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Live Saturday morning global sports show with reports, debate and humour

Live Saturday morning global sports show with reports, debate and humour.

Sportshour: Canada: The Women's World Cup and Beyond

Harry Manson: The story of a Nation

04/07/2015

Canada: The Women's World Cup and Beyond

BBC World Service - Sportshour, Canada: The Women's World Cup and Beyond

Ahead of the Women's World Cup final, we explore some remarkable Canadian sport stories

Ahead of the Women's World Cup final, we explore some remarkable Canadian sport stories.

The story of Harry Manson is not just about the pioneering career of Canada’s first aboriginal football player to be inducted into the National Hall of Fame. It is not just about how his life was tragically cut short. The story of Harry Manson is also a microcosm of what life was like for Canada’s indigenous population in the late 19th Century and for subsequent generations. We tell Harry’s story through the words of his grandson Gary. Gary was a product of the residential school system that the government set up and which was described by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report of June 2015, as a “cultural genocide” perpetrated on the indigenous population. We hear about Gary’s experience and how the recent discovery of his grandfather’s footballing exploits is giving his family and wider community a huge sense of pride and integral part of a nations healing process. We also hear about Harry’s footballing legacy as we spend time with the women’s football team who are preparing to take part in the inaugural World Indigenous games in Brazil later this year.

Terry Fox
Terry Fox set off on his 'Marathon of Hope' in an attempt to raise a million dollars for cancer research. Afflicted by the disease, Terry had his leg amputated, but it did not stop him from setting off on the adventure of running across Canada. Sadly he died before he could complete the journey, but not before he had raised over $24m, a dollar for every Canadian. His legacy lives on today and statues of him adorn nearly every major city, including Vancouver where he stands proudly outside the stadium that will host the final. We meet the brother of this true Canadian hero, and Anna a cancer survivor who was helped by the Terry Fox Foundation

Women Watchers
The Games of 1976 were the Olympics of Nadia Comaneci and her perfect 10 and where Bruce, now Caitlyn Jenner, won gold in the decathlon. It was the Olympics that took 30 years for the city to pay off and as for that stadium, well the retractable roof never really worked and so it is closed - permanently. But those Olympics also marked the last time Iran had participated for 12 years, because in 1979 the Shah was over thrown and the Islamic Republic of Iran was born. Banning women from sports stadiums was just one of the results of the Islamic revolution. Since then women have rarely been allowed to attend football matches and to this day remains banned. And here, as mums and daughters, grandmothers and sisters stream towards the stadium entrance there is a small group of women holding banned and politely explaining to people who stop about their banner that reads in large turquoise writing 'We Support Iranian Women to Attend Stadiums'. Holding one end of the banner is Maryam, who did not want to give me her surname, told us why this issue so close to her heart

Jay DeMerit
We hear from former Premier League star Jay DeMerit on his amazing rise from complete footballing obscurity to the Premier League and World Cup stardom. Now living in Vancouver he and his Olympian wife are using the power of sport to change the lives of children in British Columbia.

(Photo: One of two totem poles unveiled at Nanaimo University in June 2015. Credit: Sarah Mulkerrins)

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