The True Sport Movement

Working in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and the True Sport Secretariat, the True Sport Foundation is helping to mobilize the “True Sport Movement” to re-establish sport as a valued public trust and to help it reach its potential to build both character and community.

True Sport is Canada’s national movement for community sport. Its core mission is to be a catalyst to help sport live up to its full potential as a public asset for Canada and Canadian society – making a significant contribution to the development of youth, the well-being of individuals and quality of life in our communities.

This initiative comes after a public opinion survey (Decima, 2002) revealed that although 92% of Canadians believe that community sport has a positive influence on youth, fewer than one in five feel very confident that this potential is being realized today. Community sport has great potential to enrich the lives of those who participate and to help build strong, vibrant communities. The True Sport Movement is designed to ensure that this potential is achieved and the True Sport Foundation is helping to mobilize activities within the Movement for values-driven community sport.

Community-based sport plays a unique role in shaping Canadian citizenship and identity. There is perhaps no other sphere of community life (with the exception of activities pursued in the context of faith) where values are made so central, so explicit. Participants, spectators, teams, athletes, coaches and managers are consistently and coherently exposed to a clearly articulated set of expectations – about fair play, about inclusion, about anti-violence or abuse, about respect for others, about discipline and focus, about control and authority and about balance between competing interests.
 
For more information or to learn how you can join the True Sport Movement, please visit the True Sport Movement web site.