Sports Day in Brampton is a national celebration of the power of sport to build community and get Canadians moving. More than 2,000 local organizations, communities and schools across Canada threw open their doors to celebrate sport at the local level. Unfortunately, the event, previously held at the Brampton Soccer Centre, has been cancelled at the national level, and the City of Brampton has followed to cancel the event locally.
Supa D.A. Meikle, the Recreation Coordinator for Sports Services at the City of Brampton in an email on September 22nd said that “unfortunately, shifting commitments and limited resources with many of the Sports Day partners has made it unrealistic for RBC Sports Day in Canada to continue in its current form in 2016 and beyond. Sport Services has reviewed the current situation and in light of recent organizational changes within the corporation, we have determined that we will be taking a one year hiatus… We will need to determine whether we will continue with our own sport celebration in Brampton next year, by still opening our doors for open houses and try-it sports day which promotes our community sports groups and sport partners, recreation facilities along with other opportunities within our community.”Â
The RBC Sports Day in Canada presented by ParticipACTION, CBC and True Sport, has celebrated the power of sport to build community and get Canadians moving since 2010. Brampton has been an active and passionate partner since day one. Over the last six years there has been more than 9,700 Sports Day events across all provinces and territories, directly engaging over five million Canadians.Â
Frank Fasica, President of Brampton Minor Baseball says that “the City of Brampton having cancelled Sports Day at this time is disappointing but we have been told they are looking at other options for 2017 that would be more inclusive of Brampton and our internal partners. We support and are willing to work with the City on developing the strongest Sports Day possible that promotes physical activity and social development for youth in general, not just baseball.”
In a post on ParticipACTION website www.participaction.com:
“Unfortunately, shifting commitments and limited resources with many of the Sports Day partners has made it unrealistic for RBC Sports Day in Canada to continue in its traditional form in 2016 and beyond. We encourage you to continue to celebrate the power of sport within your community. Keep opening your doors for open houses or try-it days and keep promoting your organizations, facilities or sports in your community. Most importantly, keep inspiring Canadians to get out and get active. We’ve updated and attached manuals to assist you in organizing and coordinating your own local ‘sports day’ events and activities moving forward.”
