Hundreds of young athletes test themselves at RBC Training Ground with eye towards Olympic sports

The RBC training ground event at the University of Calgary was looking for the next generation of Canadian Olympians. Tyler Barrow reports.

Hundreds of young athletes between 14 and 25 took place in a skills testing day at RBC Training Ground Saturday at a gym on the University of Calgary campus.

There, they participated in tests that measured their speed, strength, power and endurance in front of 15 national sports organization (NSO) partners, who are scouring the country in an attempt to identify and recruit a new generation of Olympic athletes.

The top 100 athletes advance to a national final, with up to 35 of them receiving funding and resources to develop in their sport.

What was up for grabs for a lot of those athletes was what that sport might be.

Jesse Lumsden was a CFL fullback for the Tiger Cats, Elks and Stampeders who turned into an Olympic bobsleigh team member who participated in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

Now he’s the performance director for Bobsleigh Canada, attending his first RBC Training Ground.

“It’s a great concept and a great program within our country to be able to provide athletes an opportunity to showcase their skill sets,” Lumsden said, “and showcase them to different NSOs across Canada for sport like bobsleigh and skeleton or small niche sports that generally only get a lot of attention around Olympic years.”

For young athletes like 14-year-old Alistar Weiss, Training Ground is an opportunity to grow your skill set and meet like-minded athletes

“I’m young so I’ve got lots of lots of time to improve,” Weiss said. “(I) just (want to) get better so I can get to that next level.

“I’m interested in, really, anything,” Weiss added. “I’ll try whatever (sport people ask me to try).

“I’m hoping for a team sport,” he added. “I like being in a community.”

Fifteen-year-old Thea Sovyn is already focused on one thing.

“It’s my second year at RBC Training Ground,” Sovyn said. “I’ve wanted to do this since I was a little, little kid -- like just to become an Olympic athlete has been like my dream ever since I was young.

“I’m hoping that I get another team, like a sport, to reach out to me and say, ‘Hey! I think you’d be good for our sport. Come try it out!‘”

Dawn Richardson Wilson is an RBC Olympian who was part of the women' s bobsleigh team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beiijng.

On Saturday, she said her role was to pump up the next generation of young athletes.

“I’m just here to be a motivator and cheer these athletes on and share a little bit of what I went through as an Olympian going to the 2022 Games.”

Since its inception in 2016, RBC Training Ground has helped 21 program alumni reach the Olympics, 12 of whom brought home medals. That includes 16 who were part of Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

For more information about RBC Training Ground, go here.

With files from CTV’s Tyler Barrow