Fuelling Canada’s podium dreams – Vancouver 2010 Coin Sport Collector Cards available at a corner station near you

You may have noticed a shiny curling coin jingling around in your change this winter, the first of 17 Olympic- and Paralympic-themed circulation coins launched by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) to celebrate Canada’s Games in 2010. To help  make those Games even more spectacular, Petro-Canada and the RCM are offering Canadians an easy way to support Canada’s promising athletes and coaches – all in the time it takes to fill the tank.   

The Vancouver 2010 Coin Sport Collector Card program will launch 12 illustrated cards that will include collectable versions of the popular Olympic- or Paralympic-themed 25-cent circulation coins issued by the RCM. The coins are adorned with distinctive red painting to enhance the Maple Leaf in the background.

The cards make a great collectable from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and are an excellent way to help Canada excel on the field of play in 2010 and beyond. Part of the proceeds from each $7.95 Coin Sport Collector Card sold will help fund Olympic and Paralympic athletes and coaches through Petro-Canada’s Fuelling the Dream Fund. It’s a program that makes contributions to an innovative program called Fuelling Athletic and Coaching Excellence (FACE) and Own the Podium 2010 (OTP).

The FACE program
FACE supports up-and-coming athletes and their coaches, who must often struggle with the financial aspect of maintaining their competitive edge. The FACE program aims to close this gap by helping fund summer and winter athletes who are one step removed from being “carded” (qualified to receive funding from the Sport Canada Athlete Assistance Program).

While funding programs have a long tradition of supporting individual athletes, a unique aspect of Petro-Canada’s program is that the coaches of those athletes selected to receive FACE funding automatically receive consideration for a matching FACE grant.

Laurie Wachs coached Jessica Shelby Guenther to a bronze medal in synchronized swimming at the Whitehorse 2007 Canada Winter Games. She said the FACE program has had an enormous impact on helping both her and Jessica reach their goals.

“We are somewhat isolated here in Saskatchewan and these funds will help Jess and I continue to prosper in our sport,” Wachs said. “Jessica just came with the first-ever medal in synchronized swimming at the Winter Games for our province. I know this money is going to help us both so much.”

Own the Podium 2010
Own the Podium 2010 is a sport technical initiative designed to help Canada become the number one nation in terms of medals won at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and to place in the top three countries overall at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

The focus of the initiative is to provide additional resources and high-performance programming to Canadian athletes, coaches and support personnel to help the country’s athletes achieve podium success in 2010.

Petro-Canada has a long tradition of supporting Canada’s Olympic aspirations, beginning with its sponsorship of the Olympic Torch Relay in 1988. Since then, Petro-Canada has awarded over $6 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 non-carded athletes and coaches. Today, Petro-Canada is a National Partner for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

"Petro-Canada has been supporting Canadian athletes and coaches for 18 years," says Steven Keith, director, Olympic and community partnerships. "We are pleased to commit $13 million in future support through our Fuelling the Dream Fund, with contributions to Own the Podium 2010 and our new Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence program."

Each card will launch at the same time as the corresponding RCM circulation coin. This includes the April 3, 2007 release of an ice hockey coin/card, followed by wheelchair curling (July), biathlon (September) and alpine skiing (October ).