That was the consensus from some of Canada's elite athletes at a news conference Wednesday to present a request for funding to Canada's Secretary of State for Amateur Sport, Paul DeVillers.
The plan, a $260-million vision to build a centralized training facility for Canada's top athletes, is part of a design to make Canada a leading Olympic nation by 2010, which – it's hoped – will be hosted by Canada's Vancouver/Whistler bid.
Presented by a group that included John Mills, president of the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), Olympic gold medallists Cassie Campbell of the Canadian women's hockey team and Paralympian and world record holder in the 100-metre, Earle Connor, the plan is shaped after similar training centres in Australia and the United States.
The idea is to have a facility – using the foundation of Calgary's Olympic Park – where elite athletes can live and train together in the most competitive environment possible.
For athletes such as Dionne, a freestyle aerialist, Forrester, a high jumper, and Ford, a white water kayaker, being able to train in their own country would be a welcomed bonus, considering the months they spend training in the U.S., Australia and Europe.
Dionne, a bronze medallist at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, says she'd love to train closer to home.
"It costs less for our team to train in Canada," says the 20-year-old, who does the majority of her training in Lake Placid, N.Y. "Right now, for our association to fund our training in the U.S. is difficult."
Forrester, who is finishing her Masters degree in exercise and sport psychology from the University of Texas, says having a centralized facility where elite athletes train together would show our athletes what it takes to win.
"When I'm training in Texas (where she trains with Canadian and world ranked high jumper Mark Boswell, among others), there's this attitude that we're going to be No. 1 in the world," says Forrester, a native of Cookstown, Ont., and bronze medallist at the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
"It's important to train in an atmosphere like that to get better."
Though the proposed Calgary facility is geared primarily for winter sports, Ford says he welcomes the potential for a centralized training facility.
"Winter sports are our forte," says the native of Edmonton, who trains part of the year in Chiliwack, B.C and the rest in Australia and Europe. "If this (plan) happens, there will be a trickle down affect to the summer sports.
"If we can raise our status to No. 1 in the world in the Winter Olympics, it will certainly help us out for the Summer (Olympics). "
