SPORTS & RECREATION
Sport and recreation play a foundational role in developing and sustaining healthy citizens and communities.
Championing Girls’ Hockey
Sports & Recreation
Championing Girls’ Hockey
In its sixth year, the Capital Region Female Minor Hockey Association (CRFMHA) received a Victoria Foundation Community Grant to fund referee and coach training, infrastructure development, and policy revision to support guaranteed programming. They partnered with the Canadian Council of Provincial and Territorial Sport Federations in order to qualify for funding.
The demand for girls’ hockey in the region is high and it’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country. “We’re expanding rapidly and are now one of the largest female minor hockey associations in BC’s history,” states Ian Fleetwood, President of CRFMHA. Conceived to address the unmet need for girls wanting to play hockey, CRFMHA went from 12 to 27 teams and now counts more than 400 players ranging in age from five to 20. Their quarterly free and low-cost beginner programs always sell out. “We grew 33% in the fifth year and have already grown another 27% before the sixth season starts.”
CRFMHA has received regional and provincial awards, including BC Hockey Minor Hockey Association of the Year in 2023. The launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League has propelled interest in female hockey, and Fleetwood and CRFMHA’s 24-person board are thrilled with the uptake and the opportunities for young women that team sports create.
Vital signs citizen survey grade
B+Last year's grade was B
Sports & Recreation
Vital signs citizen survey grade
B+Sustainable Development Targets
Sustainable Development Targets
Sport is an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives.
— Declaration of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
STATE OF LOCAL SPORT FOR KIDS
Across BC, children are being left on the sidelines because they do not have the resources to play sports. KidSport provides funding for kids from families who need financial help to cover the cost of sport registration.
For the past two decades, KidSport Greater Victoria has provided over $4.3 million in season-of-sport registration grants to support over 16,500 children and youth living in financial need in the region. As the cost of sport continues to rise, the total disbursements and average funding per child increases year over year.
In 2023, KidSport Greater Victoria funded 1,114 children, up 33% from 2022, with 42% of athletes identifying as Indigenous (17%), newcomer (19%), or having a disability (6%). Greater Victoria athletes participated in 33 different sports, including the top sports of soccer, gymnastics, and lacrosse.
That same year, KidSport BC funded 7,742 kids from 210 communities (those without a KidSport chapter), the largest single-year funding distribution in the program’s history. In 2023, provincially funded kids participated in 53 different sports, with soccer as the top sport.
SOURCE: KIDSPORT GREATER VICTORIA
RALLYING FOR GIRLS’ MENTAL HEALTH
In 2022, over 4,500 Canadian women, girls, and gender-diverse youth and 350 women sport leaders were asked how they experience sport.
When it comes to the mental health benefits of sport participation:
of girls who participate in sport report positive mental health (compared to 68% of those who do not participate).
of girls said that sport participation enhances their mental and emotional health.
of girls said that sport participation builds confidence.
Coaches and decision-makers play a critical role in enabling girls’ full participation in sport. They also have a responsibility to support girls’ mental health, yet only 41% of sport leaders feel well equipped to talk about mental health with girls. Even fewer sport leaders feel comfortable discussing mental illness.
Only 1 in 10 girls are comfortable speaking to their coaches about their mental health and wellbeing.
SOURCE: CANADIAN WOMEN & SPORT AND CANADIAN TIRE JUMPSTART CHARITIES
JUMPSTART STATE OF PLAY REPORT
In 2022, over 2,700 Canadian students, grades 3-12, were surveyed about their sport participation, sport preferences, motivations to play, access to sports, and student-coach experiences.
of youth played sports the same or more than before the pandemic, with 23% playing less, and 4% not playing anymore.
of youth play sports at school on a team, 64% at a local club, 45% at a recreation centre, and 33% at an afterschool program.
Most popular sports overall played in the past three years:
Youth with disabilities ranked swimming the most popular. For females, the top five excluded hockey, but included volleyball, and soccer was the most popular, same as for males. Some traditionally male-dominated sports were played more frequently by females than males, and fewer females than males gave up sports as they aged.
Top three reasons overall why youth enjoy playing sports:
Play with friends
Have fun
Exercise to stay healthy
Playing with friends is the number one reason across all demographic groups. For youth with disabilities, the top three reasons include making new friends; for Black youth, it’s learning new skills; and for high school males, it’s playing sports to compete.
Top three reasons overall why youth do not play sports very often:
Sports are too expensive
No time to play due to schoolwork
Youth feel they are not good enough to play
SOURCE: CANADIAN TIRE JUMPSTART CHARITIES
COMMUNITY IN FOCUS
ENGAGING NEWCOMER YOUTH IN RECREATION
Each summer, the Inter-cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) provides newcomer youth with priority access to recreational opportunities that serve as platforms for cultural exchange, community engagement, and youth empowerment.
Opportunities range from sports to camping to cultural events, at minimal or no cost for participants thanks to funding and facility and equipment support from local governments and partner agencies in the region.
In ICA’s experience, the best way to support newcomer youth is to prioritize fun, accommodate different abilities and interests, provide safe community spaces to gather, and encourage youth-led activities. In 2023, this mindset helped ICA implement a climbing activity, with passes made available to a local climbing gym, and opportunities to try yoga at a downtown studio.
SOURCE: INTER-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF GREATER VICTORIA AND SPORT FOR LIFE
Safety