While thousands took advantage of Richmond Olympic Oval’s Community Day to check out the world class facility, a group of youngsters were getting their own hands on experience.
The Canadian Youth Sports Alliance (CYSA) held its second-ever event, highlighted by a fitness assessment in the Oval’s High Performance Centre.
Leading about 15 children through the session was two-time Olympic snowboarder and city councillor Alexa Loo and Matt Fisher, the Oval’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.
“It’s a way to establish a baseline of where they are — to think of how they can take their own sport to the next level or maybe a sport they never thought about before,” explained Loo.
“One girl did the arm hang for over five minutes and suddenly you are asking have you ever thought about rock climbing?
“There are new sports that are coming into the Olympics. Parents might know their kid is necessarily that athletic until they see the test results. Then they realize it’s something that’s possible and really cool. Let’s pursue it further.
“We got to do it in the High Performance Gym downstairs which hardly anyone gets to go to except for high performance athletes. I think it was a real cool experience for the kids to see the set-up there and how it is caters just to the athletes and what they need to do. There is not lot of colours, mirrors or anything but there is a lot of work that gets done down there.”
The CYSA was launched to promote and encourage youth participation in sports, especially for Chinese-Canadian families.
Events are usually held on a bi-monthly basis and wide-range itineraries include everything from a cookie break to writing a brief essay of what they learned that day. According to CYSA chairman Frank Wu, there is even a charity component with a donation initially made to the Richmond KidSport Chapter and the Pacific Autism Family Network.
“It’s about young kids and families who are interested in sports and the community. With the 2022 Winter Olympics coming up, a lot of these families have ties to Beijing and Mainland China. So there are getting their kids excited about sport,” added Loo. “It’s a really cool opportunity for kids to understand the different facets of sport. Aim high, work hard and give back.”
The CYSA will soon have its own website up and running. They can currently be contacted through WeChat.
