RA Centre – (Ottawa, ON) April 18, 2017 – The RA is pleased to announce that the Aboriginal Sports Circle is joining the House of Sport project being developed at the RA Centre’s Riverside Drive campus. The House of Sport provides National (NSO) and Multi-Sport (MSO) organizations the opportunity to house their administrative offices in a feature rich environment designed for collaboration, innovation and efficiency – a first of its kind in Canada.

The Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC) is Canada’s national voice for Aboriginal sport, which brings together the interests of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The ASC adopts an athlete-centered approach to its programs and has six main priorities including Athlete Development, Coaching Development, and Recognition of Excellence. “Support for athlete development is of primary importance to the organization,” shares ASC President Alwyn Morris. “We encourage aboriginal youth to live healthy, active, spiritual and productive lifestyles and to feel confident to participate in a sport activity of their choice at any level of competition.”

Sport and recreation can play a crucial role in enhancing individual lifestyles while encouraging youth leadership and culture. Each year, the ASC brings together Aboriginal athletes from across the country to participate in high performance competitions and training camps designed to offer promising young athletes the experience of competing and training in an elite, high performance environment. With branches across Canada, it has coordinated major events such as the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship and the Aboriginal Sports Awards.

In the recent months, the ASC has taken a leadership role in the advancement of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Calls to Action. This is an exciting time for the ASC who are in the process of expanding their mandate to include future key partnerships to better service the needs of the Aboriginal people of Canada.

“We look forward to reviving old and developing new partnerships within sport, physical activity and recreation communities.  The new office location in the House of Sport will allow our organization to continue to advance our mandate,” Mr. Morris goes on to explain.

“We are very excited about being the new home of such a valued member of the National sport community,” offers Tosha Rhodenizer, RA Chief Executive Officer.  “An organization committed to promoting physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reducing barriers to sports participation and increasing the pursuit of excellence in sport, and championing the inclusiveness of Aboriginal peoples is a welcome addition to our RA family.”

The House of Sport will offer organizations an open concept community, but also support them with a wide range of services, and meeting rooms, leveraging economies of scale to drive down costs. This is on top of the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded organizations and access health and wellness opportunities for staff members. Information on additional sport organizations joining the House of Sport initiative will be released over the next few weeks.
 

-30- 

Contact Information

Recreation Association of the Public Service of Canada (RA):

Bryan R. Merrett

Director, Partnership and Engagement

Telephone: 613-897-6162

Email: bmerrett@racentre.com

About the RA

A member supported not-for-profit organization; the Recreation Association of the Public Service of Canada (best known as the RA or RA Centre) operates a multi-sport, recreation and leisure facility conveniently located in the heart of Ottawa. With a deep and quality laden line-up of fitness programs, sports leagues designed for adults, summer camps for children and youth and clubs for all ages, the RA is an environment that values fun, respect and excellence. RA members celebrate in a social atmosphere with a new story created each day. Supporting these stories is the ability for members and the public to access services from the RA’s Events and Conference team offering quality food and beverages. With a proud legacy of community engagement that embodies a clear passion for excellence in sport, the RA has much to offer the sport community. For additional design information on the House of Sport please visit our project page at www.houseofsport.ca.

About the Aboriginal Sport Circle 

The Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC) is Canada’s national voice for Aboriginal sport, which brings together the interests of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. With branches across Canada, it has coordinated major events such as the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship and the Aboriginal Sports Awards. ASC will focus on six priorities in order to accomplish and fulfill their mandate:

1.     Advocacy and Collaboration;

2.     Policy;

3.     Delivery System Capacity Building;

4.     Athlete, coach and Officials Development;

5.     Events;

6.     Promotion and Recognition.

For additional information  visit: http://www.aboriginalsportcircle.ca.