BC Grassroots Rugby Summer Blog - Week 7
BC Grassroots Rugby has finished their seventh week of Summer 2021!
As many of our supporters and readers know, BC Grassroots Rugby hosts annual summer camps. However, for those of you who are new to the BC Grassroots Rugby family, BC GRF is a community development non-profit organization working to provide opportunities for youth of all backgrounds to participate in safe, organized sport during the summer. The summer camp program transpires from July 5th to August 29th, with a range of days for each camp. The camps are set up in different areas all over Vancouver island. Therefore, the children of each region are met in an area that is both accessible and familiar to them.
WEEK 7 EVENTS
Nearing the end of summer, BC Grassroots Rugby staff are working extra hard to make sure the last weeks of the summer program and camps are fun and bring more kids out! Week 7 was a representation of this. There were so many fun activities: from touch rugby to beach rugby. Week 7’s Give-Back-Fridays consisted of blood drives and food drives! There were many new smiles on both the field and the surrounding communities!
SUPERVISORS HIGHLIGHTS OF WEEK 7
Nanaimo/ Ladysmith
Our week 7 consisted of lots of pop-up and plays, touch rugby and academy rugby camps. There were a lot of familiar faces and a some new ones too! It was great to see the kids come out, run around and learn the sport better! Our regular pop-up and plays during the week were at Transfer Beach Park, Beban Park and Kinsman park. We had a Grassroots Strength and Skills Academy on Tuesday and Thursday evening at the School for Strength in Nanaimo, from 6 pm to 8 pm. Coming down to the last weeks of our summer programs it is great to see kids coming out in numbers, improving on their techniques and having fun!
Port Alberni
We loaded up the truck and headed down to Bamfield for week 7. It was a great experience and we were really able to get involved in the community! We were either at the school or at Pachena beach. It was fantastic overall! We also had a city camp with 15 individuals. This was also a productive camp with a very energetic group!
Cowichan
At Brentwood we had our biggest turn out so far, with 11 kids we played both end ball and touch rugby. All the kids were having a blast, it was so much fun! Our week 7’s numbers were amazing! It is saddening to know that this will be the last time we will see a lot of these kids, but we were proud of the improvements they have all made. This Give-Back-Friday, we helped all the new teachers at QMS - Queen Margaret School, move into there new homes. We also setup the classrooms; they were very appreciative! We had some of our largest pop ups this week, numbers wise, it was great to see so many kids try and get a taste of rugby before the start of school!
Kelowna
We began week 7 with a pop up and play at city park, where we were able to donate some balls to youth who came out. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we ran our regular touch programs - U10/13 TT, U16/19 W. During the week, we volunteered with the central Okanagan food bank, and we coordinated 10 blood donors for our blood drive, including all of our youth coaches. I was particularly proud of the coaches this week, for their willingness to give back to their community.
Victoria/ Esquimalt
Monday, August 16th from 12 pm to 4 pm, we had our very successful Bullen Park pop up, where we saw over thirty kids. On Wednesday, August 18th we were with the Cloverdale summer camps, where we spent two hours engaging and teaching kids the qualities of team sports. Thursday, August 19th we were on Dallas road handing out flyers, spreading the word on BC Grassroots and promoting our mixed abilities event happening this upcoming weekend. We had another successful week all over BC: from participating in the Tunder tour to pop up and plays. Overall i was really excited about our last week here at BC Grassroots Rugby Foundation. For Give-Back-Friday last week, we went into the community and helped a fellow rugby organization! We cleaned the weight room at James Bay rugby Club. On Friday we also had a daycare centre stumble upon us at Tulista, where we engaged with 26 kids! They had a blast and were so greatful that there was an organization like ours! It is really cool when people aren’t expecting something to happen and it makes their day!
WHAT IS COMING UP?
Nanaimo/ Ladysmith - Coming up this week we have a Grassroots Strength and Skills Academy on Thursday evening at the School for Strength in Nanaimo, from 6 pm to 8 pm. Hope to see you there!
Port Alberni - This week we are running camps and we are having a bbq for our Port Alberni campers that have been with us throughout the summer!
Cowichan - This Saturday at Brentwood College school we are hosting a mixed abilities rugby day and BBQ for everyone to try rugby! It is for all ages, from 10 am to 2 pm
Kelowna - This week, we wrap up our touch rugby programs, but still intend on giving back to our community. We coordinated to see the Okanagan boys and girls club this week, and have another shift with the Kelowna gospel mission this Friday. On Saturday, we will be assisting with the Crows mini rugby program!
Victoria/ Esquimalt - We have a really exciting initiative this Saturday, August 28th from 10 am to 2 pm at Brentwood college, called Try Mixed- Abilities Rugby, where we adapt rugby for all bodies and all people! This is our final event for the summer and it should be lots of fun. We will be playing games, there will be food and it will be a chance to meet new people!
We are nearing the end of our BC Grassroots Rugby summer camps and programs! There is still some fun programs left to enjoy. Make sure to take full advantage of the opportunities that we are offering!
