Sports and Recreation

Alberta has a long history in sports and recreation. The province has provided the opportunities for early sports enthusiasts to establish hockey and football teams.

The province's hockey team, the Edmonton Mercurys, represented Canada and won the 1950 World Championship and won the 1952 Olympic gold medal. This long history of success in hockey brought about the strong national standing of the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in the last 20 years.

In the 1900s Alberta had a vibrant football league named the Alberta Rugby Football League that was the basis for later teams in the province. The Western Canada Rugby Football Union came into being in 1911. Since then, there has been a nearly continuous line of football teams in Alberta to the present day, with the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos playing a dominant role in the Canadian Football League.

The strength of Alberta in sports can been seen in its Olympians, who include Willie deWitt, Karen Percy-Lowe, Kurt Browning, Karen Lee-Gartner, Lori-Ann Muenzer, Beckie Scott, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, Deidra Dionne, and Catriona LeMay Doan.

	Alex Decoteau was the first Aboriginal police officer in Canada, who worked for the Edmonton Police Service in Edmonton, Alberta from 1911 to 1916. He was also a celebrated long distance runner, and an Olympic athlete who competed in the 5,000 metre race at the Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. Find out more about the remarkable life of Alex Decoteau at the Alex Decoteau Edukit at www.Edukits.ca !

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