Status of the High Performance Athlete in 2004

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Status of the High Performance Athlete in 2004
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HP Study

• This is the third study of high performance
  athletes in just over a decade (1992, 1997, 2004)
• The primary goals
• To paint a picture of high-performance athletes
  current social and economic characteristics
• To capture athlete perceptions and views of
  Canadas high performance sport system

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HP Study

• Participants
• 511 carded athletes
• 75 NSO coaches and high performance directors
• Presidents and staff of 8 Canadian Sport Centres
• 61 previously carded athletes

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HP Study

• Timing
• Survey was conducted prior to the September 2004
  increase in AAP stipends
• Stipends increased by 400 per month
• Athletes CAN successfully advocated for this
  increase

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HP Study

• Key Findings
• Satisfaction Levels
• Training and Competition
• Income Levels
• Education
• Athlete Representation
• Barriers

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Satisfaction Levels

• Majority of athletes view involvement in HP sport
  as a way of life
• Motivation is based on pursuit of excellence
  rather than money/material rewards
• Athletes are highly satisfied with their level of
  enjoyment and with their level of achievement
• One third of athletes are satisfied with their
  level of income

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Satisfaction Levels

• Most athletes believe it is important for Canada
  to have an overall goal for HP sport
• Half agree Canadas goals should be linked to
  medal rankings at Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Three quarters agree Canada should rank among
  countries of comparable size and wealth and the
  goals should be linked to resources available

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Satisfaction Levels

• Types of support considered of high importance
• adequate financial support (98)
• quality coaching (96)
• enough time to train and compete (94)
• high quality international competitions

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Training and Competition

• Besides financial support athletes rate quality
  coaching and access to international competition
  as important factors to success
• Most athletes believe that full-time training
  (30hours/week) is necessary to be successful
• Athletes train on the average 36 hours per week
• The average number of international
  competitions/yr (8) is up significantly since
  1997 (2) and down since 1992 (12)

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Training and Competition

• Most athletes primary training affiliation is
  with single sport national training centres and
  clubs
• Fewer athletes consider CSCs or university
  programs as their primary training
  affiliation

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Income Levels Views on AAP

• Most agree that AAP makes it possible to achieve
  higher levels of performance
• 62 agree that AAP should vary according to
  performance level
• 33 agree that AAP support should vary according
  to income
• Athletes indicate that first priority for AAP
  should be higher stipends
• Second priority is more cards

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Income Levels

• Average Income 25,000 to 29,000/year
• Average income is mostly sport-related (AAP)
• 16 of athletes are employed full-time
• 43 are not employed
• Carded athletes over the age of 27 have an
  average income of 35,700

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Income Levels - Expenses

• Average monthly expenses is approx. 2,500
• Average debt is 8,302 among student athletes

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Education

• 50 of the athletes who responded to the survey
  are students
• Most student athletes are pursuing a university
  degree in a wide variety of fields of study
• Compared to Canadians, carded athletes are
  generally more educated

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Athlete Representation

• Athlete representation has a low profile
• Athletes are divided in their satisfaction with
  the athlete representation they receive
• Awareness of Athletes CAN is high, and athletes
  are moderately satisfied with how well
  represented they feel, and of the impact that
  Athletes CAN has on issues that affect their lives

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Barriers

• Money has posed a medium to large barrier to
• 50-60 of athletes
• The biggest barrier is access to competitions,
  which is most likely a result of decreased
  resources for National Team Programs
• Access to coaching is not seen to be a large
  barrier

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Conclusions

• Two overriding themes drawn from the survey
• The degree of commitment and dedication that
  athletes have for their sport
• The concern with the level of financial
  assistance and general recognition from
  government and others