Funding For Seniors Fitness A Legacy Of The Canada 55+ Games In Saint John
SAINT JOHN – At the closing ceremonies for the Canada 55 + Games in 2016 in Brampton, Ontario, Barb Curry issued a challenge to the 1,500 participating athletes. Curry was the incoming chair for the games to be staged in 2018 in Saint John and she was on hand to receive the flag as part of the ceremony to close the Brampton games.
“When I received the flag, I told them you’re never going to experience “Saint Awesome” anywhere else, so you better make sure you get your butts in gear to qualify and to get here. And so they did in droves. I over-invited,” says Curry.
And “over-invite,” she did. The Saint John games attracted 2,300 athletes, aged 55 and over, from across the country to participate in 22 events at 25 venues. It also inspired a larger contingent of New Brunswickers to take part. Nearly 250 athletes from the province came to Saint John for the games, up from 12 in Brampton in 2016.
Earlier this month, Curry was named Discover Saint John’s Sports Planner of the Year at the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame gala for new inductees. That local recognition followed on the heels of the national accolades bestowed upon Curry and her team when they won the 2018 Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance’s “Sport Event of the Year Award” for events with budgets under $1-million.
The local games committee also made nearly $100,000 worth of donations to healthy living initiatives for seniors because it posted a surplus on the event and was able to give back to the community.
Discover Saint John has helped organize and market many cultural and sporting events over the last several years, and the 55+ Games were the most challenging as the largest multi-sport games ever held in the city.
“Of all of the events we’ve supported, [this was] the one that was the most complex, that needed the most horsepower,” says Victoria Clarke, Executive Director of Discover Saint John. “To see it recognized and still fresh in the memories of Saint Johners and participants is a career highlight.”
Curry says she and her team couldn’t have organized an event of this scale without the support of Discover Saint John from finding the event, the bidding process and the ultimate execution of the games.
“It was great knowing they were a full partner with me, and that whatever I needed they were doing their best to try and pull out all the stops,” says Curry.
The thousands of athletes and their friends and families packed every hotel and campground from St. Stephen to Sussex, generating $3.2-million in economic impact.
Clarke says the total money spent in the local economy was much greater than that, given the kind of “sports tourist” that participated in these games. Many of the participants arrived ahead of the games and many stayed after to experience the region.
“We call them our ideal visitors – people on their own timeline who had money, energy and were curious about the city and had vitality around life. They were here to drink in the experience,” she says. “These were the people who went whale watching, went on a beer tour, tried out the zip line or ate the oysters at Gahan House or drank beer at Picaroons.”
There is also a lasting impact on the city. The games committee recently closed the accounting books on the event, and it finished with a surplus of $127,000.
The Greater Saint John Community Foundation will receive $50,000 to disperse amongst organizations that support healthy living for senior citizens in the community. The City of Saint John will receive $30,000 and the Town of Quispamsis $6,600.
The organizing committee is also giving $15,000 to the provincial 55 + games group to help promote and maintain their membership to participate in future games across the country.
This is in addition to sports equipment that was already donated to area organizations and the costly repair work that was done to infrastructure at the Thistle St. Andrews curling club.
Clarke says Curry, along with co-chair Emil Olsen and their organizing committee deserve a lot of credit for staging such a large-scale event that operated on a surplus. “Not only were they great at attracting investment, they were great stewards of the investment.”
Much of that investment came courtesy of Scott McCain at McCain Foods, the honorary chair and a sponsor and community champion who worked his extensive networks for sponsors.
“He reached out to his network and business community nationally, regionally, provincially, locally and personally. We got great support as a result,” says Curry.
The 547 volunteers also made the experience special for the athletes.
“We wanted them to feel like they were in their hometown, just like you would treat your favourite relative who came to visit you. It was true Saint John hospitality,” says Clarke.
Clarke says the large volunteer base, now logged in a database, is perhaps the most valuable legacy of the games.
“We’ve created ambassadors for life,” says Clarke. “We’ve created a new kind of energy for volunteerism in the city. It’s a network of volunteers who are now looking for the next thing they can participate in.”