Posted: February 6, 2006

Olympics: 'See You In Court,' fundraiser tells COC

By Wayne Scanlan, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, February 04, 2006

These are crazy times for Jane Roos.

In the past 15 months, she has:

- been checked from behind by the Canadian Olympic Committee;

- given birth to her first child, a daughter;

- worried about her father, who lies terminally ill in an Ottawa hospital;

- considered abandoning the private, grassroots initiative that has put more than $2 million dollars into the pockets of Canada's amateur athletes, most of them living below the poverty line.

It was those athletes helped by Roos's "See You In Athens" and "See You In Salt Lake City" campaigns who encouraged Roos to hang in and fight back when the COC swiped her "See You In ..." tag. Without notifying Roos, who has long been a thorn in its side, the COC took action to have the "See You In" name trademarked for its own use.

COC officials have said they are not trying to bully Roos, but are only protecting Olympic property, essentially anything referencing the Olympics.

If that were the case, Roos says, why did she only learn of the trademark action when a lawyer friend tipped her off?

"We only had 30 days to file a judicial review," Roos says. "If that lawyer hadn't called, it would have been too late...."

Roos was especially hurt because she has met regularly with COC executives. She has spoken at the same banquets, thought they were closer to being on the same page. For a few days, her lowest days, Roos contemplated giving up.

"I thought, if I leave now, everyone would understand."

Then Roos called some of the Canadian athletes she respects the most. They urged her to continue. By working outside of "the system," they said, you make the COC accountable. You create awareness.

Roos sat and read from the stack of letters seeking money, or saying thanks. A blind skier needed money for a guide. A female hockey player was over the moon about receiving a cheque for $6,000.

So Roos worked up the gumption to stage a legal battle, now in process, even if it costs $60,000 that should be used for athletes' food, training and equipment. The funny part of the conflict is that many people thought her former brand sounded like a travel agency rather than an athletic fund.

"I just don't want them to have it," Roos says from her office in Toronto. "I put my heart and soul into this. ... They don't deserve it."

This week Roos announced a new name, Canadian Athletes Now, abbreviated to the CAN Fund. In Turin, 80 Canadian athletes will have received $6,000 each from the Roos program to make ends meet before the Olympic gathering.

That's a drop from the 244 athletes who received "See You In" funding at Athens. Roos is proud of the fact that 11 of Canada's 12 medallists in Greece applied for and received grants from Roos.

Paddler Adam van Koeverden, the poster boy for Canada in Athens, has said he would not have won his gold and bronze medals without money from the Roos program.

Events combined to limit sponsorship support after Athens. Canada's performance was not well received and the government again came under attack for its treatment of athletes.

Hopeful of a fresh start in the new year, Roos' program, buoyed by its status as a registered charity, got swamped along with so many other international charities when the tsunami relief effort became a priority.

A short time later, Roos gave birth.

Today, she's back on her feet in every way. A story on CBC's The National has raised her profile and made people aware the funding drive is alive and well. The drive toward Beijing and Vancouver is about to start.

Two companies, K. Inc. and Shikatani Lacroix, designed the new Can Fun brand without charge, a $150,000 value.

This isn't the first time Roos, 36, has had to battle back. Growing up in Ottawa, she attended Confederation High School, then switched to Bell for her final year to play basketball. Her career as a competitive pentathlete ended after a 1988 car accident in Casselman left her badly injured. She was 19.

In 1997, Roos turned her focus to athletes in need, knowing, from personal experience, their struggles. She generated a modest $50,000 in the first year.

Before the Athens Olympics, Roos caused a stir with an ad campaign directed by Paul Lavoie, creator of the Viagra commercials. One of the Lavoie ads depicted a Canadian athlete unable to go to the Olympics because of money issues. Initially, she appeared to be standing on a medal podium during the national anthem. The wider camera view showed her to be outside a shop window, watching the moment on television, before jogging away in her track suit.

The "See You In" effort raised about $500,000 for athletes representing Canada in Sydney and Salt Lake City.

After winning gold in Sydney, Daniel Igali thanked the Roos program on-air.

"When no one else knew me, you provided me with money so I could pay my rent," Igali said.

Roos has maintained a goal of reaching $5 million, although she once hoped to hit the mark before Athens. She underestimated the turbulence of working outside "the system."

A COC executive once reminded Roos that the national sports body was the Queen Mary and that Roos was a little tugboat.

"We can take you out at any time," he said.

The little tugboat is still chugging along.

For information or to make a pledge to the CAN Fund, call 1-866-yes-2008.

The new website is www.canadianathletesnow.com.

"We support human potential," Roos says.

© Ottawa Citizen Respublished by permission of the Ottawa Citizen

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