Jobs cut, athletes' fees raised at Calgary's Olympic Oval

Calgary's Olympic Oval has laid off employees and increased athletes' fees to help cover a $1 million funding shortfall for the coming year.

Two-thirds of funding for the facility comes from WinSport, formerly known as Calgary Olympic Development Association, which has had to slash its spending because of big losses in the stock market.

"Our endowment funds that are used to fund the oval and our operations here at WinSport Canada have taken a hit, there is no doubt, just like everybody's portfolios," said WinSport president Guy Huntingford on Thursday.

The Olympic Oval, which costs about $3.5 million a year to run, has a 400-metre oval and two international sized rinks used for hockey and other sports. The rest of its funding comes from the University of Calgary.

Four jobs lost

To cover the funding shortage, four employees have been laid off and fees for athletes that use the facility and coaches hiked from $2,300 to $3,000 a year.

"We've subsidized sport for the last 20 years based on the economic climate," said oval director Cam Kiland. "We had some money and we could do that. Now our No. 1 goal is to have the lights on and the ice in, and support athletes by giving them the best training centre in the world."

Huntingford said he has not ruled out trimming budgets at some of the other Olympic training facilities that WinSport operates, which include Canada Olympic Park and the Bob Niven Training Centre.

"Whatever happens to our funds throughout the year — and we should all know we are not oracles when it comes to the markets — as they recover, there will be more funds for the oval," he said.

Speed skater Jennessa Kemp, 17, trains six days a week at the oval with the goal of making the 2014 Olympic games. She said she is worried the funding cuts will deepen after Vancouver's 2010 Olympics.

"Since future Olympics won't be in Canada, it may not be such a big deal to win medals and to look good on the world stage," she said.