Canadian sport: how the education intsituations affected sport development in Canada.

Essay by monkeycalvertharryCollege, UndergraduateB, November 2005

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From halls of learning:-

Canada has gone through many stages within sport. In the founding years at birth, Canada used its educational institutions as nurseries in which playing skills were developed (Roxborough page 155). In 1830, Upper Canada College (UCC) opened in Toronto which later contained great cricket players taught by Mr. Barker. By this time Basketball and baseball had not evolved yet and lacrosse was a game played by native Canadians only. Barber was a superb organizer and a fanatic cricketer, so he immediately set out to form a cricket team from amongst the teachers, many who had come from England, and the student body. This was the first civilian team in Upper Canada. When Canada and the United States met for the first time at cricket in New York in 1844 the team included eight Toronto Cricket Club members.

Cricket, traditionally, was the foremost sport at UCC which meant that as pupils and teachers scattered around the province they spread the game's love all around.

Although in 1877 English rugby was introduced, until then it was only association football (Roxborough page 157). Other sports had a place too, such as athletics and hockey which were always very popular.

Another college that gave Canada a hand in sport development was trinity college, Founded in 1852 as the Church of England University in Canada, Trinity College has been federated with the University of Toronto since 1904 and shares its services and facilities. Trinity students excelled in rule-drafting but lacked in skill. In 1892, all trinity freshmen were required to take a cross-country run before breakfast. Eventually hockey and basketball entered the sports program but with little success.

The major contributions to the national sports scene came from McGill University, Queens University and the University of Toronto. All of...