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A Brief History of Sport for Life

He wondered if they could turn their ideas into pictures. In the early 1990s, while Richard Way was working as a coordinator of coach education for the B.C. government, he encountered the visionary work of Istvan Balyi, a defected Hungarian sport pioneer. Balyi had been brought to the west coast by…
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Sheldon Kennedy inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

First he became a household name as one of the country’s most talented hockey players, then he pivoted into a new role as an advocate against sexual abuse, maltreatment and bullying. Now Sheldon Kennedy is being recognized with the Order of Sport Award and inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame,…
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The PL4C-BC project supports Indigenous communities

As the Physical Literacy for Communities - British Columbia (PL4C-BC) initiative rolls out across the province, leaders from Sport for Life have been theorizing the best way to approach and collaborate with Indigenous participants.  In 2019 they began work with two Indigenous communities, and word began…
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Colin Higgs and the relentless infusion of inclusion

Colin Higgs’s life was about to change. The Memorial University professor was working in his office in 1979 when there came a knock at the door: three world-class athletes were looking for his help. Still in the early years of his career, he was beginning to develop a reputation for his work in…
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Engage Sport North activates physical literacy initiatives during pandemic

She saw it as an opportunity. Mandi Graham is the executive director of Engage Sport North, an organization that promotes physical literacy across a broad swath of northern B.C. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to isolate at home, she knew her organization would have to innovate in order…
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Dr. John Cairney explores impact of pandemic on physical literacy delivery

There’s no disputing the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional models of sport and physical activity delivery, but according to Dr. John Cairney that’s not necessarily a bad thing. During a webinar in early June that he delivered in collaboration with Sport for Life that drew…
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Poco Active makes physical literacy a priority by engaging health sector

It was the best idea he’d heard in a long time. Ryan Clark is the executive director of the Poco Sport Alliance, so he’s not a fresh face to sport management. But when his community was selected as part of the Physical Literacy for Communities-British Columbia Initiative (PL4C-BC) in 2018, he…
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National Health and Fitness Day gets Canadians moving

Get up, get out, get active! Canadians may still be homebound as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that’s not stopping them from getting moving. This year’s seventh annual National Health and Fitness Day (NHFD) has gone virtual, and organizers are challenging everyone to find a fun and safe way…
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Edmonton mobilizes Long-Term Development

Edmonton is committed to providing athletes with a pathway from grassroots to high performance while advancing opportunities for all, as part of the city’s continued efforts to implement long-term development into their everyday operations. A large part of that means investing in sport and recreation…
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The Quality Sport for Communities and Clubs tour

The Sport for Life team completed a four-city tour of Alberta this year, mobilizing the Quality Sport for Communities and Clubs (QSCC) resource and workshop as part of a pilot project. Funded by Makadiff Sports, an Alberta-based not-for-profit organization created to encourage the growth and development…
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What is PL4C?

For Drew Mitchell, overseeing the Physical Literacy for Communities (PL4C) program feels a little bit like being the conductor of a giant orchestra. First, there’s each community that’s working on developing physical literacy: over 25 in B.C., six in Ontario and two in Nunavut. He oversees their…
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Four questions with Alex Chiet

Alex Chiet left a promising career in Canadian sports to become a national consultant for Sport New Zealand, and arrived just in time to be a catalyst for a shake-up of the country's five largest youth sport organizations. As a champion of fun and inclusion, he’s been overseeing a culture shift that…
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