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CFSA in sound position
But the CFSA is the envy of most Olympic sports in Canada as they proudly made their pronouncements following their annual meeting here yesterday.
"It was kind of quiet,'' said David Dore, executive general of the CFSA of the session at the Convention Centre yesterrday in which president Betty Bouma won a challenge for the presidency by former president Bill Ostapchuk for a two-year term.
That was the only real action other than the presentation of the financial statement.
Figure skating, with huge television contracts and full arenas, is certainly healthy in Canada through the Kurt Browning-Elvis Stojko era.
"We have improved our surplus to $7.3 million,'' reported Dore, who says the goal is $9 million, the exact amount it would take to run all of the CFSA's programs for an entire year.
"The athletes trust us at $7 million,'' he also reported. "And we have increased scholarship grants by 15 per cent.
"We are in a very sound position. We have a totally balanced budget. And we've brought about a lot of new programs.
"Television, sponorships and event money now make up 51 per cent of our revenues. Membership fees and test fees make up the majority of the remainder of it. Government only contributes four per cent.''
Most Olympic sports national associations were hit hard by the reduction of government funding. Figure skating has not been affected.
"We've always operated with long term plans but short term strategies,'' said Dore. "And we've seldom done any serious defecit budgeting.''
The CFSA expects to find out sometime in the next month what they hope to be good news, that the first Canadian Worlds since Edmonton played host to the event, will be awarded to Vancouver for 2001.
Ottawa has the Canadians next year and Calgary in 2000. Skate Canada will be held in Kamloops this fall and the first Four Continents event, the answer to Europeans, will be held in Halifax in 1999.