Bemoaning The Lack of Sports in The CF? [merged thread]

[OldSolduer]

Understood, Ill agree i may have gone a little broad with that, but you must admit that the average fitness level in the CF is of concern.

As for biathlon i would as well. But the problem there would be weapons, range safety etc.

No problem with weapons as C7 is our service rifle, therefore the C7 it is.

I have no idea what your trade is, but in mine range safety is but one of our tasks.

 

[Halifax Tar]

No problem with weapons as C7 is our service rifle, therefore the C7 it is.

I have no idea what your trade is, but in mine range safety is but one of our tasks.

Don't they use a .22LR in biathlon ?

 

[Strike]

Don't they use a .22LR in biathlon ?

Yes, but there used to be a military biathlon national competition that used the sevice rifle with members decked out in fighting order and skiing on 'bangie boards,' which really sucked when skiing down the hill in Pet behind the RCD lines.  ;D

 

[OldSolduer]

Don't they use a .22LR in biathlon ?

Yes for civilian competitions. Since we don't generally use .22 LR to engage the enemy the C7 should be the logical weapon, and service skis for the ski choice.

 

[dapaterson]

Yes for civilian competitions. Since we don't generally use .22 LR to engage the enemy the C7 should be the logical weapon, and service skis for the ski choice.

...but the weapons det gets to use the C6 and Carl G...

 

[OldSolduer]

...but the weapons det gets to use the C6 and Carl G...

Agreed..... >

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

We practiced with.22 inserts in the FNC1.

 

[OldSolduer]

We practiced with.22 inserts in the FNC1.

I remember those. Showing your age Bruce. 

 

[upandatom]

No problem with weapons as C7 is our service rifle, therefore the C7 it is.

I have no idea what your trade is, but in mine range safety is but one of our tasks.

PLQ-L Qualified, so yeah its doable.

I just find it kind of scary with the way some people handled their weapons overseas, i just can't imagine some people running around on skis with a weapon!!

 

[OldSolduer]

PLQ-L Qualified, so yeah its doable.

I just find it kind of scary with the way some people handled their weapons overseas, i just can't imagine some people running around on skis with a weapon!!

That is why you train and train some more til it's muscle memory that kicks in. Safe Weapons handling is an integral part of being in the CAF. Everyone should be capable of that.

 

[PuckChaser]

Biathlon should be something we bring back. I'd do that in a heartbeat, looks like an amazing sport.

 

[upandatom]

Im not disagreeing at all with the weapons handling.

It could be a fun sport, but wasn't this thread about abolishing sports  ;D

Kidding. But there are a lot of stuff that gets sidelined for the major 6 i mentioned earlier

 

[McG]

Look people somedays your get the gravy somedays your get the crap.  Stop worrying about what others are doing and look after you and yours.

I think the expressed concern is not "gravy some days" but is instead individuals who have found themselves a "gravy train."

... wasn't this thread about abolishing sports  ...

Actually, it was not.  Abolishing sports has been the strawman to oppose the actual suggestion of abolishing national sports.
I think there has been general consensus that unit and base level sports are valuable in that they are open to all members and they encourage fitness.
National and international sports really cater to the elite athletes who do not need that encouragement.  So, why do we need these levels?

... and where do regional sports fit on this spectrum?  Are they encouraging fitness, or are they "gravy"?  Can regional sports be both if they are seen to reward pers/teams who are exceeding fitness expectations?

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I think the expressed concern is not "gravy some days" but is instead individuals who have found themselves a "gravy train."
Actually, it was not.  Abolishing sports has been the strawman to oppose the actual suggestion of abolishing national sports.
I think there has been general consensus that unit and base level sports are valuable in that they are open to all members and they encourage fitness.
National and international sports really cater to the elite athletes who do not need that encouragement.  So, why do we need these levels?

... and where do regional sports fit on this spectrum?  Are they encouraging fitness, or are they "gravy"?  Can regional sports be both if they are seen to reward pers/teams who are exceeding fitness expectations?

There you go.

The only advantage to a unit team going national is Unit prestige for owning the winning team.

You get bragging rights for the year. You get unit prestige.

All those thousands of dollars equate to a trophy in the hallway of the Regimental HQ.

And in a lot of cases, career advancement for the players.

 

[Biggoals2bdone]

Mods feel free to move this if it is not In the right place.
Apologies for any spelling errors I'm on my smartphone.

I walked through the base gym here and see plaques honouring military athletes from decades ago, varied interests ranging from traditional military things such as shooting competitions, and running, to various other things such as fencing, javelin, weightlifting, cycling, hockey,boxing etc... It got me wondering a few things:
Why are some of these sports no longer included in military sports? (Boxin is a perfect example)
Why do we need have many if any successful athletes anymore (not talking about fun runs but someone or teams winning competitions and getting up there)
Why as a whole is the military less interested in having fit pers it seems.

Questions along these lines. Especially since the USA has special programs for members who compete in sports and possibly go to the olympics

 

[PuckChaser]

We can't afford sports, or other morale programs anymore. In the 60s we had tons of money to run boxing/biathalon/etc programs.

 

[RCDtpr]

I don't know where it went but it's sad to see.  I remember more than a few times a guy would put in a memo asking for some time to do pt on their own as well as asking for an annual day as they were relatively high level athletes.  The regiments response?  Said soldier was "randomly" selected for an "important" tasking that would preclude them from training and entering the competition.

Sad really as high level athletes would be great ambassadors for the CF.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Boxing was banned in the mid 1960s when the Surgeon General's staff presented data that showed, convincingly I was told, that brain injuries were far, far too common and that boxing helmets did not provide sufficient protection.

It, banning boxing, was controversial at the time ... boxing had a long, colourful history in the military; boxing champions were local, regimental celebrities and boxing events were attended by officers in patrol dress or even mess dress uniforms and their ladies in evening gowns.

Sgt Mike Mercredi, Western Command and Army heavyweight
champion, about 1960, with (then)MGen Rockingham, Commander
Western Command.

 

[Navy_Pete]

When I was over on course in the UK they let us join their boxing club.  Before we left they had a fight night where a few of our guys boxed against the RN lads in their weight class.  They packed a small arena with maybe about 500 people in Portsmouth.  It was pretty funny to be in the crowd as the only officers fighting were Canadians, so there was a bit of jeering in the bleachers when they announces 'SLt Bloggins vs LS Bloggins' but the boys did well.  Pretty big night out though, lots of locals showed up to watch as well.

I can see the odd head injury resulting but I think it's possibly offset by the overall benefit of having fit, motivated folks and also a great way to burn off frustrations without getting arrested.  Lots of other team sport alternatives as well that don't involve getting punched in the head.

There's usually lots of intramural things on the go though for the average folks that want to just play something.  So for the majority of folks that aren't elite athletes, there is still a wealth of options.  Also, think the CoC is generally pretty supportive if someone is training for something specific (like a triathalon) that they let them go do PT offsite to prepare (if there isn't a pool avail).  Not many civies get that kind of opportunity and have to train outside of work, so don't really see why anyone in uniform should be different if they want to dedicate a large amount of time to sports.

 

[daftandbarmy]

When I was over on course in the UK they let us join their boxing club.  Before we left they had a fight night where a few of our guys boxed against the RN lads in their weight class.  They packed a small arena with maybe about 500 people in Portsmouth.  It was pretty funny to be in the crowd as the only officers fighting were Canadians, so there was a bit of jeering in the bleachers when they announces 'SLt Bloggins vs LS Bloggins' but the boys did well.  Pretty big night out though, lots of locals showed up to watch as well.

I can see the odd head injury resulting but I think it's possibly offset by the overall benefit of having fit, motivated folks and also a great way to burn off frustrations without getting arrested.  Lots of other team sport alternatives as well that don't involve getting punched in the head.

There's usually lots of intramural things on the go though for the average folks that want to just play something.  So for the majority of folks that aren't elite athletes, there is still a wealth of options.  Also, think the CoC is generally pretty supportive if someone is training for something specific (like a triathalon) that they let them go do PT offsite to prepare (if there isn't a pool avail).  Not many civies get that kind of opportunity and have to train outside of work, so don't really see why anyone in uniform should be different if they want to dedicate a large amount of time to sports.

It was interesting seeing the sports thing in action in the British Army.

At Sandhurst, everyone plays 'house' level sports on Wednesday afternoons. I did rugby, boxing and cross country. It was a good break and got you connected with a bunch of others outside your usual 'silo' of experience. I was pretty good at cross country, definitely average at boxing and rugby (Me? Prop? Ha!), but it gave me a good chance to give the sports a shot with the benefit of some high quality coaching, which I would never have got otherwise. There were 'elite' teams that were hand picked to go play WestPoint at rugby, for example, and these guys were all the best sportsmen in their sports - largely because they were long time athletes before joining the army. We thought this was a good thing too.

In battalion we did pretty much the same thing. We had company boxing teams etc and the winners of various matches went to the Battalion/Brigade/ Army level matches. I led the Bn orienteering team (as a 2Lt no less!) and we placed 3rd in a Divisional level competition. The time investment was pretty minimal, usually just Wednesday afternoon sports, unless you went on to Army level sports where you joined a formal team of some kind. For example, two guys from my company went on to be Olympic bobsledders for Britain.

Again, this was a good way to mix it up with those you never usually connected with, so you'd have the Bde Comd milling around with the rest of us at the start of some kind of running event or other. Then in the bar afterwards as well, of course.

On the one hand you could argue that it was a drain on resources, on the other hand it was pretty inexpensive way to build a good level of self-esteem in guys who mostly came from humble backgrounds. It also helped build a good team - at all levels - and keep the overall interest levels up.

I keep hearing horror stories from various folks I know who joined the Regs and hung around a lot, 'guarding lockers' or whatever. I often wonder how much of this spare time could be refocused more usefully on sports.