Canadian Tire Jump Start Games a blast at Lou Jeffries sports fields

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In the 1950s and 1960s there was an unspoken rule in society that something was ‘wrong’ with little girls who liked sports. Running, jumping, tumbling about, chasing balls, skating after pucks, oh, my! Those things were for boys and boys alone, and good girls didn’t do that. Unless a sport was ‘pretty’, like figure skating or gymnastics or dressage, girls were encouraged to sit on the sidelines and cheer.

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Fortunately, things have changed and now everyone is encouraged to get out and be athletic. We may not all be destined to be the next Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (winner of the 2023 Northern Star Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year), Olympian Christine Sinclair, or dual-season cyclist and mental health advocate Clara Hughes, but we can have a good time playing outside just for the fun of it, and the Canadian Tire JumpStart came to Gananoque to prove exactly that.

“We invited 250 kids from St. Joseph Catholic School, Linklater, and Thousand Islands Elementary School to come out to the fields at the Lou Jeffries Recreation Centre to have a day of fun with JumpStart on June 4,” said Daniel Lubimcev, owner of Canadian Tire in Gananoque. “We thought it would be a great way to spend a beautiful day at the end of the school year.”

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The students started arriving at 10 a.m. and were given coloured t-shirts to help keep track of who was playing on which team. There were 11 groups in all, and six great activities to participate in. A first aid station was manned by Quality Patient Transfer.

“At JumpStart we know that gender equity builds better sport,” according to the website jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/. “We also know that girls’ participation in sports now sets them up for success later in life (Ernst & Young, 2020). However, 62% of Canadian girls are not participating in any kind of sport, and girls drop out of sport at more than triple the rate of boys the same age (CWS, 2020).”

Whether they were playing at the dance station, the obstacle course/egg and spoon race, soccer, octopus tag, pin ball, or the jackpot twist station, everyone was up and getting active. As with every event of this type, the most popular part of the day was lunch which consisted of pizza, apples, and granola bars. Bottles of water were available throughout the day to make sure everyone stayed hydrated.

“The buddies all keep an eye on each other which keeps them all healthy and safe,” said Melissa McIlwrick of Quality Patient Transfer.

About 16 volunteers came out to help with running the programs, and everyone had a full and happy day. Every dollar that was donated to the JumpStart program goes right back into helping fund the kids.

“This is a wonderful event and an utterly fabulous day,” said Mayor John Beddows of Gananoque. “You guys are doing a great thing.”

To learn more about JumpStart, go to jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/.

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