Reflection Paper on "Does Canada's Best Athlete Have a Future"

Reflection Paper on "Does Canada's Best Athlete Have a Future"

The Future of Canadian Sports

            The plight of Canadian sports is an enigma and unpredictable. Perhaps the expectations have been outrageous given the country’s proximity to sports powerhouse and south neighbour the US. Although unfair, Canadian sports will always be linked to American sports. This reality has both become a source of motivation and reason for failure. But unlike the US, China, or even Germany, the history of Canadian sports is not as decorated. Global sports both team and individual disciplines rarely mention any dominant Canadian athlete. Although Canada has been strong in ice hockey, the sport has a following limited to North America, Scandinavia, and Republics formerly affiliated with the USSR.

            The feature article in Canadian magazine The Walrus entitled “The Game not played” critically describes the current state of Canadian sports. Although the focus is made on the National Women’s football team and star Christine Sinclair, the realities presented in the article depict common sentiments. The article highlighted the team’s lack of mainstream success despite finishing atop with the best in the world. One of the important messages the article is trying to deliver relates to Sinclair’s past performance versus the US. She scored a hat trick (three goals) yet the team still lost because of some controversial calls. The article was trying to paint a picture showing Canada being content with just competing despite its capabilities to win.

            In terms of performance in the Summer Olympics, Canada is not even in the top ten in total medal hauls. Since the country’s first participation in the biggest quadrennial sports event, Canada has amassed a total of 276 medals of which 59 are gold. Although the number of medal is respectable, the figure is totally far from what other developed countries have achieved. When compared to the US, Canada’s total medals where hauled by the former in just three Olympics. Countries such as Finland and Romania have obtained more medals in lesser number of participation. Cuba and South Korea have even more gold medals than Canada. The most alarming part is that during the latest Summer Olympics in London, Canada only got one gold medal. The total number of gold medals in the last four Summer Olympics is equal to what Canada got during the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, which is 10.

            Canada has enjoyed better performance during the Winter Olympics. But this is expected because of less competition and because sports such as hockey, speed skating, and figure skating are where Canadians do excel. Since the inaugural Winter Olympics in France in 1924, Canada hauled a total 145 medals of which 52 are gold. Despite these good results, Canada has never been a dominant player in any Winter Olympics. The country did well as host during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics recovering 26 medals of which 14 are gold. But past results show that Canada has remained just in the middle of pack.

            Aside from Sinclair, Canada have several popular sports personalities. Wayne Gretzky is considered as the greatest hockey player ever is perhaps the most famous. Despite hockey being a niche sport, Gretzky popularity has somewhat become global because of his affiliation with a Los Angeles team after playing most of his career in Canada. Steve Nash is a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the National Basketball Association. (NBA) and has also established a huge following among global basketball fans. Ben Johnson, despite the doping controversy was once the fastest man on earth.

            Canada has a long way to go if the goal is matching other powers in the sports world. But the future is bright given the government’s desire to provide better performance in future sports events. The NBA just had the first Canadian first overall pick in Anthony Bennett. Next year’s draft also features another Canadian Andrew Wiggins who is being touted as the best college basketball prospect since Kevin Durant and Lebron James.

References
Poplak, Richard, “The Game Not Played.” The Walrus, June 2013. < http://thewalrus.ca/the-

game-not-played/>

BUY REFLECTION PAPER ON "DOES CANADA'S ATHLETE HAVE A FUTURE" NOW!

This is a sample Reflection Paper on "Does Canada's Best Athlete Have a Future" from smartessaywriters.com – the leading provider of reliable and affordable essay writing services and research paper writing services in the United States and the United Kingdom