Canadian viewers could not have missed those ads, running during CBC’s coverage of the recent Tokyo Olympics, of athletes and their relationship to their coaches.
The 2021 group of athletes has been selected for the program and it includes 17-year-old Victoria Golf Club member Willy Bishop and 24-year-old para-rower Sierra Roth of Victoria, among the 55 rising Canadian athletes from both summer and winter sports selected by Petro-Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and the Coaching Association of Canada to receive Fuelling Athletes and Coaching Excellence (FACE) Program grants.
“This will be very helpful to pay for things like travel to competitions to help me become the player I want to become,” said Bishop, a member of the junior national team.
The program supports emerging young athletes who don’t yet qualify for full senior national team funding. Recipients are selected based on potential. The athletes and their coaches are awarded $10,000 — $5,000 to the athlete and $5,000 to their coach — to help with out-of-pocket expenses.
Numerous past recipients have gone on to represent Canada at the Olympics and Paralympics. FACE grants have supported more than 3,000 athletes and coaches by providing more than $12 million in financial aid since 1988.
Bishop has been centralized at the Golf Canada national team training centre on Bear Mountain with the best young players in the country. Junior national team head coach, Rob Ratfcliffe, also director of instruction for Bear Mountain and formerly with Crown Isle in Courtenay and Duncan Meadows, will receive the coaching portion of the $5,000 grant.
“It’s been a great experience and I met a lot of talented golfers from across the country,” said Bishop, of the national training centre.
Bishop’s time there, however, was hampered by a shoulder injury incurred in the gym and which has curtailed some of his golfing this summer.
“It affected the way I swing the club,” he said.
He has an MRI scheduled and will hopefully get over the lingering effects. His potential is undeniable and has been evident since he won the 2020 B.C. U-19 championship as a 16-year-old and also the B.C U-17 championship the same year.
Although only going into Grade 12 at Claremont Secondary, Bishop has already accepted an NCAA Div. 1 offer to play for Kent State. It’s a well-worn route for Canadian golfers. Current Canadian pro players Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith are Kent State alumni and played for the Golden Flashes. That made it an easy decision, said Bishop.
“Both coaches at Kent State are Canadians and so many Canadian players have come out of the program,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Roth is among 13 para athletes to receive FACE grants for 2021. The Rowing Canada NextGen para rower, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a moto-cross accident, is aiming for the 2024 Paris Paralympics. She has a masters degree in kinesiology and is also a personal trainer. Roth is also an adaptive mountain biker and took part in the Canada Cup downhill last month in Fernie. Her rowing coach is Samantha Heron.
Former FACE grant recipients set to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics this month include swimmer Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, badminton player Olivia Meier, paddler Andrea Nelson, boccia player Danik Allard and swimmer Nikita Ens.
