Article Origin
Volume
Issue
Year
New sports body
Ontario’s Aboriginal sports body has a new name and a new Board of Directors. The Aboriginal Sport & Wellness Council of Ontario (ASWCO) held its first meeting Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 in Sudbury. ASWCO is governed by 12 volunteer directors.
The board has representatives from all parts of the province with four members each from the northern, central and southern parts of Ontario.
Marc Laliberte from Thunder Bay has been named as the ASWCO’s chair. Also, Kim Wheatley from the Shawanaga First Nation has been selected as the association’s secretary, while Thunder Bay’s Stephanie Feletto was chosen as the treasurer. The Board of Directors also includes a vice-chair and two directors from each of the province’s three regions.
“Sport, recreation and physical activity are a part of our identity,” Laliberte said. “The Aboriginal Sport & Wellness Council of Ontario will provide opportunities for our people to achieve improved health and fitness.” ASWCO’s vision is to encourage Aboriginal people to have an active and healthy lifestyle in order to improve their physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, cultural and social well being. Despite its new moniker, when athletes from the province compete at national and international events they will continue to represent Aboriginal Team Ontario (ATO).
Details about a logo contest for the association are expected to be available soon at the Web site which is at www.aswco.com.
Logo revealed
Yet another major multi-sports competition in Canada will have an Aboriginal connection. There were numerous Aboriginal ties to the Vancouver Winter Olympics staged earlier this year. And now the 2015 Pan American Games, which will be staged in Toronto and surrounding cities, has an Aboriginal inspired logo.
The logo was revealed at a ceremony in Toronto in late September and is based on Aboriginal art forms. It includes three different shapes in red, green and blue.
Two of the shapes resemble the letter T and the letter O. Put together they spell out Toronto’s nickname of T.O. The letter T is coloured green while the O is blue. Each letter also contains two numbers inside of it, all in white, signifying the year the Pan American Games will be staged in the city.
The letter T has the number 20 inside while the O has the 15.The third shape of the logo is a red mark, located above the letter T. This lone shape transforms the T to look like a human figure.
Funding for program
Road to Gold, an Aboriginal youth sports program in Winnipeg, has received $50,000 in funding from the city. An announcement about the funding came in mid-October. Road to Gold is an initiative of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF). Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said funds will be used to assist athletes aspiring to compete in the North American Indigenous Games.
“As Mayor, I am committed to ensuring we are providing opportunity for our young people to find success,” Katz said. “This initiative will allow the successful mentorship of Metis youth athletes to provide growth and development.”
The Road to Gold program began in 2005. Since its inception, about 120 Metis youth have benefitted from the program through free camps that have been offered in hockey, golf and martial arts.
MMF president David Chartrand believes the program has been a huge success. “Through the Road to Gold initiative, we have seen the magnitude of recreation influence in our Metis youth as they become engaged and aspire to become athletes and role models,” he said.
Pilot project launching
The Indigenous Sports Council Alberta is looking for communities or organizations interested in taking part in a pilot project. In an effort to reduce and prevent crime, the Alberta government has started a Safe Communities Innovation Fund. Through this fund a pilot project called The Future is Now is being launched. The goal of the project is to promote and develop the physical, spiritual, cultural and mental health of youth aged six to 18 who live in First Nation communities and Metis settlements.
The project is aimed at those who face issues of substance abuse, violence and high-risk behaviours. For those communities or organizations that are picked to take part in the project, they will receive funding for a recreation leader for a three-year period. The project will also cover the training for recreation leaders, including a three-week leadership program where participants will be provided with skills that will help them develop sport, recreational and cultural programs and services in their own communities.
- 2566 views