Official CTFL statement to close off 2024
The 2024 season has come to an end and the CTFL team has been hard at work putting out more content, hiring on new staff, reaching out to new sponsors and building deeper connections with a variety of stakeholders. This article is a look back at the 2024 season as we finish off our third year and look forward to our fourth which will bring with it new challenges and opportunities.
Writing this statement a day before the CTFL turns three years old, I think of the stat that states that “90% of small business fail within the first three years” and can’t help but grin knowing that we made it past that mark. Although it doesn’t mean we will make it another three years, I believe that the CTFL is here to stay for a long time if we continue to pursue excellence. What that means to us as an organization is to give back as much as we possibly can while creating a community that will support us when we stumble or fall. This project has turned into so much more since its inception and that is thanks to all of the athletes and fans like yourselves that have allowed us to shake up the track and field landscape, so for that we thank you.
Notable accomplishments:
- In 2024 the CTFL included 268 of Canada’s best athletes filling out most of its events. It saw half of its records fall with 10 CTFL records this season
- There was a record number of CTFL athletes at our finals with 172 Core and Utility athletes in attendance
- The CTFL Finals was the 5th best meet in the country and top 300 in the world
- The league raised its prize funding from $7,000 in its first year to $28,500 in its third as well look to grow it in 2025
- Introduced the CTFL NextGen Initiative with New Balance where we provide massively discounted singlets to high schools in Canada to encourage more participation in our sport as students get a fully customized, high quality singlet that their schools would have not otherwise been able to afford
- We were able to bring 9 CTFL athletes to Boston for a 9 day training camp
- The league social media pages reached 9.61 million people across the globe(1/4 of the population of Canada), a 1130% increase from 2023 in addition to producing 530% more views for a total of 22.33 million views in 2024
Our third season also saw the hire of Kosuke Maeda, who has now become an integral part of Canada’s track and field community as he continues to work incredibly hard in an effort tell our athlete’s stories. With the addition of Kosuke, saw the CTFL become Canada’s number one track and field media producer by a factor of seven times.
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, we anticipate another massive jump in performances from incoming and returning CTFL athletes. We already know of a battle brewing in the men’s 100m as two more sub 10.20 athletes will be joining us this season when drafted. As registration opens tomorrow, we look forward to seeing who joins the league with one of our goals being to fill out every event.
New developments this year include the increased level of our CTFL Finals meet upgrading from Class E to Class D. We’ve also switched our western prelim location from Calgary to Coquitlam but plan to keep all other prelims at the same locations as last season. Similar to last season registration will open on January 1st and close on the 11th of February with the draft occurring in March.
One final new development for this season will be the addition of a CTFL X New Balance Trials for U18 and U16 athletes occurring the day after the CTFL Finals on July 12th. This event will see potentially 1024 athletes from across the country compete on CTFL junior teams selected by CTFL athletes. The aim will be to bring a New Balance Indoor Nationals style event to Canada which will inspire the next generation of athletes. More to come on the CTFL X NB Trials.
Lastly, I’d like to once again thank you for your support and for helping us grow, whether it be that you have assisted us in getting sponsors, you bought a CTFL hoodie, or you simply follow us on social media, it all goes a long way.
We’ll see you in 2025,
Quinn Lyness
CTFL Founder
