MISSION STATEMENT
The Kitchener Waterloo Sports Council is a member of Community Sport Councils Ontario (CSCO) and a resource for affiliated sports organizations within the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. The Sports Council will serve as a focus for all non-profit sport groups promoting and facilitating communications and co-operation between member organizations and individuals in a fair and equitable manner.
GOALS
The KW Sports Council will:
- Provide opportunities for specialized training of coaches, administrators, executives and other volunteers.
- Provide a channel for sport organizations to identify needs.
- Be a united voice for the mutual benefit of non-profit sport organizations in Kitchener-Waterloo.
- Enhance the common goals of sport organizations in Kitchener-Waterloo without reducing the current services provided by the municipalities.
HISTORY
In 1999, after a general consultation meeting with the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, the community youth sports clubs formed the Kitchener Waterloo Sports Council.
A steering committee of sport volunteers and representatives from the two cities considered various purposes for the Sports Council, drafted a Mission Statement, applied for incorporation Letters Patent, and wrote Bylaw. At a further meeting, these were presented to the sports clubs for consideration and approval, and the first Board of Directors was elected.
In October 2000, the Sports Council was incorporated in Ontario as a not-for-profit organization.
Almost immediately in 2000, the first Board of Directors began to organize training sessions for athletes, coaches, parents, and other volunteers.
When the City of Kitchener was invited to participate in the 2000 International Children’s Games hosted by the City of Hamilton, the Sports Council assisted with fundraising to equip the delegation of children from five KW sports clubs.
Thereafter, the Sports Council was delegated by the City of Kitchener to have a volunteer committee select the sports, coaches, and players for the delegations to represent the City at future Games and to assist the delegations to raise the necessary funds to pay for the travel costs, uniforms, and other associated expenses.
The City’s Athletics Co-ordinator organized and led the delegations.
These delegations included Cleveland – USA 2004, Coventry – England 2005, Reykjavik – Iceland 2007, San Francisco – USA 2008, Athens – Greece 2009, and Riviera – Switzerland (Winter) 2009.
Besides, the Sports Council began to raise funds for a new KidSporttm Chapter.
As a result of contact by KidSporttm Ontario in 2001, the SC organized a KidSport FUNZONETM during the annual KW Oktoberfest event in the former Kitchener Farmers’ Market on Frederick St, and in two subsequent years at other venues.
Initially, these funds were administered by KidSporttm Ontario to support children in KW until a formal Chapter was created.
Due to a variety of circumstances, the formation of the KW Chapter was delayed until June 2013 when the Board of Directors approved a special Bylaw and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KidSport Ontario.
Also, in 2013 the Board of Directors created an Accessible Sport Committee “to improve and sustain opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in sports at all levels within the Waterloo Region”, and in 2018 a Women in Sport Committee “to improve and sustain opportunities for girls and women to participate in sports at all levels”.
Membership