Underwater football in jeopardy after being denied recognition by Sport Manitoba
The made-in-Manitoba sport of underwater football is in jeopardy after it was denied recognition by Sport Manitoba.
This news comes as the Manitoba Underwater Council – underwater football’s parent organization – failed to meet the requirements to stay under the umbrella of Sport Manitoba.
“This is in no way trying to eliminate an activity,” said Janet McMahon, president and CEO of Sport Manitoba, in an interview on Tuesday.
“But it is around trying to create some standards that everyone can meet [so] that we can guarantee that participants have quality programming, that we are offering it to everyone, and it’s similar across the board in terms of what the expectations are.”
Underwater football started at the University of Manitoba in the 1960s and is played in several provinces today.
The lack of recognition doesn’t impact whether affected organizations can continue operating as clubs or provincial bodies, but means they aren’t eligible for funding and services provided by Sport Manitoba.
For the Manitoba Underwater Council, the issue lies with losing out on liability insurance, as without it, pools can’t be booked.
Keith Peters, president of the University of Manitoba Underwater Football Club, said he’s been scrambling to find insurance somewhere else.
“We’re going to lose pool time. We’re not going to be able to book a pool. We’re not going to be able to run our programs. That’s a huge concern,” said Keith Peters, president of the University of Manitoba Underwater Football Club,
Peters said he’s been scrambling to find insurance somewhere else as most regular insurance companies aren’t able to cover the sport. Sport Manitoba said it is open to helping.
“We are willing to work with them to find reasonable insurance for that area, but they don’t meet the organizational standards that we require of our other 60 provincial sport bodies,” McMahon said.
There have been past situations where a sport was denied membership by Sport Manitoba, but then came back later, met the standards, and received acceptance as a provincial sport organization.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.