By Lethbridge Herald on June 27, 2023.
By Justin Seward
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge Sport Council is back with their ‘’Give it a Try’ program over the summer months.
The free program offers families, children and individuals the opportunity to try sports that are new to them.
“It’s a program that I started last year and it’s just a series where we bring out entire families from the community, (and) not just kids, to come out and encourage them to try a new sport,”
said Parker Allen, LSC events intern.
“We try to get some popular ones in and also some ones that maybe need a little more recognition.”
Tuesday marked the third event of the series which was climbing at Coulee Climbing.
“We had climbing last year and we had to do it again because last year was actually so popular, that we had to open up two sessions for it because we maxed out the first one and we ended up maxing out the second one too.” said Allen.
“So obviously Lethbridge really loves climbing and they really love Coulee Climbing because they all want to get out here.”
This was LSC’s only session with Coulee Climbing so far this year.
Last week saw participants play disc golf.
“Yeah, the disc golf event had some windy weather on the day,” said Allen.
“And so, we didn’t get everyone who registered ,out. But the people who came out, absolutely loved it. The instructors from Lethbridge Disc Golf Association were just really, really patient and really thorough with making sure that the families who came out really found a way to enjoy the sport. And it was really cool that when we wrapped up, the families were just asking the club for ways to get involved, asking where they can find tournaments, asking them how to join the club itself, how to get to league nights, that was really cool.”
There also a try-it opportunity at Bridge Valley Golf last week.
“The families that came out to golf at Bridge Valley, we had a mix of kids who play every week with their parents and kids who never picked up a club before, and it was really interesting to see them all find their own ways to enjoy the sport, said Allen.
LSC chooses the sports through reaching out to organization through their membership program.
“We gaged some community interest and then also try to help out some clubs that maybe need some membership,” said Allen.
“So, for example, last year the Lethbridge Badminton Club, their first event ever was our Give it a Tryk, that we cohosted with them, and we got out 80 people into the Fritz Sick Gym. So that was a really, really cool way to start out their club.”
Allen says there is a sport or an activity out there for absolutely anyone.
“Right now I’m in school to be a Physical Education teacher and so I’ve seen kids absolutely have no fun with ten different sports and then the 11th one they try ,and they’re just hooked and they can’t get enough of it.”
“And I really, really think that the families and the individuals in Lethbridge just got to keep looking at all of their options (and) recognize that there are so many options. There’s so much out there that’s accessible.”
More information can be found on LSC’s website on up coming events.
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