Canadian Sports Heroes

This is my project that showcases Canada's rich history of people that have contributed to sports. We recognize these contributors as heroes. Through this I hope that all these heroes will forever be recognized and celebrated for their contributions. They serve as an example and inspiration to us all. Enjoy! 

Charmaine Crooks is an amazing human being. Being a five-time Olympian and Olympic silver medalist is an amazing accomplishments within itself, but in addition to her achievements in athletics she is a sports and business leader. With her participation in the International Olympic Committee, IOC Ethics Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency, and Right of Play International Crook plays an active role in the development of modern day athletics despite her retiring from the track. Now she is the president of NGU Consultants Inc and director on various charitable and public sector boards. She also has current volunteer leadership on the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Soccer Association executive board and the Organizing Committee FIFA Competitions. To sum up her neverending resume she recently co-founded the 365 International Sport Foundation that is meant to bring communities together through participation in sports. To put it simply, someone that has dedicated their life to sports and participated in so many things outside of their athletic career, they without a doubt have to love sports. It is simply impossible to accomplish the things Charmaine Crooks has done without having a genuine heart pounding love for athletics and people. In a way, disregarding Crooks participation in all these committees and initiatives is a complete dismissal of hard work and athletes. Why? Because the things Charmaine Crooks impacts people participating in athletics today, as well as the future generations that will lead our nation through sports. If the time she has invested towards creating an even playing field for athletes and inspiring the young generations goes ignored, then the future of athleticism will be ignored as well.

To sum up James Naismith I would say that he can be described as an innovator trained in athleticism. There are many people that are born with natural athletic talents, and others that live and breath athleticism. For Naismith, he used his experiences in sports to create the first football helmet and basketball. Often times people don’t associate innovation with sports, yet one of the most contributions to sport history did it with his skills in innovation. While teaching at Young Men’s Christian Association Training School, he was asked to create a game that athletes could play indoors during the winter. As a result, Naismith came up with basketball. Not only did he make up the game, but he also established an official rule book and basketball program at the University of Kansas. Anyone that fails to recognize James Naismith and his contributions rejects the association of innovation in sports and the very much loved sport of basketball as a whole.

Even people unfamiliar with hockey or sports in general have heard of the statement “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Those, are the famous words of Wayne Gretzky, a former professional ice hockey player and coach. As the leading scorer in NHL history and participation in 18 NHL All-Star Games, Gretzky has left behind a legacy for all people. In my opinion, his career can be summed up in the aforementioned quote, something we often reiterate and use as inspiration. To me, Wayne Gretzky isn’t a legacy because of the number of goals he scored, he’s a legacy because he fuelled millions of people, pointing them towards their own goals. To me Wayne Gretzky is a hero because his career didn’t end with him, but it will forever continue as his accomplishments, and most of all his words, be carried through future generations.  

Off the slopes, Alexandre Bilodeau does a number of charitable work, more notably his work with the Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centres. With such exceptional players like him, often times their performance outshines the work they do outside of it. Because Bilodeau’s abilities have been so often recognized, I particularly would like to shine a light on what he does outside of that to contribute to sports. As an honorary chair of the Alexandre Bilodeau Fund for Adapted Sports in Montreal, the fund and contributions go towards adapted sports programs with motor, hearing, vision and language impairments. Bilodeau’s older brother Frederic has cerebral palsy, so he’s discussed how for him children with physical impairments serve as his inspirations - “they’ve encouraged me to be the athlete I am today.” He has also been involved with the Cerebral Palsy Association and the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres for Cerebral Palsy Research. It’s safe to say that since his retirement in 2014, his charitable activities mean a great deal to him and have served him with the fuel that propelled him to victory. In my opinion, I think Alexandre Bilodeau would much prefer that people help support children with physical impairments by creating adapted environments that they can learn and have fun. Even if 500 years from now Alexandre Bilodeau is not remembered in name, he should be remembered by action.

The height of Barbara Ann Scott’s career was during a time where nations fought and blood was shed, World War II. Barbara Ann Scott provided Canada with inspiration and newfound strength to carry on during the struggles of war. Prime Minister Mackenzie King also recognized her achievements and the impacts it had on the nation. The 19-year-old’s gold medal in the 1948 St. Moritz Olympics upheaved the country and lifted it from it’s post war despairs. When she won Canada’s first ever gold medal in single figuration, two forwards of the Ottawa RCAF Flyers hockey team lifted Scott on their shoulders, the moment of bliss and victory was captured on camera and shared around the globe. To put it simply the 19-year-old’s win was not just about the gold, it was about single handedly carrying the despairs of war on your shoulders and giving your country a reason to celebrate. Barbara Ann Scott showed the power of her sport, and the power of her art; because of that, she needs to be remembered for as long as we remember World War II.

The reason why I chose Joe Keeper to be part of this list is because he was a member of the Norway House Cree First Nation and often times we forget to recognize aboriginals that have contributed to Canadian sports history. Joe Keeper was on the same 1912 Olympic team as John “Army” Howard. Keeper had his fair share of trials and tribulations, as he moved away from home to Brandon Indian Residential School. His aptitude for long distance running was showcased at the school, which allowed him to move forward in his life and join the North End Amateur Athletic Club, eventually setting a Canadian record for the 10-mile run in 1911. In the 1912 Canadian Olympic trials he won the 10,000m event but fell 15seconds behind bronze in Stockholm. He continued running for four more years, that’s when he joined the Canadian Army, serving in france for two years during World War I. For his service, he earned the Military Medal for Bravery and eventually remained athletically active, as he competed in the 1919 Inter-Allied Games. To outline all of Joe Keeper’s achievements and the effects of his hard work would take pages, but one thing remains certain, whether he was an athlete or a soldier Joe Keeper fought for Canada and that without a doubt needs to be recognized on both fronts.

Barbara Howard is believed to be the first black woman to represent Canada in international competition, however, she wasn’t recognized  in her later years of life. The late recognition is largely part of the fact that she spent decades in obscurity following her international competition at the British Empire Games in 1938; this was due to the fact that did not do as well as she wanted in the games. "I thought I'd disappointed Canada," Barbara Howard told the Globe in 2010. "I was ashamed when I came home that I didn't have a gold medal." In some ways, being 17 myself (the age she broke the 100 yard British Empire Games record) I can sympathize with some of Barbara’s emotions after the games. When you have high expectations for yourself and fail to meet them you disappoint yourself more than anyone else. Due to the Olympics being cancelled during World War II, Howard was unable to redeem herself and pursued a career in teaching, becoming the first member of a visible minority to be hired by the Vancouver School Board. For people that are a similar place in life that I am, last year of high school and trying to figure out what they want to do to their lives, Barbara Howard is someone we can sympathize with. She shows us that age, gender, race does not determine the competition and the high standards she held herself to exhibit dedication and spirit that many dream to have towards their work. She doesn’t stop there, also teaching the world a valuable lesson, that failure does not determine the outcome. In her eyes, she failed to compete to her fullest potential at the British Empire Games; but to me the fact that she was able to move on and conquer other fields of work (teaching) show a tenacity and diligence that I hope to develop. Since the legacy of Barbara Howard had slept for so many decades, it is the least we can do to carry on her motivation and share her story, so that others too can be inspired by it.

In the spirit of this month, February which is widely recognized as Black History Month, Canadian athlete John “Army” Howard should without a doubt be recognized. The sprinter was a part of the 1912 Canadian olympic team, being the first black Olympian to represent Canada. For those who have heard of him and his accomplishments, fail to realize how racist the early 1900s were. Despite his talent, he experienced racist coverage, meaning that the media was influenced based on the general bias towards people of colour during that time period. However, that was only a glimpse of what he went through on the daily. Though right now we recognize John Howard in the history books, he experienced many hardships, also being unable to stay at the same hotel as his teammates. If anyone wonders why John Army Howard needs to be recognized, it is because he was a pioneer. He paved away for the following generations of Canadians exhibiting that athletic participation should not be limited to race. His genuine heart and diligence towards sport regardless of his struggles are a true testament of what it means to love athletics.

In Canadian soccer, the most echoed name is Christine Sinclair. Often discussed to be the “most successful soccer player to ever compete for Canada” Sinclair’s skills and accomplishments rival both men and women. With sports like soccer, teamwork is the key to a team’s victory, often that requires that players adapt to each others learning habits so that they can bring out the best in each other. To me, her accomplishments also shine a light to her relation with her teammates. Canada’s soccer teams don’t have a history of national competitiveness, but with Christine Sinclair and her teammates, they have managed to win 2 bronze medals for as long as she has been on the team. Her accomplishments also include gracing the cover of the FIFA 16 video game alongside Lionel Messi, a symbol of soccer. Christine Sinclair should be remembered and recognized because if someone so accomplished is ignored, then everyone else under her is disregarded as well. To climb in skill as far as she has taken an immeasurable amount of dedication, hard work and training. The worst thing that anyone can do no matter what field or industry is fail to recognize greatness.

Phylicia George got her start in athletics with track and field in her first year of high school. Her start in track was a bit late in comparison to other athletes of the similar profession. In the beginning she competed in 100m and 200m sprints, often battling her losses, it wasn’t until she was introduced to the sprint hurdles that she was able to grasp victory and find where she best fits in. Initially, she did not garner a lot of attention, but she was able to attend the University of Connecticut on a full athletic scholarship. She ran and she studied, graduating with a 3.9 GPA and working towards being a doctor, eventually gaining a Bachelor of Science focusing on Physiology and Neurobiology. During her time at the University, she set 2 school records in 60m and 100m hurdles, but never reached the point where she was recognized nationally. At that point she was forced to choose to pursue a career in medicine or athletics. She chose her dream, she chose to be an Olympian. Phyilicia George made one of the hardest choices she had ever had to make, and chose to stay true to her heart. Eventually she was able to establish herself as a national top hurdler, but she doesn’t stop there. George became the first black woman from Canada to compete in both the summer and winter olympics. She learned how to push a bobsled, and months later won the bronze medal at Pyeongchang 2018. Phylicia George shows us the importance of challenging yourself. Initially, she spent the earlier years before her career struggling to gain national recognition, but while she trained she remained dedicated to her studies. Then she had the bravery to choose to pursue athletics and work towards being an Olympian. To accurately describe her, I would have to say Phylicia George is a gun. She aims, and she fires until she makes it; then she aims again, and fires again, an endless cycle of diligence and true character and athleticism.