Last weekend, Squamish residents had yet another illustration of the passion and commitment it takes to be the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada - and to bring those who share our town's enthusiasm for the outdoors here for a visit. For the 16th time, the Test of Metal mountain biking event was a rousing success, offering the lovers of two-wheeled recreation from near and far a chance to enjoy assets that could easily be taken for granted.
It seems ironic, then, that the Test took place on a weekend during which locals were pointing fingers and pitting "us vs. them" in the blogosphere over Squamish's Sport Legacy Fund. That, after our elected leaders voted to recommend giving the remaining $610,000 to two projects -an artificial turf field and a ski-jump training facility - and not to a proposed mountain bike skills park.
Full disclosure: This writer is a soccer dad and a Nordic skier, does not currently own a mountain bike but regularly runs on Squamish's trails. What follows, then, is one person's attempt to sort through all the variables in the community's discussion about which projects should get the money and which shouldn't.
Mountain biking has received, and should continue to receive, support from our community's leaders. The District of Squamish employs a full-time trails coordinator; DOS council also recently gave $55,000 to the Squamish BMX track and regularly funds recreational bridge replacements and similar projects. It is also in the middle of developing a "trunk" trail on the valley floor.
Squamish's trail network is far and away the mountain bike community's No. 1 asset. The skills park, while it would probably be terrific, would have far less impact on the sport's future prospects than would a turf field on Squamish's thriving soccer community. That field - the first piece of a puzzle that includes a second turf field and all-weather track and field facility - will also be a huge asset to football, lacrosse and other "field" sports. It will allow Squamish's youth "rep" teams - who currently play most of their games out of town when the grass fields are closed because of wet conditions - to play far more of their games in Squamish, making the parents' and players' commitment to the sport far less onerous.
The Sport Legacy Park is undoubtedly the biggest gamble. Ski jumping is currently practiced by only a handful of local athletes. However, having smaller jumps to complement the larger ones in the Callaghan Valley could well attract athletes here to train, bringing economic benefit. Even though many questions about that scenario remain, we think it makes sense to put at least some of the Legacy Fund money - derived from the Winter Olympics - toward winter sport development. If, for whatever reason, the Sport Legacy Park doesn't fly, the money should be returned and used for another project.
It was heartening to see, after the unkind things that were written in the blogosphere, that the leaders of our biking community were polite and civil while making their last-minute plea for support to council. No doubt they recognized that while Tuesday's (June 21) vote may have been the final decision on the Legacy Fund, this won't be their last kick at the can of community support.
- David Burke
