On Saturday, Sept. 29, the McCord Museum will be hosting the “Sports and Diversity Symposium: Marking the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough in sports,” a vital conference on sports and diversity in Canada. Presented by the Association of Canadian Studies (ACS), the goal of this one day event is to raise awareness of the evolving face of Canadian sports and to highlight the impact that sports has on the diverse ethnicities and minorities in Canada.
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s joining the Montreal Royals baseball team-beginning the process of breaking Major League Baseball’s colour barrier-the Association of Canadian Studies and McCord Museum have joined forces to educate the public about the evolution of sports in Canada. The event will feature many prominent guests and lecturers whose backgrounds range from politics to academics to newspaper and television reporters.
The symposium will tackle four major issues, all pertaining to Canadian sports. The guest speakers will discuss the impact of Jackie Robinson on sports in Canada, the role of ethnicity, culture and the origins of sports in Canada, the representation of minorities in sports in Canada and finally how the representation of minorities in sports can be used to unite communities and foster tolerance amongst youth.
Professor Jack Jedwab teaches CANS 303: Sports in Canada at McGill and serves as the executive director for the ACS. He believes that minorities in Canada are at a particular disadvantage in the Canadian athletic scene.
“The under-representation of minorities is a function of the dominant sports in Canada like hockey, which is very much tied to Canadian and European cultures,” Jedwab said. “It’s important for sports marketers to stimulate interest in hockey amongst this changing demographic or redirect attention to soccer, which is dominant amongst these communities in the country.”
There’s evidence to back up the professor’s claim. A recent survey done by the Solutions Research Group revealed that hockey is not the most popular sport in many of the more recently arrived Canadian communities. In addition, more Canadians watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup final than game seven of the Stanley Cup finals, even though it featured a Canadian team.
The Solutions Group also found that amongst visible minorities, basketball was the most popular sport, followed closely by soccer. These findings are made all the more relevant because the same study expects Canada’s visible minority population will grow by over 70 per cent in the next 10 years, while the rest of the population will grow by only three per cent. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the face of Canadian sports is rapidly evolving.
“Hockey’s continued supremacy in Canada is by no means guaranteed,” Jedwab said.
Speakers are set to include Montreal Gazette sports columnist Jack Todd, Montreal Canadiens radio play-by-play man Rick Moffat and former triathlete and Senior Policy Adviser of the Department of Canadian Heritage Joanne Kay.
The Sports and Diversity Symposium: Marking the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough in sports will be taking place at McCord Museum on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Tickets are $25 for students and $50 for general admission. For information regarding the symposium visit http://www.acs-aec.ca/English/index.htm or contact Marie-Pascal Desjardins at [email protected] or (514) 925-3099
