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City Council Looks To Help Athletes

Thursday, 15 March 2012 07:35

Woodstock City Council is asking the grant committee to relook and possibly change one of their policies. This after City Council received a letter Thursday from two Woodstock families, who asked the city to take a second look at its criteria after their kids were denied grants. Cross Country skiers Bob and Mary Thompson, and track star Branden Wilhelm have been denied funding on the premise that they are over 18-years-old and are not competing in the Pan-AM, Commonwealth or Olympic Games. Bill Thompson, whose son Bob and daughter Mary are competing later this week in the National Cross-Country Ski Championships in Quebec, says it's a flawed policy. Thompson says his family is faced with expenses in the thousands of dollars to send the budding athletes to training and competition across the country, and the globe. He adds by the time they reach the Commonwealth or Olympic Games, they will already be full funded. City councilor Paul Plant said some of the potential changes that could take place with the policy include, "Opening it up to those athletes that haven't quite made it to the Pan-AM or Olympic level but have gotten some sort of recognition at a regional, provincial or Canadian level." Plant says there will probably be a meeting of the grants committee in April where they will look at ways of changing the policy to make it more inclusive.

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