Canada Games

[argh1]

With the legacy of facilities left in the smaller centres by the Canada Games it's hard to fault the structure.

The PEI Games needed to sell $500,000 in tickets to break even that was reached in the 1st week.

Atlantic Soccer teams placed 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. Call it mediocrity if you want.

But I still call it job well done.

The infrastructure left behind by Canada Games is important to the smaller centres that host the games.

Not everything is about the larger Centres so I understand their disapproval.

Some times the celebration of "our" country Canada is about the "Acadians, Cape Bretoners, Newfoundlanders, Ukranians, Icelandic, Prairie farmers and Northen Ontarians.Northerners and New Canadians"

Being proud to wear our Provincial Colours and Logos.

Some times the celebtation isn't about what the the top 5 or 6 BIG centres have that the smaller centres struggle to get.

Canada Games is about being inclusive of all Canadians not just those with access to the facilities in the larger centres.

I thank the Canada Games for leaving facilities behind and the spirit that all Canadians can compete not just those in the large centres. Known for their talent and dedication not their location.

[rdf]

Ok,

First, I saw perhaps 10 soccer games last week in pei. I was amazed at how close many of the games were. The gap between the bigger provinces and the smaller ones appears to have narrowed somewhat - at least based on that snapshot. I rank the teams as follows

1. Que.

2. Ont.

3. Man.

4 (tie) AB NS PEI

7-9 (tie) NB NL BC

10. SK

11-12 NWT Yukon

second, I have listened patiently to all of the back and forth over the merits of the Canada Games format and the costs involved. There has been some useful insight, some regional rhetoric and some arrogance. I think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of it all. My opinion is based on my own appearance as a soccer player at Canada Games in 1997 and my attendance at some others, including last week in PEI.

1. Anyone who thinks that the Canada Games is a breeding ground for the next group of Canadian national soccer team players is in a dreamland. The core of our national team players will be players developed by clubs (either in canada or Europe). Most of the top u-18 players in our country will already have been identified and I am guessing were not in PEI this week. It is possible that some players who were at the Games will eventually play for Canada, but likely were trained primarily by clubs and simply chose to play for their province at the Games (see TR Attak players from Quebec).

2. There likely are some sports where the Canada Games are a legitimate training ground for our future olympians. Track and Field, swimming and canoe/kayak are a few that come to mind. These are sports where Canada is relevant on the international scene.

3. To me the Canada Games are important for 3 reasons:

a. Facilities: The Games are often held outside the major urban centres and provide facilities for both high level training and public use for generations to come. Without the games, these areas would not receive the facilities.

b. Athlete develoment: In some sports, athletes are trained to represent canada. In other sports (like soccer) kids are exposed to high level training and competition that they may not receive otherwise. This exposure may lead to university scholarships, and overall raises the level of a sport in each individual province. For example, most, if not all, of the canada games soccer players (at least in the smaller provinces) will return to play in the senior leagues next summer. They surely are much better players then they would have been without the Canada Games training.

c. Provincial/National pride: Most players will never represent canada. I saw it as a true honour to represent my province at canada games. It helped instill provincial price in me and my teammates and in future generations who want to wear provincial colours. I witnessed similar pride all week long in pei. The games also helped me meet and compete against athletes from other provinces. It provided a great sense of what canada's next generation was all about.

Assuming the 3 points above are valid, I guess the big question for most is; is it worth the price? Well, I don't claim to know the answer to that, but I personally think that the games are an amazing part of Canada. I also agree that our elite athletes are under-funded. I believe it would be a shame to rob Peter to pay Paul. We should defend the Canada Games and what it stands for and we should push for more athlete funding. We're in this together.

[Vic]

Where do you even begin with someone who say's $500 thousand in ticket sales breaks even games costing $33 million dollars.

You can wrap yourself in charming rhetoric all you like, but the bottom line is we differ on giving every Canadian an equal and fair opportunity to receive athletic funding.

[Vic]

rdf that was a great post.

quote:I believe it would be a shame to rob Peter to pay Paul. We should defend the Canada Games and what it stands for and we should push for more athlete funding. We're in this together.

If every province had to foot the bill for their participation the Games would end immediately.

The games should be a celebration and demonstration of the best athletes in Canada regardless of lines in the sand.

[argh1]

quote:Originally posted by Vic

Where do you even begin with someone who say's $500 thousand in ticket sales breaks even games costing $33 million dollars.

You can wrap yourself in charming rhetoric all you like, but the bottom line is we differ on giving every Canadian an equal and fair opportunity to receive athletic funding.

Wow, you really have an axe to grind.

[jpg75]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

You do realize that area codes have nothing to do with it. You act as f the feds favour one province over the other.

Pretty sure his point is that sport in this country is so underfunded that spending $33M on these games is an complete waste. Why not take the money and help out our elite athletes - the ones who have a chance of medaling at Olympics and World Champ. - regardless of their area code.

[jpg75]

BTW, i do think the legacy of infrastructure is important. I was watching CBC Newsworld prior to the start of the CG's and some former track athlete turned coach from PEI was saying how great it was to now have a real stadium to train his charges in.

[ibrox]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

Care to explain yourself?

Or are you looking for excuses for the mixed results of the academy teams?

Judging from what's being talked and described here, I wouldn't call BC an academy team...

[ibrox]

quote:Originally posted by argh1

With the legacy of facilities left in the smaller centres by the Canada Games it's hard to fault the structure.

The PEI Games needed to sell $500,000 in tickets to break even that was reached in the 1st week.

Atlantic Soccer teams placed 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. Call it mediocrity if you want.

But I still call it job well done.

The infrastructure left behind by Canada Games is important to the smaller centres that host the games.

Not everything is about the larger Centres so I understand their disapproval.

Some times the celebration of "our" country Canada is about the "Acadians, Cape Bretoners, Newfoundlanders, Ukranians, Icelandic, Prairie farmers and Northen Ontarians.Northerners and New Canadians"

Being proud to wear our Provincial Colours and Logos.

Some times the celebtation isn't about what the the top 5 or 6 BIG centres have that the smaller centres struggle to get.

Canada Games is about being inclusive of all Canadians not just those with access to the facilities in the larger centres.

I thank the Canada Games for leaving facilities behind and the spirit that all Canadians can compete not just those in the large centres. Known for their talent and dedication not their location.

The reason why I call it mediocrity argh is simply because teams just dont care and then they go "ZOMG, we finished 7th!". At least teams like NL/PEI are half-attempting to improve themselves, even though the results may not show. NS, the jury is still out on based on the last 2 editions.

Re NB: My problem with them is they think that 7th place is a good thing. OK, I believe in reasonable expectations and all but to call:

a) a win against BC in a nothing game that had a garbage team tbh (sorry an academy team does not lose to back-to-back games like that).

A game where they allowed 1 shot against Quebec. Now I wasnt at the game, but were they playing 4-5-1? Just like buddy said earlier, thats why Andorra can keep up with England and even say theyre just as good lol.

[DoyleG]

quote:Originally posted by jpg75

Pretty sure his point is that sport in this country is so underfunded that spending $33M on these games is an complete waste. Why not take the money and help out our elite athletes - the ones who have a chance of medaling at Olympics and World Champ. - regardless of their area code.

The main problem isn't funding of athletes but the lack of infrastructure, which you pointed to in your subsequent post. The vast majority of that budget was to build new facilities and bring current ones up to standard. As you pointed out, the Island will now have a track facility for its own athletes to train at. Its a better option than seeing them head out to Moncton to do the same (calm down argh1).

Furthermore, the majority of funding for such events comes from the private sector. The 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax will have a similar sized budget, which the majority will have to come from the private sector. The money (majority from the HRM with the other levels providing their allocations) will go to improve existing facilities. This certainly helps since the last hope for sports infrastructure development was lost when Halifax withdrew from the 2014 Commonwealth Games bidding. You can't build elite athletes without having the infrastructure that will produce them, which seems to be lost on some people.

So dropping the Canada Games wouldn't do anything to help athlete development since it would mean a loss of those facilities. On top of that, it would mean that those potential athletes would lose additional funding as well. Those "weaker" provinces that Vic talked about have seen their results largely improve from the last Summer Games in '05. Only Newfoundland and Labrador has had a drop amongst the smaller provinces. So, it doesn't make sense why Vic, Trillium, etc seem to have a problem with the games.

Which comes down to the "area code" issue. Sports infrastructure is considered to be a mainly provincial/municipal responsibility. The feds wouldn't get involved unless a major event is happening that requires their support.

So this leads away from the feds and the Canada Games (the easy scapegoats) to the provincial and municipal governments who are to blame for this. The area code discrimination wouldn't fly outside of Ontario since the move is already on to build sports facilities for the population. Ontario spends the least amongst the Big 4 in terms of spending. Quebec spends the most even though they haven't hosted such events for quite a while. How do they do that? make a connection between sports and health and things go much smoother. From that you get your elite level athletes.

It's been understood in the West for a bloody long time. Now, that feeling has spread in Atlantic Canada while Quebec has always had that understanding.

Ontario? Go blame your city councils and Queens Park for that.

[DoyleG]

quote:Originally posted by ibrox

Judging from what's being talked and described here, I wouldn't call BC an academy team...

The players came from the Whitecaps system, which people would consider an academy.

The academy point is further pushed due to there being no players from outside the lower mainland.

[Richard]

BC Soccer and the Whitecaps have an agreement that the Whitecaps will run the U17/U18 BC provincial allstar teams as part of their Prospects program which is part of their overall Professional Development Program. These are essentially the teams that represented BC at the Canada Games. See here for Prospect program info and here for info on the deal between BC Soccer and the Whitecaps.

Clearly there was a problem on the men's side, the team has performed abysmally in competition.

[femi5]

i actually played in this CG. i was on the NB team. i think the most important thing to understannd is that the gap bewteen the big provinces and the smaller provinces is smaller. everybody is catching up. Most Teams deserved to finish where they did. I think the exception is Nova Scotia. Quite honestly, they may have been the worst of the atlantic teams along with NL. PEI should have been playing for third along with NB. ALberta probably should not have made that final because they barely managed to beat PEI in the 1/4 final. Pei missed a penalty and a 1on1 with the keeper right at the end. the 4-1 scoreline does them zero justice. ANd aimed at those claiming NB played defensive: we played a 4-2-3-1. with two holding mids and 3 attacking mids. ill be honest, our game versus quebec was probably our best ever. if you saw the game its obvious that we could compete with those guys. they had more than 1 shot that ON TARGET, and that was the goal. we had plenty of shots and chances and headers to score of set pieces as well.

and btw ibrox, some of your statistics regarding NB at the last canada games are inaccurate. their team was a bit lucjy perhaps, but the circumstances under which they lost in the final are very important to understand as well. actually the ref that game did such a poor job he lost his national refereeing license.

all in conclusion, all the lip being directed towards the atlantic provinces is unmerited if you didnt watch all the games, or play in them. PEI was the best atlantic team, and should have medaled,and NB finished 6th NOT 7th like some ppl seem to think

[argh1]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

The main problem isn't funding of athletes but the lack of infrastructure, which you pointed to in your subsequent post. The vast majority of that budget was to build new facilities and bring current ones up to standard. As you pointed out, the Island will now have a track facility for its own athletes to train at. Its a better option than seeing them head out to Moncton to do the same (calm down argh1).........

I'm calm and I agree with you. The legacy of the CG is with-out question.

Charlottetown now has a nice stadium.

Saint John from games 20 years ago has a nice stadium. Matter of fact with the recent upgrades to the Canada Games Stadium in Saint John, Starting in 2010 UNB will house their 1st Varsity team (Athletics) at the the satellite campus of UNBSJ.

I support the CG as it gets out to the regions of Canada.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by argh1

I'm calm and I agree with you. The legacy of the CG is with-out question.

Charlottetown now has a nice stadium.

Saint John from games 20 years ago has a nice stadium. Matter of fact with the recent upgrades to the Canada Games Stadium in Saint John, Starting in 2010 UNB will house their 1st Varsity team (Athletics) at the the satellite campus of UNBSJ.

I support the CG as it gets out to the regions of Canada.

As I understand it the new track stadium in PEI cost seven million dollars give or take .. and seats 1000 people.

Based on a 5% mortgage your looking at 350k a year expense plus operational costs probably up to 200k per year for stadium staff etc.

The mondo track probably needs replacing every ten years at 500k plus the cost of new Field Turf so on a ten year cycle the cost of the facillity runs to about 600 to 800k per year.

Ask yourself what number of Olympic level track athletes do you expect to produce every ten years for six to eight million dollars ?

Oh and we have not yet added in the costs of world class coaches to develop the athletes.

If we identfied the top 14 year olds in the province lets say ten per year and sent them to a National training Centre and funded them to 18 you would have 40 PEI athletes getting the highest training in a competitive environment.

They could be funded with some 20k per year, and be exposed to the best environment possible to succeed.

If we want to produce olympians ... we need to bring them to one location and to let them succeed.. the Canada Games legacy of a stadium and track wont do it unless you have volume of young athletes needed to produce something and the coaches to create the skills and push them to be winners.

I dont think the CG legacy in PEI will do that.

[Bates]

Wow Trillium what do we want to achieve. Do we want to be like the Germans and Russians of the past. Maybe we should test all kids at 12 and decide which sport they have the best chance to excel at and then hord them off to whatever part of the Country houses their National training centre. Not everyone gives a crap about being the best in the world but ALL Canadians deserve the right to play.

[ibrox]

quote:Originally posted by femi5

i actually played in this CG. i was on the NB team. i think the most important thing to understannd is that the gap bewteen the big provinces and the smaller provinces is smaller. everybody is catching up. Most Teams deserved to finish where they did. I think the exception is Nova Scotia. Quite honestly, they may have been the worst of the atlantic teams along with NL. PEI should have been playing for third along with NB. ALberta probably should not have made that final because they barely managed to beat PEI in the 1/4 final. Pei missed a penalty and a 1on1 with the keeper right at the end. the 4-1 scoreline does them zero justice. ANd aimed at those claiming NB played defensive: we played a 4-2-3-1. with two holding mids and 3 attacking mids. ill be honest, our game versus quebec was probably our best ever. if you saw the game its obvious that we could compete with those guys. they had more than 1 shot that ON TARGET, and that was the goal. we had plenty of shots and chances and headers to score of set pieces as well.

and btw ibrox, some of your statistics regarding NB at the last canada games are inaccurate. their team was a bit lucjy perhaps, but the circumstances under which they lost in the final are very important to understand as well. actually the ref that game did such a poor job he lost his national refereeing license.

all in conclusion, all the lip being directed towards the atlantic provinces is unmerited if you didnt watch all the games, or play in them. PEI was the best atlantic team, and should have medaled,and NB finished 6th NOT 7th like some ppl seem to think

Lmao. Femi b’y, who are ya?

You need to give yourself a good shake if you really meant what you said. The best teams dig deep and finish out the game, Alberta did that, PEI did not in the qf game. Also, it doesn’t matter how many chances you have on net, what matters is how many go in. That’s why Quebec won, and you did not. It’s also why Alberta made the finals and PEI did not. You can use any excuse you want, but the fact of the matter is you lost to a team that was BETTER than YOU ON THAT DAY.

OK, sorry, they finished 6th . I could easily turn around and say you should have finished lower than that, but at the end of the day, you still finished 6th. That’s what matters, no ifs and or buts BS.

Oh, and I’ll let ya in on a little secret bud, there are a LOT of nationally certified referees who are not very good referees. Im sure you’ll learn that once you hit university and realise that each prof may be qualified, but them being good is a whole other matter.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by Trillium

You might want to read about "Right to Play"

About Right To Play

Right To Play is an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play trains local community leaders as Coaches to deliver its programs in countries affected by war, poverty, and disease in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guides our work. Right To Play programs target the most marginalized including girls, people living with disability, children affected by HIV and AIDS, street children, former child combatants and refugees.

Currently, Right To Play works in 23 countries: Azerbaijan, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza), Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia.

Right To Play is supported by an international team of top athletes from more than 40 countries. As role models, these athletes inspire children, raise awareness and promote opportunities for funding for Right To Play programs.

Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has national offices in Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The national offices raise funds, build awareness for Right To Play programs and advocate for Sport for Development.

Now are you trying say children in PEI need such a program ? I bet the schools and recreation directors in towns all over PEI would like to say they have a complete and full program of participation sports for local youth.

The question is and will continue to be if as you purport the Canada Games is about the legacy of facilitys in small to medium sized cities in Canada, how do those facilitys create excellence ?

Perhaps you should read about someone called Usain Bolt, see this Wiki entry.

Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content,[8] a small town in Trelawny, Jamaica, and grew up with his parents, Jennifer and Wellesley Bolt, his brother Sadeeki,[9] and his sister Sherine.[2][10] His parents ran the local grocery store in the rural area, and Bolt spent his time playing cricket and football in the street with his brother,[11] later saying, "When I was young, I didn’t really think about anything other than sports".[12]

As a child, he attended Waldensia Primary and All-age School, and it was here that he first began to show his sprinting potential, running in the annual national primary-schools' meeting for his parish.[3] By the age of twelve, Bolt had become the school's fastest runner over the 100 metres distance.[13]

Upon his entry to William Knibb Memorial High School, Bolt continued to focus on other sports, but his cricket coach noticed Bolt's speed on the pitch and urged him to try track and field events.[14] Pablo McNeil, a former 100 metres Olympic athlete,[15] and Dwayne Barrett coached Bolt, encouraging him to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities. The school had a history of athletic success with past students, including sprinter Michael Green.[3] Bolt won his first annual high school championships medal in 2001, taking the silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.04 seconds.[3] McNeil soon became his primary coach, and the two enjoyed a positive partnership, although McNeil was occasionally frustrated by Bolt's lack of dedication to his training and his predisposition to practical jokes.[15]

Now what are the important points, Bolt came from a rural area, his family was not wealthy, he was identified by his cricket coach and directed to track, and most important his first track coach was a former Olympian who brought him to the national level and then the international level.

Oh and you might want to calculate the ages he began to emerge at .. not at 18 or 19 but at 14 and 15.

You seem to think Canadian children have no ability to do more then just play for fun, I think your misguided in not realizing such children those with natural ability have a right to the proper cultivation of their skills .. for themselves and for the nation.

Yes we can have national sport heroes.

Progams like Canada Games are a waste of resources that can more usefully be put to work.

A track in PEI wont produce a Usian Bolt, but a world class coach on a cinder track can.

A ten million dollar ice rink, does not produce a Patrick Chan, but a 90 year old coach can.

Top flight coaches dont raise potatoes 10 hours and day then go and coach, they need to be on the job every day doing coaching, and they talent of being a coach ... has to be centralized.

Bring the athlete to the coaches, once you have identifed the athletes, expose them to a competitive environment each training day.

[argh1]

No but small community rinks do produce, Sidney Crosby's Luc Bourdon's Patrice Cormier's, Brad Richards, Dan Cleary's.

Small baseball diamomds produce Rheal Cormier's, Jason Dickson's, Matt Stairs. Small football fields produce many east cost CFLers

So what's holding soccer back?

One High School football team in Moncton area has 12 coaches on staff.

Many High School, midget, jr "A", "B", "C" hockey teams have full-time Directors of Hockey.

Why are midget,high school, jr and university baseball teams hiring full-time coaches.

Why aren't the soccer teams?

Why is it necessary to send our kids away to Upper Canada? What's wrong with having facilities here so our kids can stay home, train and play?

What is your point besides spending money on the East Coast is a waste because all the elite athletes should be removed from their homes and forced to live 1,000's of miles away?

Hockey Canada forbids ownership of Jr teams by Pro teams and that's worked out pretty good in player development.

The Academy model is flawed as it encourages a pro contract to players too young.

CSA should look harder to copy the most sucessfull National Body in Sport and try to emulate that. There's no questioning Hockey Canada's approach.

CSA even has higher registration numbers.

Without facilities things will never change.

Money is better spent keeping kids at home with the best of facilities and training.

[DoyleG]

Trillium still lives in that stupid fantasy world of his own making. Axing the Canada games won't do anything for Canadian athletes since the funding would go elsewhere.

If he had even bothered to use his head before he posted, he knew that the federal proportion for the Canada Games was minuscule and for infrastructure only.

He just jealous about hick communities picking up facilities rather than focusing his energies towards CIty Hall and Queen Park. Its also funny to watch his complaints about the "waste" since that money would be needed for his NCAA wet dream.

[timmakal]

A track on pei wont produce a world class athlete? Maybe you should do you research before throwing out comments. Jared Connaughton (whos from pei) is on pace to be the fastest white man in the world. Not just right now but ever. So before you start trashing small towns saying they wont ever produce players or athletes of an international calibre make sure you have all the facts straight. If PEI could produce such an athlete that trained by running the halls of a school imagine the possibilities with the proper facilities? Think about it a bit.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by timmakal

A track on pei wont produce a world class athlete? Maybe you should do you research before throwing out comments. Jared Connaughton (whos from pei) is on pace to be the fastest white man in the world. Not just right now but ever. So before you start trashing small towns saying they wont ever produce players or athletes of an international calibre make sure you have all the facts straight. If PEI could produce such an athlete that trained by running the halls of a school imagine the possibilities with the proper facilities? Think about it a bit.

So the factual truth is he did not need the track .. for the facility did not make him to a top level athlete, desire and work ethic did.

As I said earlier in the thread .. its about coaching ... and look who Jared had as a early coach a Gold Medal Olympian .. in a sport which demands directly transferable skills to being a sprinter.

So .. again bring the best atheletes to the best coaches, then you get results.

quote:

Jared Connaughton has landed a spot on Canada's Olympic team for the Games in Beijing in August, despite facing what some would consider serious training challenges as he developed his talent.

'I trained on soccer fields, I trained on gravel tracks, I trained on sand dunes.'

— Jared ConnaughtonConnaughton won the 200-metre Canadian title at the Olympic qualifying meet in Windsor, Ont., on the weekend with a time of 20.34 seconds, a new championship record. The previous record of 20.40 seconds was set in 1986 by Atlee Mahorn.

Connaughton's home of Charlottetown is an unlikely spot for the development of sprinters. There is no real tradition of track and field in the province, and no proper training facilities for athletes interested in the sport.

"I trained on soccer fields, I trained on gravel tracks, I trained on sand dunes. At the time I didn't know any different," Connaughton told CBC News.

"I wanted to run fast and I believed I could be an Olympian one day, and I'm a month away from that."

One of Connaughton's main training tracks was a school hallway, about 150 metres long, at Charlottetown's Holland College. He did have one early advantage.

One of his first coaches was Dave (Eli) MacEachern, the Island's only gold-medal Olympian, who won the bobsleigh in 1998.

quote:[

Connaughton is no longer training on P.E.I. He now works in Texas in some of the best facilities in the world.

Canada's Olympic coach calls him one of the brightest young stars on the team. Sprinting was once a highlight of Canada's Olympic squad, and Connaughton believes this year's team could surprise some people.

"A lot of people say this group of sprinters aren't quite what it used to be, but I think we're out here to prove that wrong," he said.

The official announcement of Canada's Olympic track and field team will be made Monday.

[DoyleG]

Yet either man would be happy for PEI having such a facility now.

Quit being an idiot, Trillium.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

Yet either man would be happy for PEI having such a facility now.

Quit being an idiot, Trillium.

Not bein an idiot at all just providing factual back up to my contension you need to expose good natural atheletes to world class coaching and competitive training environments.

DoyleG if you cant advance an argument without resorting to lame attacks with no other comment you should probably learn to realize your not really on top of your game, do some research, read a little bit form a cognizant argument then make it.

[McKennan]

Having personally been able to speak to Jared about the new facility. He wish that it was available when he was younger as the training that he could have done on a world class track would have benefited him greatly. He is extremely proud of his roots in PEI and that he can now train on PEI at a world class facility.