4. OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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4.3.1 SPORT MOTIVATION AND VALUES
Our survey explored athletes’ experience, motivation and values in order to isolate factors related strictly to language. The two groups surveyed share many common values and experiences with regard to their sport experience. Both English-speaking and French-speaking athletes make significant concessions, such as postponing their studies, in order to pursue an athletic career; they take great pride and enjoyment in the practice of their sport. Both Anglophone and Francophone athletes agree that involvement in sport has enhanced their overall quality of life, although Anglophones are more positive on this subject than Francophones. Francophones were somewhat more likely than Anglophones to value the cultural enrichment gained by sport experience in a different language environment.
Athletes of both language groups agree on the elements of the sport system that contribute most to their success. Both consider the quality of the training program as most important and rank quality coaching advice (regardless of language) and financial support from Sport Canada second or third. French-speaking athletes accord more importance to financial support from Sport Canada and to the possibility of training at a site near their home than do English speakers. Most athletes surveyed plan to continue their sport careers, and language is not a significant factor in deciding whether to withdraw from sport.
For the athletes, sport takes precedence over language. Fewer than 5% of each group disagreed with the proposition: “If, in order to become a high performance athlete, I had to train and communicate in another language than my preferred official language, I would decide to train and communicate in that language.” Responses to this question were highly positive for both linguistic groups, indicating a high motivation to pursue a sport career. Replies to the question “Considering your personal circumstances from the language viewpoint, do you expect to continue competing?” were overwhelmingly positive: only one athlete said no. The possibility of using the athlete’s preferred official language has little influence on this choice. When questioned whether this possibility would influence the decision to quit or continue in sport, all athletes indicated that it would have little bearing, although it was somewhat more important to English-speaking athletes than to French speakers.
English-speaking and French-speaking respondents indicate similar levels of satisfaction with sport-related elements of the system, such as their pace of development, the objectivity of the selection process for sport competitions, the enjoyment they get from sport, and the financial support from all sources within the system. We consider it highly significant and positive that the level of satisfaction with the selection process for sport competitions is the same (moderately satisfied) for both linguistic groups. Earlier studies and reports emphasized the need to make the selection process more transparent, in response to a perception that it discriminated against Francophone athletes. The minister’s task force report, Sport: The Way Ahead, addressed a recommendation to NSOs on this subject, and it is one of the minimum expectations of the SFAF. We reviewed several examples of NSO selection criteria which referred to objective criteria, included mechanisms to resolve disputes, and were in both official languages. Visible progress in this area is virtually a precondition for equitable Francophone participation in sport.
We asked whether sport training, particularly in regions where the athlete’s preferred language was not generally spoken, had affected athletes’ personal lives, including their family relationships or their studies. The responses are similar for both linguistic groups: generally, the athletes do not perceive that relocation for training purposes affects their family relationships, and those who postponed their studies indicate that they did so in order to pursue their training and not because of language.
