Barriers to sport in N.L. help explain why so few athletes from the province make it to Summer Games

For Newfoundland and Labrador, the Summer Olympics is more like the no-lympics.

Every province is represented at the 2024 Olympic Games except forNewfoundland and Labrador, where athletes haven't made the cut inover two decades.

Paralympic athletesfrequently represent N.L. in both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.Katarina Roxon of Kippens, N.L., has been namedto the Canadian national swim team for her fifth Paralympic Games and is set to compete in Paris. Meanwhile, two-time Paralympic silver medallist LiamHickey of St. John's has competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympics,playing Para hockey andwheelchair basketball.

But Phil Graham was the last athlete to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. Graham, from Corner Brook, rowed in the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Though many athletes have tried to qualify for the Summer Games, those involved in Newfoundland and Labrador's sporting community say athletes in the province aren't on an equal playing field compared with those in other parts of the country.

The main barriers are finances and travel.

'Everything is bigger on the mainland'

Catherine Barrett is an artistic swimmer who trained with Team Canada for 2 years in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

It wasn't without sacrifice.Barrett moved to Toronto at the age of 14 to focus on training. Her parents stayed in N.L.

"I spent all of my high school years living with a teammate and what we call a billet family and was able to continue training there with a variety of teams," Barrett said.

Sports N.L., the artistic swimming community and her family were pillars of support, she said.It wasn't an ideal circumstance, but it was necessary if she wanted to reach the Olympic level.

"Everything is bigger on the mainland teams," Barrett said. "While we have a really enthusiastic community here, and I wouldn't have gone forward without them, the next step for me was to get up there and get exposed to a larger group of athletes, larger group of coaches and more facilities, gyms with larger amounts of staff."

Barrett competed on the international level between 2015 and 2021. She never made it to the Tokyo Games but spent years competing internationally.

She now coachesartistic swimming in St. John's. Thebarriers she experienced before moving away remain the same for those she coaches.

"It's finances. That is a really large barrier in sport in general," Barrett said. "That barrier of getting out of the province, geographically, we have to fly or boat out of here. And it's a huge financial commitment for families."

High cost, lack of resources

Jeremy Ivey is in Paris to coachJill Moffatt and Jenny Casson, Team Canada's lightweight women's double sculls duo.

While not an Olympian himself, Ivey is from Newfoundland and Labrador and recognizes the barriers at play.

Herowed in eight Royal St. John's regattas and, in 2001, rowed in the Canada Games.

"I had a really good experience rowing in Newfoundland and I truly loved it," he said.

After studying at Memorial University for a year, Ivey received a scholarship for Mercyhurst University in Erie, Penn., and continued his rowing career in the United States.

MUN doesn't have a rowing team, and Ivey saysthe cost of training on the mainland is high.

"What it costs for us is always going to be greater. There are some incredibly talented young Newfoundlanders [and Labradorians], but there are barriers with literally being on an island," he said.

"Whereas if you're growing up in Southern Ontario, you can just drive into Toronto, or you can enrolyour kid in a top-level camp."

Ivey saysit's not impossible for an athlete to represent N.L. in the summer Olympics but there's a lack of resources. For example, N.L. doesn't have a 2,000-metre rowing course.

2025 Canada Games provide hope

Dave Hancock,a professor in MUN's school of human kinetics and recreation, says that with the 2025 Canada Summer Games a year away, he expects N.L.'s 24-year absence from the Summer Olympics to end once the resources are in place.

There are many construction projects and upgrades to existing facilities underway that officials say will be ready when athletes from across Canadadescend upon the St. John's area next August.

"One of the biggest things we'll get is that new track facility, and track and fieldis a sportthat is open to a number of athletes regardless of income. It's accessible," Hancock said, noting there are also rugby and soccer facilities being built.

He hopes the Canada Games and new facilities will inspire kids to try sports.

"For kids who aren't participating, they might look at some of these athletes and say, 'You know what? I want to do that one day,'" Hancock said. "I would say it certainly puts us in the right direction to go breaking that drought, that's for sure."

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