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Sport in Calgary

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A rider competing in an event at the Calgary Stampede

The Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta, is home to a relatively deep-seated tradition of winter sports. Much of this stems from its location, with proximity to the Alberta Rocky Mountains and Banff National Park. After hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, the city has also had winter sports and training facilities. Beyond winter sports, Calgary has several professional and amateur sports teams and is a major world pro rodeo center, with the city's Stampede Park holding the annual Calgary Stampede.

Calgary boasts a variety of sports leagues in the summer and winter seasons. Australian football, basketball, cricket, field hockey, futsal, ice hockey, lacrosse, netball, soccer, sailing, volleyball, and ringette are all available in various locations throughout Calgary.

Sports facilities

Ski Jump and chairlift at Canada Olympic Park Summit in Calgary

Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, and many of the Olympic facilities continue to function as major high-performance training facilities. Among the most notable of these are WinSport's Canada Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval.

Athletes also take advantage of the high altitude to improve their physical limits. With facilities that are considered to be world-class and proximity to the Canadian Rockies, Calgary attracts athletes from all over Canada and around the world for winter sports training.

The Scotiabank Saddledome is a multipurpose indoor arena located within Stampede Park

Calgary's multipurpose arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome was formerly known as the Olympic Saddledome. The Saddledome was the first modern arena in North America capable of accommodating an Olympic regulation-sized ice rink. Calgary's primary open-air stadium, McMahon Stadium, was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and is currently the venue for Calgary's Canadian Football League team, the Calgary Stampeders. The stadium has a capacity of 35,400 and is the fifth largest in Canada.

The Olympic Oval is primarily a speed-skating arena that can also accommodate hockey and high-performance training. The rink's ice is world-renowned, and it brings some of the best speed skaters in the world to the facility for training and competition. The Oval has often been touted as having "the fastest ice on Earth" due to the fact that it is a climate-controlled facility and because of the effects of high altitude on the ice surface. As a result, many world records have been broken there. It was at this place where the likes of Catriona Le May Doan and Cindy Klassen trained for their Olympic and world stardom.

Golf is also a popular sport in Calgary. Major courses include Heritage Pointe, Priddis Greens, the Glencoe Golf and Country Club, and the Calgary Golf and Country Club (these have been ranked among the top 100 in Canada). Calgary is also within a short drive of many top rated mountain courses including Banff Springs, Kananaskis, and Stewart Creek.

Two Soccer domes, located in south-east and north-west Calgary allow indoor play.

Other sporting venues include:

Recreational and park facilities

People using the Bow River pathway, a pathway that connects some parks in Calgary

Calgary is next to some of the most visited natural scenery in the world. Banff National Park is about 125km northwest of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway. 30km west of the city is the town of Bragg Creek. Another 45km west of Bragg Creek is the Kananaskis Improvement District featuring hiking, horseback riding, and mountain-biking trails, camping sites, rock and ice climbing, and cross-country skiing. A Provincial shooting range for firearms is located on the highway to Kananaskis.

Many Calgarians and millions of tourists enjoy activities such as biking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain-boarding, camping, and fishing in these parks every year. The town of Banff hosts nearly five million visitors annually.

Notable sporting events

Calgary hosts a number of annual sporting events. This includes the CSIO Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament, one of the richest show jumping events in the world, which is held annually in September at Spruce Meadows. The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo held at Stampede Park and includes a number of equestrian sporting events.

A competitor for the biathlon watches for the starting signal during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary
The 2009 Tim Hortons Brier was held at the Saddledome in Calgary

Calgary hosted the following major North American and International sporting events including:

Calgary also bid for the 1964, 1968, and the 1972 Winter Olympics

Sports

Cycling

See also: Transportation in Calgary
BMX biker at a Calgary skate park

Both Calgary and the Canadian Rockies are destinations for cycling and mountain biking. Within Calgary, a large bike path network exists (nearly 600km) as part of the city's transportation infrastructure. It is used extensively both for commuting to work and for recreation as it connects most of the city's parks. Large parks such as Fish Creek Provincial Park and Nose Hill Park are also major destinations for cyclers.

In the summer, Canada Olympic Park functions as a venue for both cross-country and downhill cycling. The Glenmore Velodrome is an outdoor track facility in the city. The Calgary BMX Association also operates a BMX racing track near Blackfoot Trail.

There is a general cycling advocacy group, Bike Calgary.

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey in Calgary
Spectators watch a game between the Calgary Hitmen and Brandon Wheat Kings at the Saddledome

Calgary has been home to the professional NHL team, the Calgary Flames since 1980, and their AHL affiliate team the Calgary Wranglers, who moved to Calgary in 2022. Calgary is also home to several junior hockey clubs, including a major junior team: the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, and an entire junior "B" league, the Calgary Junior Hockey League. The city also plays host to Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament hockey tournament.

Professional wrestling

Calgary is also the home of the Hart wrestling family and the Hart House which previously housed "The Dungeon", a famous pro wrestling training camp founded by Stu Hart, the family patriarch, where he trained many wrestlers including all of his sons, most notably Bret and Owen Hart.

Sport teams

Major league sports teams

Club League Venue Established Championships
Calgary Stampeders CFL McMahon Stadium 1945 8 (1948, 1971, 1992,

1998, 2001, 2008, 2014, 2018)

Calgary Flames NHL Scotiabank Saddledome 1980* 1 (1989)
Calgary Roughnecks NLL Scotiabank Saddledome 2001 3 (2004, 2009, 2019)
Cavalry FC CanPL ATCO Field 2018 0
Calgary Surge CEBL Winsport Arena 2023** 0
Calgary RATH NRL Winsport Arena 2007 3 (2013, 2019, 2022)

(*) Established as the Atlanta Flames in 1972.

(**) Established as the Guelph Nighthawks in 2013.

Minor league sports teams

Club League Venue Established Championships
Calgary Wranglers AHL Scotiabank Saddledome 2022* 0

(*) Established as the Maine Mariners in 1977.

Amateur and junior clubs

Club League Venue Established Championships
Calgary Colts Canadian Junior Football League McMahon Stadium 1967 2
Calgary Canucks Alberta Junior Hockey League Henry Viney Arena 1971 9
Calgary Speed Skating Association Speed Skating Canada Olympic Oval 1990 10
Calgary Hitmen Western Hockey League Scotiabank Saddledome 1995 2
Calgary Kangaroos United States Australian Football League Inland Athletic Park 2002 0
Calgary Roller Derby Women's Flat Track Derby Association West Hillhurst Community Arena 2006 0
Calgary Kookaburras Canada Women's Australian Football League Queen Elizabeth High School 2007 2
Calgary RATH National Ringette League Various 2008 3
Prairie Wolf Pack Canadian Rugby Championship Calgary Rugby Park 2009 1
Calgary Rage Western Women's Canadian Football League Shouldice Park 2011* 0
Calgary Foothills FC USL League Two Foothills Composite High School 2014 1

(*) Established as the Calgary Rockies in 2009.

Defunct and former teams

Club League Years Active Championships
Calgary Tigers Western Canada Hockey League 1920-1936 4
Calgary Cowboys World Hockey Association 1975-1977 0
Calgary Wranglers Western Hockey League 1977-1987 0
Calgary Mustangs Alberta Junior Hockey League 1978-2019 1
Calgary Boomers North American Soccer League 1980-1981 0
Calgary Cannons Pacific Coast League 1985-2002 0
Calgary Kickers Canadian Soccer League 1987-1989 1
Calgary 88s World Basketball League 1988-1992 0
Calgary Rad'z Roller Hockey International 1993-1994 0
Calgary Mavericks Rugby Canada Super League 1998-2010 1
Calgary Oval X-Treme National Women's Hockey League 2002-2009 5
Calgary Outlaws Canadian Baseball League 2003 1
Calgary Drillers American Basketball Association 2004-2005 0
Calgary Vipers North American League 2005-2011 0
Calgary United F.C. Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League 2007-2014 2
Calgary Inferno Canadian Women's Hockey League 2011-2019 2
Calgary Crush American Basketball Association 2012-2015 0

See also

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