There are many good beginning s evident in Niagara in the area of recreation and sports, in terms of collaborative efforts to work in partnership and coordinate. Examples of planning at the regional, municipal and organizational level will be given here only. There are many other smaller-scale and significant efforts.
Regional Planning:
The Niagara Sport Commission: The creation of the Niagara Sports Commission is intended to assist with some overall regional awareness, coordination and planning. One of its goals is to “increase collaboration, communication, and cooperation amongst the partners in the sport community.” The beginning Steering Committee was made up of Brock University, the Centre for Sport Capacity, Heart Niagara, and Venture Niagara. Interaction is fostered between stakeholders in sport and information is available at www.sportcommission.ca The commission is undertaking an inventory of events and facilities in Niagara that will be put online. Data has already been collected.
The YMCA of Niagara: As a non-profit, the YMCA provides leadership and opportunities for involvement across Niagara. They have 1,353 staff, 1,150 volunteers, 32,400 volunteer hours and work with partners to serve over 75,000 people across Niagara. They report contributing $1,353,019 toward financial assistance and provided assistance to 15,653 people. Source: YMCA 2010 Annual Report.
The McBain Community Center in Niagara Falls is a prime example of a well-partnered project to provide a pool, arena and multi-purpose activity community centre with spaces for meetings.
Planning at the municipal level:
Parks and Recreation departments: Playgrounds, parks, recreation centers, facilities and activities are planned, marketed and supported in all twelve of Niagara’s local municipalities. They also provide a variety of activities for all ages as well as summer and school break programs.
The Welland Sport Tourism Alliance: This volunteer group of sports and business people sharing a common interest – promoting sport activity and sport tourism in Welland. www.comeplayinwelland.com
Planning by individual organizations:
Organizations engaged in sports and recreation go through planning, marketing and registration cycles. Many of these organizations engage countless volunteers and their hours to accomplish planning and to supervise sports.. The League Toolkit is being used by many organizations to assist in the administrative and planning process.
