The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) recently allocated $1,473,700 to seven province-wide sports organizations to help them attract and retain volunteers and coaches, introduce the sports to a wider audience and develop long-term strategies to grow their sport communities.

Sports and recreation is one of the four sectors OTF supports with a wide range of funding. Over the last decade more than $219M or 22% of OTF funds have been allocated to support sports and recreational activities to help make Ontarians healthier and more physically active.

OTF board member Alex Waugh, left, congratulates Ontario Soccer Association President, Clive Wilkinson, on the group's two-year $400,000 grant.

The explosive population growth of southern Ontario communities such as Stoney Creek, Orangeville and Kanata, coupled with the growing appetite for soccer by kids and their parents has the Ontario Soccer Association stepping up to help local clubs improve their governance game.

The Ontario Soccer Association has received $400,000 over two years to provide more than 70 workshops to community club board members, volunteers and staff and hire six soccer development coordinators to crisscross the province helping local clubs mentor and share best practices. It will also implement its Club Excellence program, one of Canada’s first-ever sports accreditation programs designed to standardize and recognize a sports club’s organizational capacity.

The OSA recognizes that improving board governance and building the capacity of their volunteers is not the glamorous side of club soccer, but it is crucial to the continued growth of the
sport and maximizes the experience and aptitudes of club volunteers.

For more information:
Matt Greenwood 905.264.9390 x 278 or MGreenwood@soccer.on.ca
www.ontariosoccer.net

Art Farrugia of the Ontario Minor Roller Hockey Association talks about the benefits of OTF's three-year $166,000 grant.

Inline or roller hockey is a growing sport around the world. But here in Canada, it still gets overshadowed by its ubiquitous winter cousin.

The Ontario Minor Roller Hockey Association (OMRHA) aims to rectify that. It is working to promote the sport both as a fun summertime recreational activity on its own and as an excellent skills-enhancer to ice hockey.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided the OMRHA with $166,000 over three years to introduce the sport to more hockey-crazed communities, train and certify more coaches and officials, partner with other Ontario hockey organizations and draft a long-term plan for the growth of the inline hockey.

The funding will allow for a minimum of 1,000 new participants to join member leagues, host several ‘learn to play’ events and inter-league competitions, and create several new leagues in
hockey-hungry communities such as Parry Sound and North Bay.

For more information:
Art Farrugia - 647.505.8424 or afarrugia@omrha.com
www.omrha.com

OTF board member Alex Waugh congratulates Lisa Crompton of the Ontario Softball Association on the organization's three-year $224,100 grant.

Keeping volunteers engaged and enthused, and minimizing burnout is key to providing a good experience for players and sports organizations alike. Volunteers want to give of their time, but can become frustrated if they (or others) feel they don’t really have a handle on what it is they’re being asked to do.

Softball Ontario relies on thousands of volunteers who devote countless hours to run leagues, coach players, officiate games and administer all the details of running a league. Giving volunteers the opportunity to learn the organizational skills needed to focus their efforts and run a successful program or league results in happier volunteers. Happy volunteers tend to stay involved longer.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is providing $224,100 over three years to support training of more than 300 coaches, 300 umpires and reach 280 softball associations representing more than 23,000 players and volunteers. Softball Ontario will also be able to develop and implement its first-ever quality control program that will see both grassroots and competitive softball associations receive a one- to four-star rating based on standards in four areas: volunteer development, organizational development, long-term athlete development and participation.

For more information:
Lisa Crompton - 416.426.7150 or lcrompton@softballontario.ca
www.softballontario.ca

OTF board member Alex Waugh gets some putting advice from Mike Kelly of the Golf Association of Ontario. The group received a two-year $210,000 grant.

Golf too often gets labeled as the sport of choice for business professionals.  But thousands of school children who’ve learned the game’s basics think it’s just plain fun. The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) will say it also teaches kids good life skills such as honesty, integrity and teamwork.

GAO will receive $210,000 over two years to encourage active healthy lifestyles by introducing the sport to 25,000 to 35,000 boys and girls in elementary schools across Ontario. Students from all backgrounds, income levels and abilities will learn the basics of the sport, and try it all out on the links with reduced green fees at participating golf clubs.
 
The Golf in Schools program will expand to include some 400 new schools for a total of 600 across Ontario. OTF support will help train certified golf professionals to deliver the program in schools, and provide program resources and training for both teachers and volunteers.

For more information:
Dave Mills - 905.852.1101 x 223 or dmills@GAO.ca
www.gao.ca

Leirick Chung (red gloves) and Leivin Chung (blue gloves) demonstrate their skills at an OTF event to recognize a $1.47M investment in seven provincial sporting organizations. The Karate Association of Ontario will use a three-year $81,600 grant to develop and train referees, including more women and officials outside Toronto. Looking on are, (l to r) Karate Association of Ontario president Dragan Kljenak, Ontario Trillium Foundation representative Alex Waugh, and Joy Jinbukai, Karate Association of Ontario.

Olivia Bandl performs as part of a presentation by Special Olympics Ontario. The group received a three-year $282,000 grant.

Through its work with athletes across Ontario, Special Olympics staff and volunteers kept hearing a recurring complaint – people with intellectual disabilities were having a tough time accessing the kind of specialized health services they needed – when, where and how they needed it.

With OTF funding support, Special Olympics Ontario will roll out the PAHL (Physical Activity & Healthy Living) project, designed to promote healthy lifestyles to people with intellectual disabilities. The Foundation is providing $282,000 over three years to support PAHL, school and community outreach programs promoting sports and fitness, and new healthy living resources tailor-made for people with intellectual disabilities.

The PAHL project will consist of three Healthy Athlete Expos, a series of youth and school initiatives to introduce students with intellectual disabilities to the sports associated with the Special Olympics Ontario Provincial Games, as well as several community sport and fitness forums.

Slated for Toronto, Sudbury and Ottawa, the Healthy Athlete Expos will provide health screenings (eye, ear, dental, podiatry, health promotion and fitness) to some 3,000 Special Olympics athletes and 1,500 non-athletes across Ontario. Participants will receive customized health and physical activity plans prepared by
300 doctors, nurses, dentists and other health care volunteers.

For information contact:
Glenn MacDonnell - 416.447.8326 x 225 or GlennM@specialolympicsontario.com
www.osoinc.com
 

Track cyclist and medalist Ryan Aitcheson of Kitchener shows off his bike to Rob Good of the Forest City Velodrome (l) and OTF board member Alex Waugh (r). The Velodrome and the Ontario Cycling Association received a one-year $110,000 grant.

Indoor track cyclists of all ages, including disadvantaged youth new to the sport, will have access to new equipment, additional programming and coach training, thanks to OTF support.

The Ontario Cycling Association has partnered with the Forest City Velodrome, Ontario’s only indoor cycling track, to introduce more people to the sport, train additional coaches and volunteers, purchase 18 new training cycles, and develop an operating manual and  long-term plan for track cycling in Ontario. The Foundation has provided $110,000 over one year.

The new bikes are already in place and ready for the fall track cycling season. Disadvantaged youth from Windsor to Ottawa, Sudbury to Toronto will be able to try out the sport. Several new track coaches will be trained and coaches from other cycling disciplines, including BMX, cross country and road racing, will be invited to the velodrome in London to learn how to incorporate track cycling into the specialized fitness training of their athletes.

For information contact:
Rob Good - 519.883.7849 or robgood@ypg.com
www.forestcityvelodrome.ca
www.ontariocycling.org