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Archive Record
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Metadata
Object ID |
2022.9.1 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Adam van Koeverden Interview |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Adam van Koeverden interview, 11 May 2022. Born digital MP4, viewing time 00:20:59. Adam van Koeverden, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 2022, born in Toronto, Ontario, looks at the value of sport from both the individual and community perspectives. He talks about how sport can provide a safe place for youth, how it gives confidence and can positively affect health and careers. He also discusses how sport positively contributes to community cohesion and its ability to unite people. Adam recalls winning Gold and Bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at the age of 22 and how now, at 40, his understanding of the word "champion" has evolved. Adam explains how he believes he should make positive use of the amplified voice and platform being an Olympic champion gave him. He sees his work in the House of Commons and his volunteerism as an opportunity to become a different sort of champion. Adam recalls how he started going to the canoe club when he was twelve years old because it was a safe, cheap alternative to child care for his single mother, who hoped it would keep him out of trouble. He also describes how sport, as it is now, would not be possible without volunteers, coaches, fundraising, donations, and engaged parents. He disagrees with the statement that athletes should "shut up and play." Adam talks philosophically about how Canada is a relatively young nation, how Canadian athletes are good ambassadors who exemplify what it means to be Canadian, and how there is an opportunity for them to elevate and speak to important issues in our country. The interview concludes with Adam explaining how the skills he learned as an athlete are transferrable to his work as a Member of Parliament. Entrevue avec Adam van Koeverden, 11 mai 2022. MP4 d'origine numérique, temps de visionnement : 00:20:59. Adam van Koeverden, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du sport, a été intronisé en 2022 et est né à Toronto, en Ontario. Il parle de la valeur du sport du point de vue individuel et du point de vue communautaire. Il explique comment le sport peut fournir un espace sûr pour les jeunes, comment il bâtit la confiance en soi et peut exercer une incidence positive sur la santé et la carrière des gens. Il discute également de la manière dont le sport favorise la cohésion communautaire et de sa capacité à unir les gens. Adam se souvient de quand il a remporté la médaille d'or et la médaille de bronze aux Jeux olympiques de 2004 à Athènes à l'âge de 22 ans et constate que maintenant, à 40 ans, sa compréhension du mot " champion " a évolué. Le fait d'être un champion olympique lui a conféré une plateforme et une voix qui porte très loin et Adam croit fermement qu'il doit mettre cela au profit de bonnes causes. Il considère son travail à la Chambre des communes et en tant que bénévole comme des opportunités de devenir une autre sorte de champion. Adam se remémore qu'il a commencé à fréquenter le club de canoë à l'âge de 12 ans parce que c'était une alternative sûre et abordable financièrement pour sa mère monoparentale qui cherchait un endroit où le faire garder et où il ne se mettrait pas dans des situations difficiles. Il décrit également comment le sport, tel qu'il existe aujourd'hui, ne serait pas possible sans la contribution de bénévoles, d'entraîneurs, de levées de fonds, de dons et de parents engagés. Il n'est pas d'accord avec l'affirmation voulant que les athlètes devraient " se taire et jouer ". Adam parle avec philosophie du Canada, un pays relativement jeune, et des athlètes canadiens qui sont d'excellents ambassadeurs et exemples de ce que cela veut dire d'être Canadien et qui ont en tant que tel l'occasion de se prononcer sur toutes sortes de question d'importance pour notre pays. L'entrevue se termine après qu'Adam explique comment les compétences qu'il a acquises en tant qu'athlète lui sont utiles dans son travail de député. |
Scope & Content |
Adam van Koeverden interview, 11 May 2022. Born digital MP4, viewing time 00:20:59. Transcription (edited): Misty:So starting off with a very lofty question, but what do you feel is the value of sport? Adam:The value of sport is different for every person that gets... Well, I should say the value of sport is different for everybody that takes part. And from my perspective, everybody should be able to take full advantage of sport and physical activity and recreation at every level. But that's still not something that everybody has access to. So there's a little bit of inequity in the system, and what you see is all of the value that sport provides people with, whether that's through confidence or health or a career, there's so many different ways that sport physical activity and recreation impart value on people as individuals. But when you zoom out past the individual, it's so obvious what it does for a community too. Sport builds community, sport creates long lasting friendships, sport is often a place and a safe place for kids to go, for people to get away from whether it's school or work or anything. You tend not to think about your problems when you're fully engaged in physical activity. And that's really what it was for me growing up. The canoe club was a place to go that wasn't school, it wasn't home, it was outside. It was often cold, but it was a warm place too, because it was a place where there was a lot of friends and an opportunity to learn something new. I also think of sport as a nation builder. There isn't really anything that builds a country and an identity quite like sport. We think about in Canada, we think about hockey and our stars that we look back on, and forward to as well. And this has been an incredibly exciting year in Canadian Sport already with the men qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar later this year. And that gets the entire country excited. And there really isn't an event that's quite like the World Cup and the Olympics are similar. The opportunity to host an Olympics or to send athletes to an Olympics or to win medals at the Olympics. That's the yarn that knits the story of a country. So I think it's a lot of things, it's different to every single person that gets to take it in. It's different for a spectator. It's different for a participant, but ultimately it brings us together. And I think that's really is where the value lies in sport is, its ability to unite us. Misty:Okay, so you touched on it briefly, but you advocate for fair sport and access to it. What do you feel your role is to help advocate for different causes and why do you do that? Adam:I reflect on how the word champion has more than one definition. And the first thing that crossed my mind when I crossed the finish line in 2004 in the 500, which was the race that I won, was the words Olympic champion, because it was just kind of foreign to me. I always dreamed about winning a medal at the Olympics, but maybe I didn't really believe it would happen, right? And I won a bronze medal the day before and my coach and I both kind of thought that was a pretty good result, a bronze medal at the Olympics is amazing. And I was stoked and satisfied, but crossing the finish line first in the 500 the next day was almost a bit of a surprise. And when those words Olympic champion rang in my head, I immediately had two friends on either side of me holding onto the boats because I was exhausted. And I don't think at that time, I was 22, I'd ever really reflected on the fact that the word champion has two definitions. I was the first and most obvious version of champion, I won a race, that was an important one, I got a gold medal. But the second definition I think is more relevant particularly now that I'm 40 and a member of parliament and not trying to win medals anymore. And that's the champion that supports important causes and gets behind important issues and stands up for other people. And that's where I put a lot of my energy now, is trying to translate the platform that sport provided me with, into something tangible and better value for my community. Sport, at least for me, I don't mind saying was inherently selfish. I was always just trying to get myself across the finish line first, and at times at the expense of other priorities and relationships and that's just the nature of competition. You have to be a bit selfish. And after 20 years, I think I'd had enough of being selfish, my elbows and shoulders had had enough of kayaking anyway. So it's not like I was going to go to another Olympics and be satisfied with that. But I was prepared to start focusing on the second definition of champion a little bit. And I remember when I came home from the games and back to my mom's house and the medals were really small at the time, right now they're the size of dinner plates, but they were like key chains back in 2004 and they were stacked on top of each other and my mom picked them up and she said, "These two medals stacked on top of each other, only about a half an inch thick, but I bet you they're going to make your voice a lot louder now." And I was like, "What do you mean?" She said, "People are going to care what you think, people are going to ask you for interviews. They're going to ask you to come and do speaking engagements and you got a platform now," and she asked me, "What are you going to do with that platform?" And at that point in my life, I'd never considered that, I just wanted to win races. But then opportunities started arising and people started asking me, can you be a spokesperson for this? Would you come to this event? Would you mind coming to my class and speaking to my students and those opportunities kept coming and it kept becoming more and more clear to me that it was about more than just winning races, and that I had not just an opportunity to be a spokesperson for other things and people and speak up on important issues, but I had an obligation to as well. And when opportunities like being an ambassador for Right to Play or colon cancer, Canada or Parkinson's or any of the other charities that I've been involved in came along, David Suzuki asked me to be part of the David Suzuki Foundation and champion important issues related to climate change in the environment as an athlete ambassador, it felt second nature. And it felt like, as important as winning races is, maybe this is even more important, but I've got to always reflect back on the fact that I had those opportunities, because I worked hard in the boat and I got myself across the finish line first, and I'm grateful for those opportunities, but I'm more grateful to have an opportunity to represent important causes and my neighbours. Misty:Awesome. I love that there's that marriage of health and sport, right? I think that sport is such a powerful vehicle for healthy communities and speaking of community, after competition and even now, what would you say the community has done, or the role community has played in your story to this moment? Adam:I can go back 30 years and start there I suppose. The reason that I went down to the canoe club wasn't because I was good at sports, or it wasn't because I wanted to go to the Olympics, or it wasn't because my mom thought I was going to be a star athlete. It was because it was affordable childcare for a single mom. And at 12 and 13 years old, my brother was, I guess 10, and I was 13, childcare was expensive and the canoe club was under a thousand dollars a year. So it was basically, three or $4 a day childcare. And at 13 you're too young to take care of yourself, but you're also too old for a babysitter. So it was the right mix at the time for my brother and I, and now I was getting into some trouble after school as most kids do, just when you're trying to figure out who you are, but the canoe club wasn't... Initially it wasn't expected to get me to world championship or even a national championship, it was just something to do after school. And that's what the canoe club does, it takes kids off the couch and puts them in boats and gives them a reason to be physically active and set a new goal and try something new. And that's the value of clubs across the country, not just in canoeing and kayaking, but in every sport. And we've got to figure out how to build more of those clubs because that's the epicenter, that's the grassroots of sport development and physical activity and opportunity for recreation in Canada, not just for kids, but for everybody. Those places where you go, where you feel you belong, or you can just be yourself, learn something new and develop a new skill. And that wouldn't be possible without volunteers, that wouldn't be possible without people doing coaching programs and being interested in that development. And getting involved with their communities, wouldn't be possible without fundraising, wouldn't be possible without donations, and people that are willing to just wake up a little earlier and make sure that kids have a chance to play. And like I said, Canada's an awesome place to live. We're really great, but there's still so much work to do. And the rates of inactivity in Canada are staggeringly high for a country that's got everything that we do. So we still need some solutions and I'm really grateful that I've got an opportunity to pitch in there. Misty:Awesome. So Canada's Sports Hall of Fame developed the Order of Sport award in 2019. And it was really this physical representation of not only being exceptional in sport, but carrying that same drive into being exceptional in the community and for the country, and really just transforming the country through sport as this vehicle. And so you've been named as, well tomorrow morning, officially as class of 2022, looking ahead to October, when you sit on the stage in Toronto and receive the Order of Sport award, marking your induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, in an era where it's not just about the athletic achievements, you have to go beyond the win and you have to give back, what will that feel like to be recognized as such? Adam:Well, these awards are always really interesting because the work and the wins have already happened, right? So we're looking back, it's a little bit retrospective, but I want to look forward too. And I tried my best and I continue to try to ensure that the platform that was given to me with success in sport is well utilized. But I think there's an incremental opportunity and frankly, an incremental obligation for members of this order to continue to participate and to continue to contribute, continue to be voices for people that don't have strong voices. And whether that's in the realm of sport, physical activity and recreation, that's great, but it doesn't have to be either. I take a lot away from, well a lot of athletes, I'm not going to name one athlete or another athlete, but there's so many athletes now that are using their platforms for good to stand up for something they believe in, they think is important. And that tends to be something that a lot of other people think is important too. And I think that's great. You hear a lot sometimes on sports television anchors telling athletes that they should just shut up and play, shut up and dribble was a famous one. Obviously when LeBron James started speaking up on issues that were important to him and his community, I don't think athletes should shut up and paddle, shut up and play, shut up and run, shut up and dribble, absolutely not. We should be doing the opposite. And I think this order is demonstrative of that. And it's an opportunity to demonstrate that we're not just athletes. Misty:Fantastic, my last question for you is 50, 75 years from now, what do you hope people say about your story, about what is your legacy you hope to leave this country? Adam:I always dreamt of being one of the top guys in my sport. I looked up to all of these guys that were 6'5" and from countries in Europe that I've never been to at that time. And I just imagine being on the water with them, and being able to race with them, and it wasn't all about winning and being the best to me. And maybe it's because I was being a bit too realistic about, a guy who wasn't very good at sport that didn't make the hockey team or the volleyball team or the basketball team in school. But this class is a lot like that too, being able to be part of this class and this order and this hall of fame is really special. And it feels like I'm part of a team. So it's not about what people think of me as Adam van Koeverden and in 50 years or 75 years or whatever. It's more about how we think of who we are as a country and how we contributed to a better planet and better nation and who we can be as athletes when we decide to use our voice and speak up. Don't listen to people when they say, "Shut up and play," it's not good advice. So I encourage everybody to use their voice and to speak up on issues that are important to them, to believe in each other and to amplify voices that are less loud. It's a pretty big question thinking about what should we look back on? How should we view the past? I think that'll be dictated by what's yet to come. But Canada's a pretty young country, we're kind of just getting started. We've got a lot of growing up to do, sort of an adolescent nation, and our story's just starting to get told now. But when we look back on, on who we are after 150, 160 years, I think it's important to know that it's sort of like dog years, we're kind of a teenager country compared to a lot of other ones. So we've got some pretty integral decisions to make, what type of example do we want to be? And how can we be an example for various issues for other countries who are facing similar issues. Canada's a small country on the basis of population, but really big on the basis of land. So I think we have an obligation to be an example for other countries. And I know our athletes are good ambassadors for that, but more than just being ambassadors for who we are as a nation. I think there's a lot of important issues that athletes continue to speak up on and elevate. So in the future, I hope we look back on our identity, is one that was constantly growing and always trying to improve. Misty:Awesome, I think that pretty much what covers... Oh, one last story, one last question, I lied. How do you feel, or how would you say the skills from sport and your journey, your sport transferred into politics? Adam:So a really common question that I get is what's harder being an Olympic athlete or being a politician? And I mean, they're so different that there's not really any comparing them. After my first election, people were like, "Was winning this election harder than winning the Olympics." And I said, "They're similar in some ways, knocking on doors for six, seven hours a day is lonely and cold and sometimes boring. And so is kayaking in Canada, lonely, boring, cold, but it's repetitive." And what I realized was when you figure out what makes you better. And in kayaking, it's just taking a lot of strokes, it's not a secret, just keep taking strokes, do more kilometers, take better ones, get stronger. And in politics, I kind of considered every door and every conversation I had as another stroke or another kilometer in that process, because my job as a politician, isn't to have the best ideas or to make my own voice louder. My job is to ensure that other people's voices get elevated, particularly people that don't have a voice and to make sure that other people's good ideas are elevated. And in order to listen to those ideas, I got to be present and you got to show up, and sometimes that means knocking on doors or making phone calls, responding to emails, whatever that is, but every stroke and every conversation, every little bit of insight and perspective that I gain through those conversations, makes me a better politician, makes me a better representative for my neighbour. So it's similar in that sense that it's incremental and it's repetitive, but that's what creates a difference, is you just never create value without repetition, without some degree of mundanity. So I was familiar enough with the process of being bored sometimes with the mundanity of repetition, but it's the same process, whether you're learning how to play the piano or you want to be a good politician. My grade nine English teacher told me that the most important natural resource in the world wasn't gold or oil or even fresh water, it was perspective. And all you need in order to harvest a little bit of perspective is to have an open mind. And that's what I try to bring to politics and to representing my neighbours is I'm never not willing to have my mind changed. You got to keep an open mind, because like I said, it's not my ideas that matter, it's the perspectives and insights from my neighbours that I'm obligated to ensure get heard. I suppose that really fundamentally how sport prepared me for politics was embracing that repetition, but then also on a more tangible level, doing interviews, being able to string a couple of sentences together for the media, or being able to be presentable and represent, represented the country. So representing my neighbours is a natural fit I suppose. And knowing that it's not about in certain times when I was carrying the flag for Canada, for example, it wasn't about me, it was about Canada. Obviously when I was on the water by myself and my kayak trying to win my race, and it was a bit more personal, a little bit more selfish. But politics is never supposed to be selfish. I know that people might view it as that, but it's always about your constituents. That's I suppose the whole purpose of this order and this whole fame too, right? It's not about who you are as an individual, it's about who you are as a nation and building that story and knitting it all together so that we've got something that we can be proud of. |
Date |
2022/05/11 |
People |
van Koeverden, Adam |
Search Terms |
Adam van Koeverden Interview Kayak Canoe/Kayak Sprint Aquatics 2004 Olympic Games Athens 2008 Olympic Games Beijing |