PacificSport Centre for the Columbia Basin

viaSport British Columbia and the PacificSport Columbia Basin Board welcome the arrival of a new PacificSport Centre in the Columbia Basin, with the support of the British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. PacificSport Columbia Basin joins the Regional Sport Alliance, which is a collective of provincial-sport delivery organizations passionate about enriching lives and energizing communities through sport and activity.

PacificSport Columbia Basin serves the communities in the south-east corner of BC commonly referred to as the Columbia Basin or East and West Kootenays. It delivers programs that supports development from individual participants to communities, grass-roots to National Team. Through partnerships with recreation departments, school districts, health authorities and local sport organizations PacificSport Columbia Basin delivers programming that builds capacity and supports sport participation by addressing structural and systemic barriers including physical literacy, access, inclusion, and representation.

PacificSport Columbia Basin works closely with viaSport BC, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, and the eight other Regional Sport Alliance organizations to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of these important investments in the sport sector by governments, community trusts, corporate foundations and philanthropic partners.

“Sport and active living contribute to the vibrancy of our communities and play a powerful role in helping people lead healthy, productive lives”, says Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. “We are pleased to support this project through viaSport, as it will directly impact the quality of sport activities offered to people in this region by supporting physical literacy initiatives and coach development.”

“Sport is an incredible vehicle for social change and community development,” says Charlene Krepiakevich, viaSport British Columbia CEO. “It supports happier, healthier people in better connected communities. We are thrilled to see the launch of PacificSport Columbia Basin, a key viaSport Regional Sport Partner in driving increased participation of under-represented groups in sport, supporting high quality and safer sport, and ensuring that everyone in the Columbia Basin can thrive through the positive impacts of sport.”

Given the distributed population and mountainous geography of the region, PacificSport Columbia Basin is primarily a virtual centre. In-person services and programs utilize a distributed staff as well as enhance the capacity and skills of key partners within each community.