Active News

Red Fox youth leaders facilitate SportFit sessions as part of the Sew a Legacy: Olympic / Paralympic Banner – Sports Bag Program.

The ground-breaking Olympic/Paralympic Sports Bag program culminated in a month filled with Active Adventure Days led by Red Fox youth. These youth leaders helped motivate and inspire future Active Champions by running students through the Canadian SportFit circuit.

Students from 11 inner-city schools participated in these Active Adventure Days. Each event started with an informative presentation by a Canadian Olympian who shared their experiences and encouraged the students to gear up and get more involved in physical activity. Active Communities Vancouver would like to thank cyclist Gina Grain, rower Darcy Marquardt, and soccer player Amy Vermeulen for their energetic speeches. The time that these three Olympians spent with the students was a valuable gift that will leave a lasting positive impact with the students for many years to come. The Olympic athletes inspired the students to follow their dreams, and work hard to reach their goals. The assembly presentations increased the students feelings of pride and excitement as Vancouver prepares to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. A great deal of enthusiasm was also generated among the students to get active, lead healthy lifestyles and participate in the SportFit activities.

Following the fantastic presentations by the Olympians, the students jumped right into an eight station SportFit activity circuit that measured their: strength, agility, balance, flexibility, power, muscular endurance, speed and aerobic capacity. The scores from each activity challenge were recorded and the information was put into a computer program. Each student received a certificate for completing the SportFit challenge. Based on the student's SportFit data, the certificate identified three summer and three winter Olympic activities for which the student demonstrated aptitude.

Youth from Red Fox Active Outreach led the eight SportFit stations, and provided mentorship to the elementary school students. After completing the challenge at each station, the students were engaged in active play with gear such as pogo sticks, hula hoops, stilts, and juggling equipment. Active Communities Vancouver is grateful to Red Fox and Vancouver Native Health for their commitment to the Active Adventure Program, and wish to acknowledge them for their integral role in the success of this project.

These Active Adventure Days were also made possible by the generous donation of more than 1,100 Olympic Sports bags. These one-of-a-kind souvenirs, given to each student, were created by inner city sewing groups out of recycled street banners from the City of Vancouver. The bags were filled with items for active healthy living donated by several organizations. The 11 elementary schools that participated in the Active Adventure Days featuring the SportFit challenge were also presented with soccer balls, jerseys, and a pair of goalie gloves to encourage them to keep the spirit of active living alive in their school community. The students were reminded that while not everyone will be an Olympian, participating in physical activity is important for a healthy life. Everyone can be an Active Champion!

Active Communities Vancouver would like to thank the following people and organizations for their generous support in making this project a fantastic success:

• The City of Vancouver and support visits from City Councillors Raymond Louie, Andrea Reimer, and Suzanne Anton.
• The Vancouver School Board and Trustees Patti Bacchus, Al Blakey and Mike Lombardi.
• Park Board Commissioner Loretta Woodcock
• The students and teachers at: Britannia, Grandview, Elsie Roy, Lord Roberts, Macdonald, Mount Pleasant, Nightingale, Seymour, Simon Fraser, and Strathcona elementary schools.

Other key sponsors included: Drew Mitchell and 2010 Legacies Now, MoreSports and James Tully, BC Soccer, Mills Basics, ActNow BC, Health Canada, BC Dairy Foundation, Coast Mental Health, Aboriginal Mother Centre, Kettle Friendship Society, Dev-Co Co-op Development & Training, Malalay, EMBERS and Common Thread Cooperative.

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