthy lifestyle
ParticipACTION
• From 1969 study commissioned by NAC for Fitness and Amateur Sport –concluded Cdns in terrible shape, future of well-beings of Cdns in jeopardy, and most Cdns couldn’t care less
ParticipACTION: 3 Objectives
• 1. Create a national awareness and educational campaign regarding the health and social benefits of an active lifestyle, with practical advie on “getting started”
• 2. leverage the public funds invested by generating private sector support to at least match the public funds
• 3. cooperate with and support the efforts of community-based health, sport and p.a. leaders and their programs
ParticipACTION Mass Media Campaigns
• 3 decades: 533 television messages and 549 radio messages
• Assessed value: $280 million• Supported by: 350 TV stations, 110 daily
newspapers, 950 weekly newspapers, 1100 magazines, 1100 corporate publications and associations newsletters
• Also part of ParticipACTION: – Community-based initiatives– Education programs– Creation of resources (healthy eating,
work-place health and activity, etc)
Early Years 1973-79
Theme for 1983-64
Vitality 1990-95
Sharing a healthier future 1996-2000
“All in the family” video clip
PARTICIPaction
• ParticipACTION packing it in? - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives
Period: 2000+
• Role of state: Post-welfare state• Citizenship regime: Inclusive state
– R: Social and cultural rights– Inclusive governance
• Policy obligations: Access to sport
2000+
• The Canadian Sport Policy (2002)• Federal-Provincial/Territorial Priorities
for Collaborative Action in Sport (2002)
• Bill C-54 Physical Activity and Sport Act (replace Fitness and Amateur Sport Act of 1961) (2003)
Final thought…
• Funding Canadian athletes: An opposing view - Funding of Amateur Sports - CBC Archives