Last week was an exceptionally busy week, considering that we had no hockey related events to take up the evenings. I was committed, however, to attending an evening event being hosted by our municipality. “True Sport” was coming to town to make a presentation on the “True Sport” movement.
Though I had seen the logo before, I had no idea what True Sport was all about. After the first video presentation, I think I got it.
To help explain, I took this definition right from their websites:
What is True Sport? True Sport is a social movement powered by people who believe that sport can transform lives and communities—if we do it right. True Sport members across Canada are committed to community sport that’s healthy, fair, inclusive, and fun. True Sport members stand together against cheating, bullying, aggressive parental behaviour, and win-at-all-costs thinking.
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True Sport is trying to educate and inform people about the value of good sport (as opposed to bad sport), get them to commit to that cause by signing up on the website, and also asking people spread the word to others. Individuals, teams, or whole organizations can sign up for the True Sport movement.
The video we watched consisted of a number of prominent athletes and Olympians, officials, and high level national sporting body staff. The following slide show, presented by an enthusiastic True Sport staff, talked more about the principles and values behind True Sport, and gave concrete examples of how True Sport was put into play in various sports and communities.
While I knew right then that I would be committing myself to the True Sport movement as an individual since they principals are akin to my own beliefs, I wondered how True Sport would fit with hockey associations across Canada. True sport is about being healthy, fair, inclusive, and fun, but hockey is (more often than not) competitive within a system, meaning that there are cuts, and there are shortened benches.
After making this comment at the meeting, Casey (the True Sport representative) indicated that “fair did not always mean equal”, and while this issue often came up as a potential barrier to implementing the True Sport philosophy, many hockey organizations were committed to ensuring that hockey was fair (e.g. criteria for making the “A” team were consistent and transparent before tryouts) and inclusive (e.g. every player had a team to play on). After looking on the True Sport organization, I noted that no fewer than 113 hockey teams, associations, or organizations across Canada have committed to True Sport, and the True Sport principles. These teams and organizations range from a breakfast club, to whole associations (e.g. Ontario Women’s Hockey Association), novice teams to junior level, and some businesses have even joined up to support the cause.
After hearing your feedback to a number of questions posed on Hockey Mom in Canada, and reading your comments on the Hockey Mom in Canada discussion board, I think that True Sport is something that Hockey Mom in Canada can get behind. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Are any of you involved with True Sport teams, organizations, or communities?
Check out True Sport’s website at www.truesportpur.ca
Leave a comment on Hockey Mom in Canada facebook page, or email contactus@canadianhockeymoms.ca