Everyone should be given the opportunity to play! Click here to check out the three resources SPRA has that inspire and support welcoming and inclusive recreation:

1. Indigenous Games for Children
2 101 Games & Activities for Children with Autism, Aspergers, & Sensory Processing Disorders
3. Early Intervention Games

Sport 4Life Webinar
On October 30, 2019 Prairie Central District hosted their very first webinar. Our community consultant, Aileen Martin, worked with the Sport for Life organization on Creating Inclusion of Newcomers in Sport & Physical Activity! The webinar was targeted at our Community Recreation Practitioners as well as community champions in the area of Newcomer Integration. Thanks to all who joined us from their own offices!

The webinar was focused around acknowledging, reducing and finding solutions to common barriers that new Canadians face in integration into sport. According to the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, many new citizens are not participating in sport, despite a general interest. This low involvement is due to several barriers including the following: financial, transportation, time commitment, organizational policy, unfamiliarity with sport, lack of information, language & communication, competing interests, political & cultural, integration into mainstream Leagues, perception of certain sports and racism.

Sport for Life talked about using sport as a ‘carrot for social change”, and that sport is a common language for all.

“A sport is a sport and a fan is a fan, no matter where in this world you were born. Sports are familiar, safe spaces to connect to new people. By playing together, we build connections, community, and ultimately, our country.”

The webinar shared a few key integration tools that we can use such as “including the voice of newcomers as a part of the planning process.” It’s important to havie key community champions at events as real people offering real assistance in areas such as: “Greeters” welcoming new people to facilities or having volunteers or staff help fill in paper forms. This can create that “positive first experience” . It would alleviate barriers to participation in sport.

High Fives to all the Champions that were able to attend the webinar. If you want more information or would like to watch a recording please connect with us. We can either send you the webinar in an email or potentially come to your community for coffee and watch it with your team and discuss some local barriers and potential solutions! We have a few paper copies of the resource guide that we can lend or send out! It is also available for download on the Sport for Life website. https://sportforlife.ca/portfolio-view/spor t-life-newcomers-canada/