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To our Sport for Life champions,
Our mandate keeps us in the thick of a variety of projects within the quality sport and physical literacy ecosystem, and we’re constantly improving our approach using the Japanese concept of Kaizen. In other words: we’re always moving forward, and never stopping.
In this eNewsletter, you’ll find our lead story about the work being done to engage New to Canada Participants in physical activity while they’re studying as post-secondary students in northern B.C. You can read about a Manitoba soccer club embracing adaptive programming, a new athletic journal called MySportLink, and a Liberian refugee who is giving back to his community through sport. We’ve got news about our new PLAY website, a piece about programming for older adults, and information about a charitable organization and podcast for girls in Quebec. Finally, we offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this year’s cross-country Summit tour possible.
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When Engage Sport North first teamed up with Northern Lights College to take charge of their recreation and athletics department, their physical activity leaders had no idea that their quality sport programming would attract a disproportionate number of New to Canada Participants.
But then students from places such as India, the Philippines, Kenya and Brazil began showing up for practice and competition. To support these participants, the organization began to tailor their offerings to their interests, hosting table tennis tournaments, soccer matches and even creating a rodeo team which is currently competing on the collegiate circuit.
>>Read more
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Dash Richardson wasn’t used to seeing empty soccer fields.
When the Liberia-born athlete first arrived in Canada as a refugee, he was astonished by the stark contrast between the two countries. The food didn’t have the same flavour, the school culture was dramatically different, and he had trouble communicating with his broken English. Even the air smelled different. But the thing that made the biggest impact on him was that bare turf, since at home soccer fields, the neighbour’s backyards and the streets were always occupied from the early morning until late at night.
>>Read more
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When the Bonivital Soccer Club in Winnipeg first launched an All Abilities pilot involving adaptive sport, they created two pathways: one for deaf participants, and one for players who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. It was 2022, and they were eyeing a growing trend of soccer clubs introducing adaptive programming alongside boys and girls leagues as a third facet of their organizational structure. The leadership team saw it as a further opportunity to foster inclusion within their club.
For Bonivital’s executive director Steven Gzebb, it was about considering the bigger picture of their mandate.
“As a club, not only do we want to cater to those 1 per cent of players that want to go get scholarships and have aspirations to take it to the next level, in reality we also want to create great people on and off the field and foster that lifelong love of the sport,” he told Sport for Life.
>>Read more
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As part of the Fillactive Wellness Program, powered by Beneva, Fillactive has brought together experts, athletes and public figures to discuss physical activity for teenage girls. At Fillactive and here at Sport for Life, we know that being active on a regular basis is a wonderful and recognized tool for preventing stress and managing anxiety.
Fillactive offers practical tips for parents of girls of all ages in five podcast episodes. The guests share their thoughts and knowledge with host Émilie Duquette and Geneviève Leduc, Ph.D., Fillactive’s specialist in physical activity for children and teens, on everything from schedule management and performance stress to an intuitive approach to movement and the social aspects of sports.
>>Read more
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It’s now easier than ever to keep track of your athletic development, thanks to an app called MySportLink. Offered by Sportéco, it’s the latest evolution in their offerings following the success of the My Athletic Notebook journals, which gives athletes an easy way to analyze and evaluate their sport progress.
“We understand that technology is evolving, so we decided ‘let’s provide both options’. Some people will use the digital version, and others are going to use the physical journals. We wanted to allow the possibility to use either,” said Stan Cojemeachin, vice president of Sportéco.
>>Read more
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Sport for Life’s multistage Long-Term Development for Sport and Physical Activity framework is not only for athletes: it also describes developmental periods for individuals as they participate in sport and physical activity throughout their lifetime.
When it comes to sport opportunities, there’s no reason why seniors need to stay on the sidelines.
Recently the North Shore Girls Soccer Club decided to introduce a free program for seniors, a move that drew the attention of CBC Vancouver. Called “Walking Soccer”, it’s a low-impact version of the game for people who are 60-plus and looking to get active.
>>Read more
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Sport for Life is thrilled to introduce the new and improved PLAY website, where teachers, parents, coaches and group leaders can observe and support the children and youth they’re working with.
The site is live now, and allows leaders to input and manage the data for each of their participants and groups in the program, and access and download comprehensive support materials. On the PLAY website, they can:
- access tools, guidelines, instructional strategies and record-keeping forms for completing the observations;
- Use PLAY tool guides to interpret and use the results; and
- find ideas and resources to provide individualized attention and information, which will help participants and leaders set goals and work towards continued improvement of physical literacy.
>>Read more
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Earlier this year, Sport for Life embarked on a cross-country, multi-community Summit tour that connected local sport, recreation, education and health champions.
Over the course of three months, Sport for Life collaborated with local organizations in nine communities to host unique events, uniting a variety of partners, presenters, exhibitors and community members to share with and learn from each other. As well, this multi-community event included two primary keynote recordings from Hayley Wickenheiser and Farhan Lalji.
Sport for Life wants to thank Sport Canada for its ongoing support of the Summit, as well as Canadian Heritage for supporting both the 2022 and 2023 Summits. Sport for Life would also like to share our profuse gratitude to everyone who helped make these events possible as we explored the theme of Thriving through Changing Times, including all of the Elders, presenters and panellists who shared their knowledge and perspectives, and helped create connections.
>>Read more
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Si vous voulez consulter nos infolettres en français, cliquez ici.
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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
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