RBC, the Canadian Olympic Foundation (COF) and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) today announced a marketing and athlete identification partnership with the 2017 Canada Games.
Building on RBC's longstanding commitment to Canadian amateur and high-performance athletes, the partnership will include opportunities for Canada Games athletes to participate on-site in RBC Training Ground - a series of regional workout events designed to help sport officials uncover athletes with Olympic podium potential, in sports the athletes may not have considered.
"RBC is pleased to support the Canada Games - an essential building block for our future Olympians," said RBC Regional President Kim Ulmer. "Canada Games alumni were responsible for more than 60 per cent of the medals Canada won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Through this partnership, our goal is to help even more Canada Games athletes achieve their Olympic dreams."
In addition to gaining invaluable multi-games experience, Canada Games participants will now have the opportunity to perform benchmark testing and be evaluated by officials from more than 11 National Sports Organizations (NSOs). Testing stations will be set up at the Active Living Centre at the University of Manitoba throughout the duration of the event. RBC and the COC will also work with Canada Games officials to raise awareness of the Games.
“We are very excited that RBC Training Ground is coming to the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg,” said Tom Quinn, Canada Games Council Chairman. “Both the Canada Games and RBC Training Ground put a real focus on giving athletes the tools they need to excel at the next level. The Canada Games are a key event in the development of our next generation of champions and now that RBC Training Ground is part of the process, we are sure to see plenty of future stars in Winnipeg this summer.”
At each RBC Training Ground event, athletes execute a series of workouts measuring speed, power, strength and endurance. They perform in front of coaches and officials from a variety of national and provincial sport organizations, and their results are measured against performance benchmarks to determine an athlete's capacity for sport at its highest level. Launched in 2016, the program has grown from four to 26 regional events, and from six NSOs to 11. More than 1,200 elite Canadian athletes in seven provinces have already participated in RBC Training Ground this year, with dozens selected by NSOs for further testing and training.
"RBC Training Ground has become an important part of our talent identification process, and is opening up more opportunities for athletic stars to represent Canada in ways they may have never thought possible," said Chris Overholt, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Olympic Committee. "We’re proud to bring this innovative program to the 2017 Canada Games in Winnipeg, enabling competitors to put their skills to the test and discover the full extent of their potential."
