The Town of Sundre's new community services manager wants to increase the usage of the Sundre Community Centre by offering new sports programs.
Ian James addressed council during its Dec. 14 meeting about something "that's dear to myself, which is having the community very active and healthy."
As part of his role as community services manger, James told council he did an analysis of town-owned recreation locations such as the community centre and the arena and found that during prime-time hours, some of the facilities are sitting empty.
"Currently, we advertise the space and hope that people would rent it out, and I'm looking at specifically how to better do that," he said.
"But the other way that we can create activity in those facility spaces is by running self-funded community programs."
Such programs have not been budgeted for and there are no available dollars, so they would be based on registration, he said.
"Most other municipalities do the exact same thing."
So taking the community centre into consideration, his idea was to introduce programs that would include all age groups ó youths, teens and adults.
"What came to mind was co-ed volleyball. It's a social interactive program, it's not competitive, it allows people to get together and enjoy a little physical activity as well as skill development."
Also volunteering as a coach for junior varsity basketball, James said he found there is a need for a basketball skill development program in Sundre.
"At the grade school and also at the high school, there's great volunteer support for that as well," he said.
"I saw that as an opportunity to, again, get the community active. So I've listed that as opportunities whereby based on registration you cover the rental fee of the facility, provide a program that will keep our community active and healthy, and engage adults in social interaction. And again, it's based on registration, so if we don't get our registration number, we don't run the program."
The facility and equipment are already in place, so it's just a matter of getting people together and putting the resources to use, he said.
"The demand is there ó I've spoken to a lot of people, and they're very excited for that opportunity."
Additionally, town officials should also give some thought to the arena in terms of making available camps during the Christmas and summer breaks. Not only would camps give parents some relief, but they would also provide an opportunity for youth to be involved not just in physical activities, but adventure-type events as well. Through partnering with the schools, there could also be the potential for computer and science related activities, he said.
"In meeting with the vice-principals at the schools, they seem to be very interested in supporting us."
The Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society is also keen to partner up on such programs, he added.
"So that is what I'm putting forward, in hopes that we get a green light to start small and grow as we move along."
Further adding to James' presentation, administrator Dave Dubauskas told council to consider the programs as a new service.
"In this case, rather than getting into a lot of bureaucracy and saying we got to do this and this first, really this is just letting Ian try some stuff for the next year."
Sundre currently does not offer such programming, so this could be a "great little start ó let's see how it goes," said Dubauskas.
Some municipalities offer programming guides for people to sign up for certain activities, which is where James' proposed programs could potentially go, he said.
"But for now, let's just try this. I think this is a good little foray into it."
Coun. Chris Vardas expressed support for the proposal because it encourages people to be more active.
The councillor said "it's about time" Sundre introduced activities for all ages.
"I'd like to see a little bit of ball hockey ó just throwing that out there!"
Coun. Myron Thompson said he coached basketball for about 15 years in the '70s and '80s, and pointed out how the players would have really benefited from some early training programs.
"Those programs are so beneficial that I can't even begin to tell you how valuable they are," he said, congratulating James on the initiative.
However, due to the proposal coming before council just ahead of the Christmas break, there wasn't enough time to sufficiently advertise the new co-ed volleyball and basketball programs, which would already have been underway had enough people registered, James told the Round Up, adding that only two out of a needed six teams for volleyball had signed up.
He plans to try organizing the programs again this fall and to advertise in advance over the summer.
"I'm leaving it open."
Anyone who wants to know more about the programs or who might be interested in getting involved can reach James at 403-638-4707, extension 114.
