To change for the better, Canadian sport needs leadership from the bottom up

Efforts are underway to clean up sport in Canada, but if sporting bodies and athletes want to prevent abuse from occurring, we must re-engineer the structures, policies and practices that lead to abuse in the first place. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Canadian sport has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent years. National sporting bodies that govern bobsleigh and skeleton, alpine skiing, water polo, boxing, gymnastics, artistic swimming, soccer, hockey, rugby and rowing have all faced major criticism for abuse, neglect and discrimination.

University sport teams have also faced their share of scandals including Lethbridge, St. Francis Xavier, Windsor, Victoria and Guelph. And amateur clubs aren’t immune either.