340,000 Students and 24,000 Blue Jay Fans Celebrate Right To Play Day
In the presence of Canadian Olympic champions Clara Hughes and Beckie Scott, Right To Play President and CEO Johann Olav Koss and more than a hundred beaming children from local schools, Toronto Mayor David Miller declared May 30th Right To Play Day in the City of Toronto.
The afternoon ceremony at City Hall was a joint celebration of all childrens’ right to play and the launch of Right To Play’s Canadian School Program, Learning To Play, Playing To Learn, a free curriculum-based resource for use in grades four to six that promotes physical activity while emphasizing every child’s rights and responsibilities in the world community.
Children from three area schools demonstrated Right To Play field games, led by enthusiastic Right To Play alumni Program Coordinators who once played these games in Right To Play programs around the world. The Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board added to the festivities by offering an extra 15 minutes of play for up to 340,000 students in the city.
“We are thrilled that thousands of children across Toronto are getting active and enjoying the benefits of play,” said Johann Olav Koss, four-time Olympic gold medalist in speedskating, President and CEO, Right To Play. “It’s important we make sure youth in the most disadvantaged parts of the world have the same opportunity. Through sport and play programs we can educate about HIV/AIDS prevention, encourage vaccination campaigns and help create a healthier and safer world for children.”
Mayor Miller presented Johann Koss with a framed city proclamation recognizing Right To Play’s efforts to foster values and life skills such as self-esteem, teamwork, conflict resolution and compassion. Johann Koss gave Mayor Miller a Right To Play Red Ball symbolizing the humanitarian potential of sport to promote health, development and peace.
Right To Play Athlete Ambassadors Clara Hughes and Beckie Scott shared with the children their experiences on a recent field trip to visit Right To Play programs in Ethiopia. They talked about the importance of inclusion and gave examples illustrating how Right To Play brings the power of sport and play to groups traditionally left out.
“The most profound and emotional moment came when we visited a centre for emotionally and mentally handicapped kids and played with them,” Scott said. “It was really evident what a game meant to them in terms of sheer happiness and joy. And you knew this was something that was not in their lives before.”
“I had young boys tell me in Ethiopia that before Right To Play, girls weren’t allowed to play sports,” Hughes added.
Later in the day, after Hughes and Scott threw out the first pitch at the Rogers Centre in celebration Right To Play Day with the Toronto Blue Jays, Hughes announced that her “Clara Hughes Challenge” had surpassed $400,000. At the Winter Olympics in Torino, inspired by a donation to Right To Play by U.S. speedskater Joey Cheek, Hughes donated $10,000 of her own money and challenged Canadians to give what they could.
“I just knew if I had a voice I had to use it and I believed that Canadians would respond and they have,” Hughes said. “We’re shooting for half a million and I’m hoping we can make that before the end of the year.”
