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GET ACTIVE Through Sport
TYLER STEWART
Photo courtesy of City of Lethbridge .
Try a new sport , cheer on local athletes , or volunteer – there are so many ways to take part in the Get Active Through Sport challenge .
Photo courtesy of Lethbridge College .
Photo courtesy of City of Lethbridge .
“ TRY SOMETHING NEW ,” they said . “ It ’ ll be fun ,” they said . After strapping on the gloves at the Lethbridge Boxing Club and contemplating the possibility of sparring with an Olympic-level fighter , I ’ m beginning to have my reservations .
Getting beaten up is not a requirement for participation in Lethbridge ’ s 2017 Get Active Through Sport challenge , but this new program organized by the Lethbridge Sport Council definitely got me off the couch on a cold winter ’ s night in January . It ’ s already succeeded in changing my perspective on the age-old sport of boxing . Though I had pictured a gym full of characters from the movie Rocky , it ’ s actually full of teens and youth keen on building confidence and strength , with more than half of these being young women . Not only that , but I ’ ve learned that boxing is 90 per cent cardio and footwork , using your brains is much more important than just the brawn of throwing punches .
While focused on motivating residents to try something new and explore the local sports scene , Get Active Through Sport is also attempting to demonstrate the importance of sport within our community . “ Sport is a huge part of not just Lethbridge culture , but Canadian culture ,” explains
Susan Eymann , Executive Director for Lethbridge Sport Council . “ We had this idea to promote what was going on in Lethbridge sports , but we were just waiting for the right time .”
With Canada celebrating its sesquicentennial ( the fancy word for 150th anniversary ) in 2017 , the time was right to challenge Lethbridge residents to try something new . Beyond the popular and established sports , there ’ re plenty of alternative sports to be discovered right here in town as well . In order to get you started , Lethbridge Sport Council has developed a number of ways to entice you into action , including a passport full of 150 different activities .
# YQLChallenge
The # YQLChallenge provides resources for people to try as many or as few of the 150 possible sports activities offered in our city as they wish by learning how and where to do them , and then encourages participants to share their experiences through social media and spread the word . In addition to sharing online , the Get Active Through Sport challenge ’ s 150 Stories initiative takes things a step further , by sharing in-depth personal
experiences in longer form on the challenge ’ s blog . “ Sport is a great way for people new to Canada or new to Lethbridge to get out and meet new people , try new things and make connections ,” Susan says . “ Those are the stories we want to tell , but also to create new ones .”
The initiative has already collected several heart-warming tales , from the reluctant hockey mom turned number one fan , to the no-guns grandma who now proudly supports her grandson ’ s pursuit to compete in target shooting at the next Olympic games . With plans to collect these stories into a published book at year ’ s end , the Sport Council has also received support from local historians at the Galt Museum along with the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College .
52 in 52
Another way Lethbridge Sport Council has sought to make it easy to participate and get residents active in the year-long challenge is with the 52 in 52 initiative . Every single week , there is a new drop-in sports activity to try – at no cost to participants . The year is already off to a strong start , with some of our most cherished national sports being featured during the first two months of
20 LETHBRIDGELIVING . COM MAR-APR 2017