Sport in Calgary
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is home to a deep-seated tradition of winter sports. Much of this stems from its location, with proximity to the Alberta Rocky Mountains and Banff National Park. After hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, the city has also had winter sports and training facilities. Beyond winter sports, Calgary has several professional and amateur sports teams and is a major world pro rodeo center, with the city's Stampede Park holding the annual Calgary Stampede.
Calgary boasts a variety of sports leagues in the summer and winter seasons. Australian football, basketball, cricket, field hockey, futsal, ice hockey, lacrosse, netball, soccer, sailing, volleyball, and ringette are all available in various locations throughout Calgary.
Sports facilities edit
Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, and many of the Olympic facilities continue to function as major high-performance training facilities. Among the most notable of these are WinSport's Canada Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval.
Athletes also take advantage of the high altitude to improve their physical limits. With facilities that are considered to be world-class and proximity to the Canadian Rockies, Calgary attracts athletes from all over Canada and around the world for winter sports training.
Calgary's multipurpose arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome was formerly known as the Olympic Saddledome. The Saddledome was the first modern arena in North America capable of accommodating an Olympic regulation-sized ice rink. Calgary's primary open-air stadium, McMahon Stadium, was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and is currently the venue for Calgary's Canadian Football League team, the Calgary Stampeders. The stadium has a capacity of 35,400 and is the fifth largest in Canada.
The Olympic Oval is primarily a speed-skating arena that can also accommodate hockey and high-performance training. The rink's ice is world-renowned, and it brings some of the best speed skaters in the world to the facility for training and competition. The Oval has often been touted as having "the fastest ice on Earth" due to the fact that it is a climate-controlled facility and because of the effects of high altitude on the ice surface. As a result, many world records have been broken there. It was at this place where the likes of Catriona Le May Doan and Cindy Klassen trained for their Olympic and world stardom.
Golf is also a popular sport in Calgary. Major courses include Heritage Pointe, Priddis Greens, the Glencoe Golf and Country Club, and the Calgary Golf and Country Club (these have been ranked among the top 100 in Canada). Calgary is also within a short drive of many top rated mountain courses including Banff Springs, Kananaskis, and Stewart Creek.
Two Soccer domes, located in south-east and north-west Calgary allow indoor play.
Other sporting venues include:
- Father David Bauer Olympic Arena
- Foothills Stadium
- Spruce Meadows
- Stampede Corral
- Stampede Park Race Track and Grandstand
- Max Bell Centre
- Glenmore Velodrome
- Don Hartman Northeast Sportsplex
Recreational and park facilities edit
Calgary is next to some of the most visited natural scenery in the world. Banff National Park is about 125km northwest of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway. 30km west of the city is the town of Bragg Creek. Another 45km west of Bragg Creek is the Kananaskis Improvement District featuring hiking, horseback riding, and mountain-biking trails, camping sites, rock and ice climbing, and cross-country skiing. A Provincial shooting range for firearms is located on the highway to Kananaskis.
Many Calgarians and millions of tourists enjoy activities such as biking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain-boarding, camping, and fishing in these parks every year. The town of Banff hosts nearly five million visitors annually.
- Fish Creek Provincial Park, one of Canada's largest provincial park located within a major city
- Nose Hill Park
- Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
- Stanley Park
- Prince's Island Park
- Prairie Winds Park
- Bowness Park
- Edworthy Park
- Battalion Park
- Confederation Park
- Kananaskis Provincial Improvement District, approximately 60 km to the west and southwest
- Banff National Park, approximately 130 km to the west, UNESCO World Heritage Site
Notable sporting events edit
Calgary hosts a number of annual sporting events. This includes the CSIO Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament, one of the richest show jumping events in the world, which is held annually in September at Spruce Meadows. The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo held at Stampede Park and includes a number of equestrian sporting events.
Calgary hosted the following major North American and International sporting events including:
- 1972 World Figure Skating Championships
- 1975 63rd Grey Cup
- 1980 Labatt Brier
- 1985 37th NHL All-Star Game
- 1985 BWF World Championships
- 1986 Stanley Cup Finals
- 1988 Winter Olympics
- 1989 Stanley Cup Finals
- 1990 FIL World Luge Championships
- 1992 FIBT World Championships (Men's skeleton)
- 1993 FIL World Luge Championships
- 1993 81st Grey Cup
- 1996 FIBT World Championships
- 1996 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games
- 1997 Labatt Brier
- 1997 World Police and Fire Games
- 2000 88th Grey Cup
- 2001 FIBT World Championships (Women's bobsleigh, men's and women's skeleton)
- 2001 FIL World Luge Championships
- 2002 Nokia Brier
- 2004 Stanley Cup Finals
- 2005 FIBT World Championships
- 2006 World Allround Speed Skating Championships
- 2006 World Figure Skating Championships
- 2009 Tim Hortons Brier
- 2009 97th Grey Cup
- 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
- 2015 Tim Hortons Brier
- 2019 107th Grey Cup
- 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts
- 2021 Tim Hortons Brier
- 2021 BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship
- 2021 LGT World Women's Curling Championship
- 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship
Calgary also bid for the 1964, 1968, and the 1972 Winter Olympics
Sports edit
Cycling edit
Both Calgary and the Canadian Rockies are destinations for cycling and mountain biking. Within Calgary, a large bike path network exists (nearly 600km) as part of the city's transportation infrastructure. It is used extensively both for commuting to work and for recreation as it connects most of the city's parks. Large parks such as Fish Creek Provincial Park and Nose Hill Park are also major destinations for cyclers.
In the summer, Canada Olympic Park functions as a venue for both cross-country and downhill cycling. The Glenmore Velodrome is an outdoor track facility in the city. The Calgary BMX Association also operates a BMX racing track near Blackfoot Trail.
There is a general cycling advocacy group, Bike Calgary.
Ice hockey edit
Calgary has been home to the professional NHL team, the Calgary Flames since 1980, and their AHL affiliate team the Calgary Wranglers, who moved to Calgary in 2022. Calgary is also home to several junior hockey clubs, including a major junior team: the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, and an entire junior "B" league, the Calgary Junior Hockey League. The city also plays host to Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament hockey tournament.
Professional wrestling edit
Calgary is also the home of the Hart wrestling family and the Hart House which previously housed "The Dungeon", a famous pro wrestling training camp founded by Stu Hart, the family patriarch, where he trained many wrestlers including all of his sons, most notably Bret and Owen Hart.
Sport teams edit
Major league sports teams edit
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Stampeders | CFL | McMahon Stadium | 1945 | 8 (1948, 1971, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2014, 2018) |
| Calgary Flames | NHL | Scotiabank Saddledome | 1980* | 1 (1989) |
| Calgary Roughnecks | NLL | Scotiabank Saddledome | 2001 | 3 (2004, 2009, 2019) |
| Cavalry FC | CanPL | ATCO Field | 2018 | 0 |
| Calgary Surge | CEBL | Winsport Arena | 2023** | 0 |
| Calgary RATH | NRL | Winsport Arena | 2007 | 3 (2013, 2019, 2022) |
(*) Established as the Atlanta Flames in 1972.
(**) Established as the Guelph Nighthawks in 2013.
Minor league sports teams edit
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Wranglers | AHL | Scotiabank Saddledome | 2022* | 0 |
(*) Established as the Maine Mariners in 1977.
Amateur and junior clubs edit
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Colts | Canadian Junior Football League | McMahon Stadium | 1967 | 2 |
| Calgary Canucks | Alberta Junior Hockey League | Henry Viney Arena | 1971 | 9 |
| Calgary Speed Skating Association | Speed Skating Canada | Olympic Oval | 1990 | 10 |
| Calgary Hitmen | Western Hockey League | Scotiabank Saddledome | 1995 | 2 |
| Calgary Kangaroos | United States Australian Football League | Inland Athletic Park | 2002 | 0 |
| Calgary Roller Derby | Women's Flat Track Derby Association | West Hillhurst Community Arena | 2006 | 0 |
| Calgary Kookaburras | Canada Women's Australian Football League | Queen Elizabeth High School | 2007 | 2 |
| Calgary RATH | National Ringette League | Various | 2008 | 3 |
| Prairie Wolf Pack | Canadian Rugby Championship | Calgary Rugby Park | 2009 | 1 |
| Calgary Rage | Western Women's Canadian Football League | Shouldice Park | 2011* | 0 |
| Calgary Foothills FC | USL League Two | Foothills Composite High School | 2014 | 1 |
(*) Established as the Calgary Rockies in 2009.
Defunct and former teams edit
| Club | League | Years Active | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Tigers | Western Canada Hockey League | 1920-1936 | 4 |
| Calgary Cowboys | World Hockey Association | 1975-1977 | 0 |
| Calgary Wranglers | Western Hockey League | 1977-1987 | 0 |
| Calgary Mustangs | Alberta Junior Hockey League | 1978-2019 | 1 |
| Calgary Boomers | North American Soccer League | 1980-1981 | 0 |
| Calgary Cannons | Pacific Coast League | 1985-2002 | 0 |
| Calgary Kickers | Canadian Soccer League | 1987-1989 | 1 |
| Calgary 88s | World Basketball League | 1988-1992 | 0 |
| Calgary Rad'z | Roller Hockey International | 1993-1994 | 0 |
| Calgary Mavericks | Rugby Canada Super League | 1998-2010 | 1 |
| Calgary Oval X-Treme | National Women's Hockey League | 2002-2009 | 5 |
| Calgary Outlaws | Canadian Baseball League | 2003 | 1 |
| Calgary Drillers | American Basketball Association | 2004-2005 | 0 |
| Calgary Vipers | North American League | 2005-2011 | 0 |
| Calgary United F.C. | Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League | 2007-2014 | 2 |
| Calgary Inferno | Canadian Women's Hockey League | 2011-2019 | 2 |
| Calgary Crush | American Basketball Association | 2012-2015 | 0 |