All Sport One Day brings 55 free activities to Calgary gyms

Thousands of Calgary families visited gyms across the city Saturday for All Sport One Day, a free sports-sampling event that saw more than 60 organizations offering 55 different activities.

The all-day initiative, now in its second decade, featured programs at 11 athletic centres including MNP Community and Sports Centre, the Genesis Centre, Brookfield Residential YMCA in Seton, Saddletowne YMCA, VIVO For Healthier Generations, and WinSport. Activities ranged from rollerblading and hockey to basketball, soccer, martial arts, dance, rugby, and flag football.

Families like Brendan Bakai and Elisabeth Kelly saw it as a chance to introduce their children to sports they might not otherwise try. "It's just something they haven't tried, and we probably wouldn't have them try otherwise," Kelly said. She emphasized the value for families stretching a tight budget: "I mean, it's really expensive to enrol your kids in sports, you have to know where to look for them. So to have an opportunity to try things out, see what they like without a huge cost, and to not have to travel around the city, I think it's a great opportunity."

Candice Goudie, Sport Calgary's newly appointed CEO and president, framed the event as foundational to youth development. "Sport being the first place for a young person to fail, to get let down, to have to manage conflict, to learn how to work with other people — those are skills we need as we grow older," she said.

Scott Godfrey, executive director of Lacrossing Barriers, highlighted the program's importance for newcomer families. "A family comes here, moves to another continent, to another country, that's a lot to go through. But to know that their children can find a place where they're valued and listened to, they're given hope — it's about providing people opportunities to play a sport, not based on finances, not based on where you live, not based on what your occupation is, but what your desire and hopes are."