(Ottawa, ON) – A federal budget announcement in April 2016 indicated plans to boost NextGen programming through enhanced funding with the Canadian Government planning to dedicate up to $20 million by matching private sector funding to support the next generation of podium potential athletes over the next four years.

Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) had already launched a NextGen program in Calgary in 2014 in partnership with Own the Podium and the Canadian Sport Institute (CSI) – Calgary. Olympic Gold Medallist and Advanced Coaching Diploma Candidate Carol Huynh heads this NextGen Institute Program that continues to successfully develop our NextGen athletes as well as host camps and a training environment that fosters the WCL HP vision and culture of excellence.

The federal government confirmed the additional funding in July 2017, noting that $5 million would be added annually for athletes who are five to eight years away from their Olympics and Paralympics medal potential. These funds would be matched by $5 million from the private sector, making this the biggest new investment in Canadian high performance sport in many years. As a core sport already receiving enhanced excellence funding, directed by OTP and Sport Canada, WCL was well positioned to benefit from that announcement.

We are pleased to share that WCL’s application for additional NextGen funding was successful, with notification being received on September 13^th that direct funding was being provided to support a NextGen Central Program. These enhanced funds will allow WCL to increase support to a targeted pool of NextGen athletes who have shown medal potential for 2020 and beyond, with specific allocations being directed to coaching and technical leadership, sport science and sport medicine and enhanced daily training environment initiatives.

“This is a great opportunity to better align WCL’s club system with WCL’s overall international team goals and objectives and provide the necessary enhanced support to those athletes who are poised for success in 2020 and 2024”, said Leigh Vierling, WCL’s High Performance Director.

WCL’s high performance staff, led by Vierling, are currently finalizing the details of the program and will be rolling out implementation plans over the coming weeks. We will be looking to engage our provincial and club partners to introduce, discuss and elicit feedback on the program framework, as well as goals and objectives surrounding NextGen funding in early October.

For more information:

Leigh Vierling
High Performance Director
[email protected]