COC unveils inaugural Team Canada Olympic Day Grant recipients
Today, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced the inaugural recipients of the Team Canada Olympic Day Grant.
Six Canadian schools will each receive a $5,000 grant to support their goal of empowering students to play and stay in sport. Each successful school will also receive a 90-minute motivational speech from a Team Canada athlete.
This grant is a key driver of the Team Canada Impact Agenda, the COC’s organization-wide commitment to making sport safe, inclusive and barrier-free so more young people can play and stay in sport. The Team Canada Impact Agenda is built around three pillars – Podium, Play, and Planet – and this grant, as part of the COC’s long-standing Olympic Education program, will play a critical role in transforming “play” by giving more young people access to experience the power of sport.
The grant was also inspired by Olympic Day, celebrated each year on June 23 to commemorate the founding of the modern Olympic Games. Olympic Day aims to promote the values of Olympism, encourage participation in sports, and foster a sense of unity and friendship among people worldwide.
The six schools and their winning programs are:
- Bert Church High School (Airdrie, Alta.) – Empowering the school’s women’s lacrosse team and educating on Indigenous culture.
- Centre Wellington District High School (Fergus, Ont.) – Empowering girls and gender-diverse students through the introduction of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting programs.
- École Nuvviti (Ivujivik, Que.) – Promoting a healthy active lifestyle by increasing access to sport while providing the necessities to participate (i.e., healthy food and drink).
- École Parkside School (Altona, Man.) – Improving outdoor infrastructure to increase school and community access to outdoor volleyball.
- École secondaire des Sources (Montreal, Que.) – Increasing access to an afterschool triathlon program for students.
- Sussex Regional High School (Sussex, N.B.) – Developing a bike repair program and offering specialized biking opportunities for students with disabilities with physical therapists.
The application for the grant was open to schools this year from March 4 to April 4. The six schools were chosen out of 625 applicants by a selection committee. For more information on our Olympic Education program and the Team Canada Olympic Day Grant, please visit https://olympic.ca/education/
