Athletics At The University of Guelph: Growing A Happier, Healthier, More Livable City
by Elizabeth Thomson
(This article is to be published in print in the upcoming ‘The Livable City’ magazine, a publication of The Guelph Chamber of Commerce.)
It’s hard to think about our local community without its University — an institution that attracts over 23,000 students to our city each year. Many of us locals are in fact graduates who decided to never leave this amazing place — including me.
Most of us recognize the University of Guelph for its research, teaching, economic impact and cultural contributions — but do we see how it makes us a healthier, more livable community?
The campus athletic facilities are some of the only places in town open 16 hours a day, 363 days a year. Built in 1957 for a student population under 5,000, today the W.F. Mitchell Centre sees 53,000 access card swipes a month. Over 15,000 students and community members play on 1,055 intramural teams, and 650 varsity athletes train, meet and compete on campus. Impressive numbers, no doubt.
Now consider this: over 16,000 hours per year of University athletic facilities are rented by the community — including 5200 hours rented and used at the Gryphons Hockey arena (a place where I’ve spent more than a few early mornings) and almost 65% of the total rentals of the Gryphon Soccer complex. Not to mention the hours spent playing at the University by the 4,000 kids who attend the award-winning Gryphon Activity summer camps or the 1000+ kids participating in Gryphon Athletics programs.
You might have noticed in the past couple of years the growing presence of Gryphon swag on Guelph youth. This is a result of the University sponsoring 50 junior hockey teams and 5 junior football teams. Girls and boys in every school vie for the next Gryphon hat or this year’s hottest new item — the mitts. Varsity athletes are also a common sighting in local schools — inspiring youth as ambassadors and speakers, volunteering to run practices, coaching local teams and running clinics across the greater Guelph area.
So many young local athletes of all ages and skill levels spend time playing on campus. The University hosts high school league games and championships; City track and field competitions and swimming programs for elementary kids; and OUA and CIS championships. It provides elite training facilities for provincial and national sports teams as well as regional competitions, league play and tournaments. In recent years, campus athletic facilities have been home to both the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Toronto Argonauts for competition and training.
Add in the ‘fan’ factor and you have a whole new way the University engages our community. Over 50 sporting events happen annually with spectator visits tallying in the tens of thousands. In 2016, events like the Special Olympics, Canada Cup of Wrestling and CIS Men’s Soccer Championships will draw many people from the city and beyond.
Trish Stevenson — a local resident and mother (and TV personality) — shares: ‘My kids have grown up here in Guelph. They have been using the facilities since they were tiny. They come to the camps. I run on the track. We go to the events and support amazing athletes. There really is something for everyone here. And yet I feel as though we need more new space to continue supporting our growing community-wide fitness and athletics programs.’
To this end, after 58 years of excellent service the W.F. Mitchell Centre is getting an overhaul and a massive expansion. In 2009 students voted in a referendum to commit $40 million dollars to help kick start the project and now the Building Potential campaign is looking for support from donors, businesses and citizens to help raise the additional $20 million needed to complete it.
The revitalized W.F. Mitchell Centre will have 170,000 more square feet, a 2,200-seat event centre and a state of the art 25,000-square-foot fitness centre. It will enable expanded summer camp offerings, facility rental space and fitness memberships. It will create a larger venue to host world class competitions, and add to the University’s capacity for conferences, convocation and so much more.
As Sarah Mau, Assistant Athletics Director at the University, confidently notes: ‘The new facilities are going to give us the chance to open our doors wider and touch many more people with all the activities we will be able to offer.’
Which will, in turn, help grow a happier, healthier, more livable city.
Learn how you can help at buildingpotential.ca
