Sport is one of the ways communities have bridged gaps for centuries, bringing people together in ways not much else can. We see this effect in action during the Olympics, the World Cup, or when your favourite team makes the playoffs. Recently, Sportball Hamilton teamed up with McMaster University to harness the power of sport in an effort to integrate newcomers to Canada and get them moving.
SCORE!, The ground-breaking McMaster initiative, whose mission is to develop programs that help immigrant families grow, thrive, and optimize healthy active living as a proactive approach to disease prevention, has selected to included Sportball in its rotation starting this past year.
According to Sportball Hamilton’s Director Jake Weston, the program has been well received to date, starting with just 2 locations this past winter, and expanding to 16 locations across the region. This is credited, to the collaborative work between the Sportball and SCORE teams to gather feedback from parents and kids each week and make continuous improvements to enhance the program experience for this unique population.
The work has come with its challenges. As there are many different immigrant communities coming together in this program, language and communication has been a barrier to cohesiveness. There are also different sports preferred by each community, which has made Sportball’s multi-sport program a surprise hit. The communication between Sportball and the parents has improved with time, thanks to different approaches taken by the team as the partnership has evolved.
“Kids bring down their walls much easier than adults do, if these kids get to know each other through sport, maybe they can get together outside of the class too” Jake says, when discussing the impact Sportball has beyond the classes themselves. Sports have a way of bringing people together with different backgrounds and experiences unlike anything else. Removing the competitiveness helps too, allowing the kids to focus on social development and teamwork, skills that will help them grow their connections as they navigate life in a new home.
What Comes Next
Sportball Hamilton is gaining a lot of exposure and experience by working with McMaster, however the real win is giving the kids an hour where they can just be kids again. Moving to a new country is hard, and it can be even harder for young kids. “My hope is that we are able to use Sportball to break down barriers [the kids] may have with making connections” says Jake, who is hopeful for the program’s future and purpose in building community in the Hamilton region.
