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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, MARCH 01, 2018 5THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MARCH 01, 20184 With our global domina- tion of winter sports secure, Canada's Olympic team re- turned home this week to throngs of proud Canadians welcoming them as heroes. Whether their necks bore a medal or not, they should each be proud, changed by the sheer opportunity they have been granted: to travel to another country and rep- resent their own, competing on sports' most prestigious global stage. Every competi- tor--heck if we are being honest, every one of us - has dreamt of such prospects, so, it is no wonder that every four years, we all take pause from our busy lives to cheer them on. We inch closer to the edge of our seats with each jump, each landing, each goal. Yet, while we praise our national sporting heroes for their re- cord-breaking performance of 29 medals, we choose to overlook the losses, the fail- ures, the good but wasn't good enough. I wonder would we be at those airports sing- ing O'Canada for Tessa and Scott had they come up short? Was the showiness there for our national hockey teams-- perhaps not golden, but both still Olympic medal winners? Will we treat our Paralympi- ans--sporting heroes who overcome some of the most incredible of adversity--to the same fanfare? While we all feel sure of it, deep down inside--if you are honest--you might be sur- prised. Because while we all love winners, our self-pres- ervation seems to shy away from people when things aren't so good. And it isn't just sports that have us heads down crossing the sidewalk. Take for example marriage. We are all more than ready to celebrate happy times. We excitedly support our friends and families in the whirlwind of parties and traditions that girdle a wedding proposal. We are committed to them, as though their magical journey is our joint venture. When they have their first fights, we are there to help them put Band-Aids on bruised egos and assure them that all is well with the cosmos. Yet, sometimes things sour, and marriages--for whatever rea- son--end, and suddenly we are not the upstanding sup- portive friends we once were. We may think we act no dif- ferent but it is written across our faces as if we had caught Santa in the act. Suddenly, it's as if we know something we wish we could go back and un-know. Flopping like a fish out of water, we stumble over our words and frantic- ally avoid eye contact for fear of having to commit one way or another. Rapidly, we become too busy to visit, too pacifist to commit and too self-centered to see this mo- ment as anything other than affecting us. Stings to hear it, I know, but there is a host of data to back it up. A study at Brown Univer- sity found that divorced study participants tended to be- come less popular, for a host of reasons. Obviously, los- ing their spouse's social and familial networks did play a part, but what surprised the researchers was the way per- ceived notions also played a role. There was evidence that people believed that newly single people might "poach" from their married friends. It's as if we unfairly see di- vorce as failure instead, as poet John Milton argued in his 17th century defense of divorce, "as a joyful compan- ionship; whereas a fraught union violates the point." But marriages aren't the only way we turn our backs sometimes. Think about friends who've been let go from a job, suf- fered an illness, or lost a child. Neighbours who've had an accident, lost a spouse, or had a fire. We all might want to do the right thing, but what is that? So, instead of just asking, we slowly slink out of the picture; perhaps not because we don't care, but because it is hard to untangle such massive change from the person before us. They are no longer the same and, in some crude, selfish way, we seem to resist this change, as if our identities could somehow be threatened too. Yet, it is in these moments of tremendous need, that we should instead lavish our friends and neigh- bours with normalcy. Their anguish, anxiety and ache should not be theirs alone. Sometimes they just need to know that the world is still turning, just as it did before. And it is in such moments-- like at our airports--that we all need to remind ourselves that instead of singing for the Tessas and Scotts, it was the last place finishes that really needed our support. To the Editor: I usually skim Trish Bell's weekly editorial before aban- doning it. The bent of each piece usually goes a little too far right for my taste, but I ap- preciate reading the perspective and being aware of different views that contribute to our civic dialogue. However, her last piece was one that I read through primarily because I completely agreed with her on the duplication of services and the waste created by having multiple public boards of edu- cation offering the same service to the province. The ex i s tence o f these boards and the schools within them is completely dependent on the students in the system and so we have seen the prolif- eration of marketing strategies aimed at attracting students to one board over another. AP, IB, IBT, regional arts and the list goes on-- specialized regional programs started in schools that see declining stu- dent populations but provide them with a lifeline to ensure they survive by pulling stu- dents from local community schools. Grade eight infor- mation nights and course selection that start earlier and earlier each year in order to snag the students as early as possible. And most recently, the Halton Catholic District School Board is asking for the payment of the activity fee for the following school year as a condition for selecting cours- es. Although the fee may be nominal, the strategy is cynic- al. In a board that takes public dollars, insisting that parents pay the activity fee before they accept course selection sheets by students seems like some strategy to ensure that the students don't go drifting anywhere else. I think the time has come for a public servant with courage to ask why we still have a sys- tem of education that enforces what are arbitrary divisions between schools. Although the process to remove those div- isions are onerous and would open up the Pandora's box of constitutional reform, the time has long past that we do the job that needs to be done. Unify the systems of education so that our public education dollars are efficiently spent to support all students in the province. Paul Alves Acton Just a thought One step back sports talk By Trish Bell The next generation of Olympians By Michael Oke The New Tanner welcomes your Letters to the Editor, but, please keep in mind that letters must include the author's name, address and phone number in order for us to contact you if needed. Letters that are sent in anonymously will not be published. They may be edited for content or length. They are published as a first come first serve basis and we do not guarantee publication due to space availability. Re: 1+1+1+1+1... I have always been fascinated with the process of identify- ing and developing talent. Take the almost fairy- tale like story of Tessa Virtue and Scott Muir for instance. C a n a d a 's 2 0 1 8 O l y m p i c double gold medalists in fig- ure skating have a total of ten Olympic medals between them, stretching back to the Vancouver games in 2010, as well as many other local and international awards and titles. The interesting fact to me is that they started train- ing together at age seven and nine, respectively after being introduced by Muir's aunt in Ilderton, Ontario. It goes without saying that reaching the pinnacle of any sports career like the Olympic gold medal requires identify- ing and nurturing talent at a very young age. There are countless examples of world champion caliber athletes who were exposed to sports very early in life, initially by dedi- cated parents-- the Williams sisters in tennis, Tiger Woods in golf come to mind. In many other instances, especially in team sports, a dedicated par- ent isn't sufficient to get the best out of a child with talent. Any country serious about doing well in international competit ions must have a detailed plan to rec- ognize and cultivate future Olympians. It starts with pro- viding a "catch them young" approach to sports and re- moving any barriers that may prevent children from access- ing and playing sports. My personal opinion is that Canada is still a long way off from this. The sports pro- grams in elementary schools are very limited, physical edu- cation is a subject that needs to be about much more than kids running around in the gym. Someone once suggested l i fe ski l ls l ike swimming should be compulsory like it is in some other countries. Registering for any of the non-traditional sports should be easier, so one doesn't have to spend hours searching the internet for information. Will every child become a wor ld champion o r an Olympian? Most likely not. However, the lessons and discipline gained from early participation in sports will be useful throughout their lives. All in all, a fine outing by the Canadian Olympic team in PyeongChang with a rec- ord haul of 29 medals. Virtue and Muir captured the hearts of millions around the world. The journey to Beijing 2022 has already started. letters The views expressed in these published letters are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The New Tanner Publishing Ltd.