Registration for Try-It Day is open today

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Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection’s Try-It Day is back for 2022, and registration is open today for kids ages 6-17 to try a new sport.

Try-It Day takes place on January 15th and is a free event created to help showcase a variety of sports and recreational opportunities available in and around Grande Prairie.

“Sport is about physical well-being and emotional well-being, especially since we’ve been in isolation for two years,” said Karna Germsheid, CEO of Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection. “That sense of belonging and that connection is so critical to our young people that it helps them re-engage with society.”

Try-It Day began as an initiative based on similar programs in other cities that was adapted for the Grande Prairie region.

This year, the event has more than 25 sports for kids to explore, and the sports range from team sports like indoor cricket, lacrosse, and beach volleyball, to individual sports like diving, taekwondo, and speed skating.

Try-It Day was created to help lower barriers to entry to different sports by giving children the chance to experience a new sport in a non-intimidating environment.

“Everyone is essentially at the same level of learning,” Germsheid said.

Germsheid says the event is also helpful for parents to assess the athletic environment their children are in without the pressure of signing up full-time.

“Parents are not aware of these organizations either,” Germsheid said. “As a parent, you want to make sure your children are in a good place and that they go to play sports in a healthy environment.”

Another benefit of Try-It Day, according to Germsheid, is that the event also helps parents explore a number of different recreational opportunities for their children while still playing popular sports.

“Parents don’t always have fun,” Germsheid said, “so they don’t really look past those four or five traditional sports that come to mind when you think of sports.”

“In the region, we are actually offering around 90 different types of sports, so sport means a lot,” Germsheid said.

Since its inception in November 2014, Try-It Day has grown from one to two showcases, one in winter and one in the warmer months.

“We have gone from one annual Try-It Day event to two annual Try-It Day events. We usually host one in the winter season of January, and then we host another in June or September for the spring and fall session, ”Germsheid said.

Registration for the event can be found online at: www.gpsportconnect.ca/events/try-it-day

“When kids play sports, they find that sense of belonging, so it’s really important when it comes to their development as a human being,” Germsheid said.

Reference-www.dailyheraldtribune.com

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