Guess what?! GUESS WHAT?!?! Saint Mary’s Academy has received the Team Canada Olympic Day Grant!! YES! YES we did! We are just a little excited here on top of the hill. The application for the grant was open to schools this year from October 15 to November 15, 2023. The ten schools were chosen out of 840 applicants by a selection committee. And we are one of the TEN!
How did this happen you ask? Well, you remember our 12-Nation soccer team last fall? Of course you do. They were phenomenal and got some pretty great press. Our own Bethany Toner, EAL teacher and soccer team manager, decided that, for a variety of reasons, we needed to expand on that and offer something more and to a larger group because our winters are long, and our students want to move and play and learn. Enter Futsal. The perfect addition to any school PLUS we could offer to a younger age category. Our grades four to six students were ecstatic. Finally, a sport they could all be on the same page with. A sport new to us all here and one that could use some of their footwork skills. So many of our newcomers have a soccer skill set but again its winter so what do we do? Futsal is one of the most popular sports in Northern Canada with the First Nations students as well, so let’s make this happen. We have far surpassed the 12 nations involved in the soccer program and are closer to 20 countries represented through Futsal. How great is that?? The languages heard in the gymnasium are as varied as they are beautiful.
Coaches Bailey and Topolniski from 12-Nation soccer donated their time for 8 Saturdays which started in February. We capped each age group at 30 and offered two sessions. Grades 4-6 from 9:30-11:00 AM and Grades 7-12 from 11:30-1:00 PM.
Acadian Timber, one of the most fabulous community supporters helped out with a donation that allowed us to get all the players a t shirt and Soccer New Brunswick helped us with player equipment and coaching training.
But the $5000 grant from Team Canada got this whole thing going. We now have nets (actual real honest-to-goodness Futsal nets) and pinnies and actual real Futsal balls and so many happy kids. This funding has removed the typical barriers to sport participation faced by so many families such as equipment costs, high registration fees, travel, etc. The coaches are amazed at the turn out week after week. Parents making the drive up the hill in all kinds of weather on a weekend when they could be home with a cup of coffee and scrolling social media. The majority of kids are arriving well before start time (we don’t mind at all) and always coming in with a huge smile and a “Hi Coach!”
To add to all this we will have a visit from a real Olympic Athlete. On April 24, Marie-Eve Nault will visit Saint Mary’s Academy and speak to the students. She is a Bronze medalist from the Canadian Women’s Soccer team who competed in the 2012 Olympics held in London, England. We are very excited to welcome her to our little school. She will address all our students and give them an idea of what it takes to make it to Olympics. From a small city in Quebec to the world stage is no easy feat and if she can do it why not one of us right? Setting a goal and going for it no matter what your own personal Olympics may be. Saint Mary’s -everything is possible!
It takes a village, and we appreciate all the village members who made this possible from our admin team for their constant support and cheering us on, to teachers who promoted the program to their students and to the parents who bring their kids. Thank you.