Amateur Athletic Union of Canada

The History of Canadian sports falls into five stages of development: early recreational activities before 1840; the start of organized competition, 1840-1880; the emergence of national organizations, 1882-1914; the rapid growth of both amateur and professional sports, 1914 to 1960; and developments of the last half-century. Some sports, especially hockey, lacrosse and curling enjoy an international reputation as particularly Canadian.

Canadian sports attract large numbers of participants and huge audiences; hockey, played by 1.4 million Canadians, has become part of the national identity. Team sports often involved informal gambling. More formal bigger-stakes wagering and prize competitions were characteristic especially of horse racing and boxing. In the 21st century the major team sports are hockey, baseball, softball, football, and basketball. Women, once shunted aside, are now actively competing in most of these sports; the nation celebrated the medal performance of its Olympic athletes. As in many modern nations the challenges faced by sports in recent decades include violence, racism, illegal drug therapies, ridicule of women, the increasingly disproportionate salaries of professional athletes, and the soaring cost of the newest model stadiums. Such problems stand in contrast to the fundamental values of sports including personal health, teamwork, striving for responsibility, loyalty, equality, winning, pleasure, and freedom.

Individual sports have long been important, including skating, skiing, golf, paddling, swimming, and track and field; in recent years there has been a surge of interest in more "extreme" sports such as snowboarding, rollerblading and mountain climbing.

Immigrants brought along their favourite sports, often adapting them to the snowy environment. The influence of the games of the First Nations can be seen especially in the evolution of lacrosse. British officers, soldiers, and royal officials, and indeed ordinary British immigrants as well, transplanted such games as football, rugby, curling, and cricket; sailors brought rowing competitions. Britons considered these sports to be conducive to relieving boredom on remote outposts, and more generally produced team spirit, good health, hardiness, and manliness; they were a sophisticated alternative to "blood sports", such as cockfighting, bullfighting or bear baiting.

Paraschak, identifies two approaches to the history of Native American sports. On the one hand, there is the history of First Nation athletes playing within the Euro-American mainstream culture. Important topics include the issues of racism, exploitation, and ethnocentric distortion. Secondly there is the history of the sports played among the natives, especially the history of lacrosse as well as other games. The different tribes played (and wagered bets on) toboggan, snowshoe, and canoe races as well as archery, wrestling, spear throwing and running events. They provided entertainment for the community and a way to sharpen essential survival skills, including the ability to endure pain and hardship.

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