Vancouver Athlete Leadership Council Info...
Below you'll find recent updates from the Vancouver Athlete Leadership Council. If you have any questions or want to get in contact with any of the Vancouver Athlete Council Members, please drop us an email at info@bcathletevoice.ca .
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VANCOUVER ATHLETE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEETING:
Wednesday 10th June 2009
6pm to 8pm at Langara College
AGENDA:
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1. Welcome
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2. Council fundamentals
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3. Creating a databank of all Vancouver based athletes
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4. Athlete Funding
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5. Getting more high-performance facilities (& access)
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6. Creating greater athlete awareness.
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7. Varsity services for non-varsity high performance athletes
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8. Supporting athletes who don't have a PSO or NSO
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VANCOUVER ATHLETE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEETING NOTES:
Present:
Kevin Yang, Danaka Porter, Kevin Grierson, Mira Leung, Joe Hitchcock (BC Athlete Voice)
Apologies:
Sabrina Kolker, Dolphin Kasper, Jessica Ho, Nikola Girke
1. Council Fundamentals:
The following ideas about how the Council will operate were suggested:
Best Meeting Time: 6pm – 8pm
Best Meeting Venue: Langara College / UBC / Dunbar
Best Meeting Frequency: Bi-Monthly (6 meetings per year)
Best Communication: Fortnightly or at least once a month – important to stay connected between meeting to achieve results
Best Info Platform: Discussed ‘Wiki’ Spaces and Google Documents. Possible use of Community of Practice on BCAV website.
Next Meeting: End of July or start of August. Important for all to attend. Election of Chair and Secretary – need everyone there! Nomination forms to come.
Council Objectives:
Raising awareness for athletes – keeping athletes up to date with what’s going on. Keeping them informed.
Creating a place for athletes to come together and connect.
Establishing relationships with PSOs and NSOs
Connected to retired athletes
Having a focus on all athletes – right through the continuum from BC Games to Olympic and Paralympic Games
ACTION POINTS:
- Needs to be confirmed and approved by the Council at the next meeting
- Request for Council Members not in attendance to provide feedback
- Joe to investigate online Community of Practice through BCAV website
2. Creating a Databank of Vancouver Athletes:
Open to all Vancouver Athletes
Athletes will need to ‘opt’ in
Can promote through CSC Pacific
Can promote through Team BC / Canada Summer Games
Secured:
only athletes opted into the databank can access info
password protected
housed in the BCAV Community of Practice
Required info:
Name / Sport / City Location / What you’re looking for / Dates you’re in the city
Possible to grow the databank to include athletes outside of Vancouver:
Accommodation if travelling around the province
Info about other regions
Contact points around the province
ACTION POINTS:
- Other Council Members to provide feedback
- Joe to investigate how this could work in the community of practice or other options using the website
- Joe to set up information, will forward to the Council for feedback before launch
3. Athlete Funding
Need to know where the money goes? For the entire system – to organizations, to grants, to programs, to athletes etc.
How much is directly provided to high performance athletes?
Graphic or simple description of this to educate athletes with and keep on the BCAV website
Preferred use of funding – directly given to athletes
Questions around the number of administration and support staff in sport organizations? Are they all needed? How do they service athletes?
Need to create public awareness of the situation and what is going on – telling athletes stories, snap shots of a day in an athlete’s life
Opportunities to be creative to support athletes – transit passes etc
Idea to get 500 letters from 500 athletes stating the case for more athlete funding
ACTION POINTS:
- Joe to put together ‘Where the Money Goes’ resource / info for athletes
- Decision by Council on next steps after reviewing this document
4. Increasing Athlete Awareness
Need to promote amateur athletes to the community and general public more
Continue the buzz from major events – Beijing / 2010
Build to where professional sport is and connect the community to local athletes
Idea to have an ongoing blog through the BCAV website for athletes to get their stories out there
Opportunity to approach media outlets to include a weekly ‘Athlete Voice’ segment that is written by a local athlete
ACTION POINTS:
- Joe to send out an email engaging Council Members to write a short blog entry / story / article on a day in the life of an athlete.
- Joe to post this on the BCAV website to provide an example for media outlets.
- Joe to put a proposal together to go to 24hrs
5. Getting More High Performance Facilities And Access
Need to be part of planning for facilities development
Facilities is linked to funding
Lack of knowledge by the public about the need for facilities
Need to work with PSOs to promote the importance
Possible need for a ‘stock take’ – what have we got and what do we need?
ACTION POINTS:
- Possible options to run a gymworks type program with facilities to give high performance athlete more access and cheaper access to facilities – follow up with Andre-Anne and CSC Pacific
- Look into ‘stock take’ and possible creation of a ‘what we need’ list
- More Council input required
Non Varsity athletes accessing Varsity Services
Need for same recognition of varsity athletes and high performance athletes at the institute, but not competing for the institute
Need to investigate what is the status quo
Looking for access to facilities
Looking for access to services (medical etc)
ACTION POINTS:
- Joe to follow up with University Athletic Directors to find out current policy
- Will report back to the Council at the next meeting
7. Supporting Athletes without PSOs / NSOs
Need to identify sports that currently don’t have an active PSO
Understanding why there is no PSO – no critical mass in BC / new sport
Identify athletes through networks or NSO
Support facilitated by BCAV who acts as an advocate to ensure these athletes have access to available services, programs and funding.
ACTION POINTS:
- Joe to approach NSOs / Networks to determine which PSOs are missing and the athletes this effects
GENERAL BUSINESS:
Idea put forward to create a page for athletes to connect and share experiences and common ground that links all sports. Options for this page include...
What music athletes are training to
Favourite pre-competition meal
Suggestions for relaxation
Inspirational video clips / stories
ACTION POINTS:
- Joe to engage BCAV Members for info and construct website page for this
- Council to provide feedback on what Athletes would be interested in
