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Athletics Canada and the National Track League

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Athletics Canada and the National Track League

October 6, 2015

In the fall of 2010, Athletics Canada, convened a group of stakeholders from across the country to discuss the limited number of domestic opportunities for athletes to compete and develop. Despite there being a handful of Canadian high performance meets, the depth of competition was inconsistent across events and from meet to meet and the scheduling of standalone competitions lacked coordination. There were multiple organizational layers and stakeholders (e.g. Athletics Canada, provincial branches, clubs, associations, universities, promoters, etc.) competing for grants, sponsors, events, athletes and volunteers. Because of this fragmentation, there remained a significant untapped marketing and revenue generation opportunities within track & field that could otherwise be re-invested back into the sport.

Envision S&E Managing Director, Brian Levine, worked with Athletics Canada to engineer a business plan and secure anchor funding from the Athletics Canada Foundation and Sport Canada for the creation of a new high performance national track & field league. Modeled after the IAAF’s Diamond League, the National Track League (NTL) was designed to deliver a coherent and sustainable Grand Prix style series of high performance meets harmonizing national, provincial and international calendars with long-term athlete development.

The NTL has been embraced by sport officials, coaches and sport leaders from other countries including the United States and will celebrate its sixth season in 2016. All of Canada’s eight medalists at the 2015 IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Beijing have competed in the NTL.