Yes. In every city I know, ice is scarce. I know that a lot of organizations for females are saying, “You know, we started later than the boys did, and we're having a hard time securing more ice. It's not fair.” We definitely could use more arenas for just our youth and grassroots programs.
I'm also talking about national sports centres. We need more national sports centres across Canada. An athlete said to me this morning, “Katie, having to travel just to go and train, or having to move away from home is a really big sacrifice when you're not really making any money.” It would keep the costs down for the national sports associations too.
Having a centre right here in Ottawa where all different disciplines could train and you'd be with other Canadian athletes would motivate you to do better. You're going to learn from other athletes, not just those in one sport. It brings community to us as Canadian athletes. Then we also have the junior kids training with us. I think that needs to be a really big focus. I know it's easier said than done.
There are also other little things, such as health benefits. That's a huge one. I have a private health benefit plan right now that's terrible, but that was the only option there was for me. When we played on Team Canada, we also had food cards, so teaming up with a place like Metro or Superstore.... I think there are a few simple things that could be done, which are just a few phone calls away. I think in Canada we're a very proud country and we really support our athletes as a whole, so I wonder when we are going to take that next step and everyone is going to get on board and help these athletes who aren't making much money, who have to raise funds themselves, and who are not getting many sponsorship deals.