Group shares the importance of play

By Troy Bannerman - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on March 1, 2023.

Herald photo by Troy Bannerman Tanya Whipple, communication manager for Lethbridge Sport and member of Lethbridge Plays steering committee, speaks during the Lethbridge Play Summit.

Members of a group called Lethbridge Plays, may just be big kids at heart.

The group, which is a collaboration of local organizations, businesses, educators and individuals, is committed to the value of play, and Tuesday at the Lethbridge Public Library it presented Play Summit 2023.

Tanya Whipple, communication manager for Lethbridge Sport and member of Lethbridge Plays steering committee, described Lethbridge Plays and explained what it does for the community.

“In 2018 a group of us collaborated to put together the Lethbridge Play charter, and we had that unanimously adopted by city council in October of 2018. Since that time, a group of approximately 30 stakeholders has been working together to impart the importance of play to the community and to the organizations that provide services in our community.

Whipple said the organization held a couple of in-person play summits before the Covid-19 pandemic, but could only provide virtual summits during the pandemic.

“But we are excited to be back with an in-person play summit in 2023,” she said.

Whipple said people who attend the summits come from many sectors of the community and not only see what each other is doing but meet each other and network, build relationships that eventually build stronger programs.

“We are a collaborative committee, so Lethbridge Plays itself is not a registered society. We have representatives from the Library, Lethbridge Sports Council, Building Brains, Family Ties, the list goes on.”

Whipple said representatives have been on city committees for playground development, and representatives from the city have in the past been part of our steering committee, as well.

“I would like to think that the influence that they get from there influences what they do in their day-to-day jobs. Lots of our stakeholders, when they are hosting events are now thinking, ‘how can we incorporate play into this event? Let’s make sure it is also fun and encourages play.'”

Whipple pointed out Tuesday’s summit is the first summit Lethbridge Plays has had in person since the pandemic started in early 2020.

“We began planning this last fall, probably last summer we began preparations for this play summit. We had, Vicki Hazelwood and I, previously seen Matt Leong (keynote speaker) speak in Calgary at a play summit that they held several, several years ago, and we both very much enjoyed his presentation there. So, when we started discussing what we should do this year for Lethbridge Plays we thought, ‘Let’s see if Matt can come.’ And lucky for us, he could. So, that all kind of got rolling last fall; you know, finding the venue, picking the date, getting the speaker, and then getting the people to come.”

Lethbridge Plays encourages everyone to visit its websites to see what programs and projects it is currently involved with and to fill out its survey.