If Port Coquitlam wants to increase participation in amateur athletics, the city, school district and local sports groups need to pool their resources and work together.
That is the message from Mike Bowen, a former city councillor and chair of the new PoCo Sports Alliance, a group he hopes will facilitate an increase in cooperation among the various stakeholders.
"Sports is at a crossroads here," he said. "Physical activity is at a crossroads. We can't sit back and do what we have always done."
That does not necessarily mean spending millions of dollars to build shiny new sports facilities, he added.
High-quality ice rinks, baseball diamonds and soccer fields already exist in the municipality, but are not utilized to their full capacity.
"We need to use what we have now, better," he said. "When you have multi-million dollar facilities that are not being used, why would you spend millions to build more?"
One example Bowen notes, is the Port Coquitlam Recreation Complex.
Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., when most children are in school, the facility sits empty. The same goes for school gymnasiums, which are not customarily utilized after school hours.
Integration between the city, schools and sports groups could allow for increased crossover, he said. Agreements have already begun to be forged between the school district and minor hockey and Bowen hopes that could lead to including hockey as part of the physical activity component in the school curriculum.
"It takes a major shift in the way we think about this," he said. "It can be difficult to wrap your head around."
The Sports Alliance will give amateur athletic groups the opportunity to speak with one voice, Bowen added, and can help organizations looking to apply for grants and funding.
It will also develop a coaching clinic, which will be held in the office's of the new Pitt River middle school when construction is complete. The clinic will provide volunteer coaches with the training and technical experience necessary to work with young athletes.
So far, seed money has been provided from the city of Port Coquitlam to help launch the new Sports Alliance.
Eventually, Bowen hopes the organization will become self-sufficient, relying on members, community and business support for funding.
"These are all just small parts of it," he said. "It is limitless where we can go."
