ABSTRACT
Like most countries, Canada’s sporting ethos is based on the fundamental, yet sometimes contradictory, goals of participation and excellence. From children’s play for fun on local playgrounds emerge the talented few who eventually reach national and international athletic stardom, even though the climb from playground to podium is often long and tortuous. For the past forty years and more, since Canadian governments became seriously involved in sport, they have struggled to find just the right balance between promoting mass participation in physical activity and sport among the populace, and at the same time developing a ‘seamless’ sport system in which the talented few can rise to the top and succeed.
