(Ottawa, Ontario – December 10, 2018) – The True Sport Foundation is calling for applications to the Lyle Makosky Values and Ethics in Sport Fund – a fund to assist the study of values and ethics challenges affecting non-professional Canadian sport.

The fund provides annual financial awards to support personal-experience-based, exploratory, foundational, applied and evaluative research to increase the understanding of challenges related to values in, and of, sport in Canada, with the goal of advancing solutions that strengthen the conduct of sport.

“The True Sport Foundation is pleased to offer the Lyle Makosky Values and Ethics in Sport Fund for the fifth year,” said Karri Dawson, Executive Director. “The Fund is an important initiative that supports the thoughtful examination of values-based and ethical sport issues and challenges; funded projects help to provide understanding and promote further dialogue on issues facing Canadian athletes and the sport community as a whole.”

Lyle Makosky, who is a long-time supporter of values-based sport, established the fund in 2014 to support the work of the True Sport Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES). “Having been involved in sport my entire life, I’ve seen the powerful role that a good sport experience can play in building strong individuals and strong communities,” said Makosky. “But we know that not every sport experience is a positive one and that can undermine the benefits that sport can bring to our lives. By intentionally studying the values and ethics challenges, in and of sport, we can assess the degree to which sport is providing and achieving what we expect, and in ways we believe are true to its fundamental values and ethics.”

Last year, Kaitlin Vanderbeek and Reagan Taylor were each awarded a $2,000 sport study scholarship. Vanderbeek’s research project was entitled “Rising to the Surface: Experiences of Elite Female Swim Coaches Gendered Influence on Career Advancement” and Taylor’s research project explored “Examining the Employee-Employer Dyad between Professional Coaches and Volunteer Sport Boards.”

In 2019-20, the fund will award a minimum of one $2,000 scholarship. The application deadline is April 30, 2019.

Those eligible to apply to the fund include:

  1. High-performance athletes enrolled at a Canadian university, community college or other post-secondary educational institution. “High-performance athlete” refers to athletes who are any of the following: international team members, national team members, carded athletes, university varsity team members and/or competitive club athletes reaching national championships level. Student-athlete candidates require a minimum 70 per cent academic average at the time of application.
  2. Post-secondary students active in sport at a non-high-performance level.
  3. Sport practitioners active/working in sport as an official, administrator or  high-performance coach.
  4. Educators working in a sport, sports sciences, sport management/administration or other applicable discipline.

Those interested in supporting this initiative can donate to the Lyle Makosky Values and Ethics in Sport Fund scholarships through the True Sport Foundation.

Lyle Makosky Values and Ethics in Sport Fund endowment donations can be made through the Ottawa Community Foundation.

Charitable tax receipts will be provided for all donations made to this fund via the True Sport Foundation or the Ottawa Community Foundation.

About Lyle Makosky

Lyle Makosky has been engaged in sport most of his life at various levels. He believes that sport is a powerful aspect in the healthy and complete development of people and communities. Lyle competed as a swimmer on the varsity teams in high school and university, then moved to water polo at the club and national levels where he competed for Canada in various international events, and eventually became a water polo coach. Following his formal education in physics, nuclear physics, and geophysics, he moved to the not-for-profit world where he served as national executive director for several sports including diving, synchronized swimming and water polo, and subsequently as the executive director of the Coaching Association of Canada.

As Executive Vice President, he worked in the field of leadership and conflict/issue facilitation with the Niagara Institute while extending his voluntary involvement with the sport system in Canada. He also served as federal Assistant Deputy Minister of Fitness and Amateur Sport, where he guided the reformulation of federal policy and programs during a period of intense scrutiny (Dubin Inquiry on Drugs in Sport, etc.). He has recently retired from InterQuest, a national consulting company which he founded and which specialized in strategic and process consulting to the private, public and non-governmental sectors. Despite not working directly in sport today, his heart and avocation are still deeply attached to Canadian sport to which he has a life-long commitment.

About the True Sport Foundation

The True Sport Foundation is a national charitable organization committed to ensuring that sport makes a positive contribution to individuals and communities. The True Sport Foundation works with its many partners through programs and activities that promote values-based and principle-driven sport for all Canadians.

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For further information, please contact:

Megan Cumming
Manager, Corporate Communications
+1 613-526-6043 x 3233
mcumming@cces.ca