Legacy Initiative Partnerships

Wednesday, January 11th, 2023

Legacy initiatives often occur post Games, but we’ve facilitated a few in advance of our Durham Region 2023 Ontario Parasport Games, including very impactful initiatives with our local post secondary institutions.

An inquisitive reach out to Erica Gavel (former Paralympian and Physiology PhD Candidate) and Dr. Heather Sprenger (former two-sport national athlete, Physiology PhD, and assistant professor) at Ontario Tech University led to an innovative partnership.

In a pilot program, named “Shaping the Future of Parasport in Canada”, eight Durham-based athletes with disabilities are receiving a fitness and training program assessment, along with lessons on nutrition and psychology of competing. Their fitness and training program will be reassessed in six months. Thanks, in part, to some funding from the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Paralympic Sport Development Fund, there is no cost for the athletes.

This program is providing accessible and customized support to developing para-athletes who aren’t currently funded. It’s also creating a sport science practitioner pathway to help mitigate the gap in knowledge and experience of working with athletes with disabilities.

In another partnership, Ontario Tech University and Durham College are both participating in an Adaptive Sport and Recreation in Post-Secondary Institutions Program developed by the Ontario Parasport Collective.

Funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the university and college will be growing awareness and adding more adaptive sport opportunities for students and staff.

Both these programs are contributing significantly to our mission of growing opportunities and participation in accessible sport at the grassroots level and pathways to high performance.