The Ottawa Sport Council Foundation is thrilled to announce its 2017 Charitable Endowment Fund recipients – LACA SC and the Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club. Both LACA SC and the Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club have been awarded $1500 by the True Sport Foundation to support development of their initiatives: LACA SC’s program, Lift a Parent, Get a Kid There, will create a transportation network to ensure that disadvantaged youth have the transportation required to attend a free soccer program; and the Ottawa Titan’s program, Ausome Ottawa Titans Water Polo will introduce the sport of water polo to youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The Ottawa Sport Council Foundation’s ‘Charitable Endowment Fund’ was established in partnership with the Community Foundation of Ottawa and the True Sport Foundation. The Ottawa Sport Council is passionate about sport and this endowment fund aims to enhance sport excellence, guided by True Sport principles, in the City of Ottawa.
Marcia Morris, Executive Director of the Ottawa Sport Council, said, “Sport has the potential to enrich the lives of everyone, and we believe that no one should be excluded. The programs offered by LACA SC and the Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club for youth who otherwise may be excluded from participation in sport are very inspiring and we are very excited to support them as our 2017 fund recipients.”
The Charitable Endowment Fund supports Ottawa community sporting organizations through True Sport Foundation Grants. Grants are available on a yearly basis and adopt key focus areas each year. In 2017, the focus was to assist community sport organizations in establishing new programs for underserviced populations and to increase opportunities for participation in sport activities embracing True Sport principles (Go For It, Play Fair, Respect Others, Keep it Fun, Stay Healthy, Include Everyone, Give Back) in Ottawa.
“We are very pleased that through our partnership with the Ottawa Sport Council Foundation we are able to support the work of LACA SC and the Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club and their commitment to offering values based programs.” says Karri Dawson, Executive Director at the True Sport Foundation. “We all share an understanding of the value and power of community sport and together we look forward to providing a quality sport experience for local youth who otherwise may be excluded from participating”
“Throughout the years, season after season, LACA SC has experienced and received first hand testimony from newcomers, single parents families, low income families, or simply put families with limited means of transportation (for many reasons) the difficulty in getting kids to the soccer pitch for a games or practice sessions. Even when organizations like ours providing sponsored free or low cost registration to soccer, children who would otherwise benefit from this have failed to participate or show up. The reason, simply because today’s busy shift-work and scheduled society does not allow the parents adequate time or means of transportation. We hope that if we symbolically “Lift a Parent” we in turn can “Get a Kid There” to participate as well as shed light on an ongoing participation problem for all sports”, commented LACA SC Secretary, Romulo Osorio.
Bosko Vukojevic, President, Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club added, “The Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club believes strongly in giving back to the community. We are very excited to be able to dedicate the month of January to running free water polo clinics for members of Ottawa’s Ausome organization (www.ausomeottawa.com). There is no doubt these sessions will be extremely rewarding, not only for the participants but also for our coaches!”
Ottawa Sport Commissioner Jody Mitic commented, “It is wonderful to see how local grants like the Ottawa Sport Foundation Charitable Endowment Fund are really making a difference in our communities. Programs that support inclusiveness are so important. LACA SC and the Ottawa Titans Water Polo Club have proposed wonderful initiatives which are very deserving of the funding.”
2018 grant opportunities will be announced mid-year 2018. Incorporated not-for-profit organizations that offer sport programs in Ottawa and have operated for at least one year in Ontario are eligible for the grants.