Members of Squamish's Sprit of BC Committee say they are disappointed to see their local athletes program upstaged by a similar one recently launched by the provincial government's 2010 Legacies Now program. Both programs ask local businesses to sponsor an up-and-coming athlete with the potential to compete nationally. "At first glance it's a bit disappointing. Certainly VANOC [the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee] knows about our poster program," said Mayor Ian Sutherland, who chairs the local Spirit of BC committee. "They've been aware of it and they gave us compliments on it."2010 Legacies Now is a non-profit organization created by the provincial government to promote sports, arts and culture throughout B.C. outside of the "Olympic corridor" as part of the 2010 Olympics. Three of the nine Legacies Now directors are also directors of VANOC.The Squamish Spirit of B.C. Committee is one of more than 90 local committee committees which are part of a province-wide initiative supported by 2010 Legacies Now and the province.One year ago, Squamish's Spirit of BC Committee launched a poster campaign. The colourful posters now on display at places such as Municipal Hall and Brennan Park highlight athletes from mountain biking to loggers sports noting what they like best about Squamish.After a number of posters were created, Spirit Committee members began canvassing businesses to display the signs in exchange for an in-kind donation to the athlete.So far, business support to pay for the posters has been hard to come by. "Certainly it's been a challenge to secure funding for this program," Sutherland admitted, but said the posters themselves were "tremendously successful."In January, 2010 Legacies Now launched a similar program dubbed Growing Champions. This summer, they became more active in communities within the Sea to Sky Corridor inviting local businesses to get on board.To take part in the program, businesses and individuals commit $5,000 annually for three years to support a local athlete with the potential to be future national champions. Mountain biker Miranda Miller is one of three Squamish athletes currently available as a candidate for funding.Sutherland said Growing Champions could make opportunities to garner support for the poster program even slimmer."I'm guessing it's going to be a challenge toovercome the perception that people might get more bang for their buck for being part of Legacies Now and not a Squamish-based program," Sutherland said.Since Coun. Greg Gardner owns Greg Gardner Motors, he was recently contacted by a Growing Champions representative and asked to donate to the program.He said he thought it was unfortunate that such a similar program came on the heels of the Spirit Committee's initiative. Although he has yet to throw his support behind either program, he said he would lean toward the poster campaign."As a business owner, given a choice I would always support a locally-driven effort," he said.Growing Champions representative Aaron Vidas said the two programs are different but noted he is in the process of evaluating whether they compete with one another. "What we offer is a really innovative and easy way to show your involvement in your community," he said, pointing out that Growing Champions gives businesses the opportunity to meet with their athlete and be updated on their progress."What we really want is a relationship to develop between the two."Like the local program, Growing Champions has not had much success in town."We don't have any sponsors that are active within the Squamish-Whistler corridor," Vidas said.
