Annual Report

The Olympic Oval is entering its 34th year of operations and is one of the top three priority capital projects on the University of Calgary’s Capital List. Originally designed to be in operation for twenty-five years, it is a real testament to the care and attention the Operations team has given the building since its inception. However, the slab and ice plant needs a critical and urgent upgrade, as we saw in 2020.

Having installed the ice in late July 2020, on September 5, 2020, we discovered a failure in our mechanical equipment, requiring us to immediately shut down ice production for the longest time in the facility’s history. Coupled with the pandemic limiting access to facilities, this was a significant setback for all athletes and coaches. As this was the third such failure in four years, we wanted to ensure we did the necessary due diligence to prevent this from happening again. While that outcome is never a guarantee, we could procure upgraded and more recent equipment and plan to be operational by June 2021.  

As we progressed through the pandemic, we found many ways to get creative. Athletes, coaches, and managers adapted their training plans. For the first time, the Olympic Oval slab was used for in-line skating. As we reached winter and lakes began to freeze, we also saw athletes skating on our beautiful Alberta lakes. We travelled to the outdoor Oval in Red Deer to capitalize on some long-track opportunities. The Olympic Oval’s Operation team worked successfully with the townsite of Redwood Meadows (located within the TsuuT'ina Nation) to set up and provide the inaugural outdoor 333m oval ice surface within the town. This facility provided a much-needed venue for our Olympic Oval athletes and sport partners to continue to train. The Redwood Meadows Oval was also an excellent venue for the general public and clubs to skate, thus providing many opportunities to improve mental and physical wellbeing and have some respite from being stuck indoors while continuing to grow the sport.

I want to take the opportunity to recognize the Olympic Oval Elite Athlete Pathway coaching and athlete team and our Integrated Support team from the University of Calgary and the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary for their contributions and perseverance to work collaboratively through the challenges of the last year. Training programs were constantly changing with the shifting sands of the pandemic. Interestingly, with some of the changes to the daily training environment and training methods, we saw significant improvements in training performances once we were able to access ice. We were acutely aware of the possible detrimental impact on athlete engagement that pandemic might have had on athletes. Through the appointment of our athlete representative, Ashley Hannah, we provided engagement opportunities for the athletes to help support them.

I was delighted to work with Catriona Le May Doan, Stacey Polet, and former Oval Skater Kurt Buhler to award athlete bursaries this year. And a big thank you to Nick’s Steakhouse and all those that donate each year, for the ongoing support of the Bursary program, especially during these difficult times. To date, that program has given away over $200,000 to support athletes and alleviate the athlete’s financial pressures of training and competition. 

As we all hope to see an exit to the pandemic and put 2020 behind us, we can only look to the future. Our full intention is to provide a fully operational facility for training and, if permitted, competitions for the 2021 season. We are excited to see Canada’s National Long-Track team resume training in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2022. Aligned to the Olympic Oval’s mandate, we look forward to providing opportunities for domestic and international high-performance teams, University and non-varsity clubs, our community clubs and our sport partners. We intend to resume training and competing, even if our future environment might look different from the ‘normal’ of the past. In parallel, we will be actively seeking funds to undertake essential capital improvements to the building. Additionally, we will need the help of the Olympic Oval community (both current and former) to pursue capital resources. 

As the Director of the Olympic Oval and on behalf of the Faculty of Kinesiology leadership group, I would like to acknowledge and recognize the efforts of the whole Olympic Oval team this year. It has been a tremendously taxing year for all, prompting us to re-think how we conduct our business and sport while striving to provide a world-class facility in the middle of a global pandemic. Our University of Calgary colleagues, the Calgary sport and recreational community, our sport partners, sponsors, coaches, athletes, and parents have all played a significant role in working together, supporting each other, and getting us to this point to get through this pandemic. We are poised and ready for a return to sport, thanks to you.