HIGH ACHIEVERS: R.A. Centre offering two empowering girls’ sports programs as 2026 Canadian Olympic women’s team sets two participation records

By Martin Cleary

The all-important National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which was created in 1987 in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to take centre stage on Wednesday.

It’s another significant piece of the ever-growing puzzle that is helping to introduce more girls and women to sport in a comfortable, safe and welcoming manner to allow them to develop skills and confidence, while creating friendships and memories.

A day focused on bringing sports into someone’s life can go a long way to develop future city champions, provincial or national competitors or even Winter or Summer Olympians.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day wasn’t around 102 years ago, when Canada sent its first team to the inaugural Winter Olympic Games in 1924 at Chamonix, France.

Figure skater Cecil Smith of Toronto had the distinction of being the only woman on the 12-athlete Canadian team to the 1924 Winter Olympics, but she made the most of it placing sixth in singles and seventh in pairs with Ottawa’s Melville Rogers.

Slowly, but surely, the representation of female athletes grew as new sports came aboard and athletes achieved the qualifying criteria. But for the first seven Winter Olympics, Canada had eight or fewer women athletes on its team.

By the 14th Winter Games in Calgary, the number of Canadian female athletes increased to 30. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, the women’s delegation exceeded the century mark for the first time at 103.

When the 25th Winter Olympic Games open on Friday in Milano Cortina, Italy, the number of women on the Canadian team will surpass the number of men for the first time in history – 108 (record number) to 99.

And with programs like the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebrating girls and women of all ages in sports, the wheels should continue to move in a positive direction to provide opportunities to springboard young female athletes to possible international competitions and potentially the Olympics.

“For sure, it can be. That’s the spark,” Amanda Romozzi, the director of programming at the R.A. Centre, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Any girl has the potential to do great things. Having the opportunity to have sports in your life is important.”

Romozzi believes sports are for everyone and it’s important to involve girls at a young age to ensure they have a positive experience so their love of sport and activity remains throughout their lives.

The R.A. Centre offers two all-girls’ programs to help make their introduction to sports smooth, happy and enjoyable.

Romozzi uses the example of a light switch. Sometimes a negative sport experience will cause a young girl to turn off the switch and leave sport. But sometimes an opportunity to learn about a sport with other girls in a non-pressure situation can flip the switch on.

While the R.A. Centre hasn’t planned anything specific for National Girls and Women in Sport Day, registration for its two programs supporting girls’ participation in sport is currently open for its GIRL-Centric! Summer Camp and will open on Tuesday at 10 a.m. for the spring edition of She Plays Multi-Sport program.

GIRL-Centric! Summer Camp is powered by the acronym – Gratitude, Inclusion, Respect and Laughter – for girls 9 to 12. The eight one-week camps allow girls to learn new skills, while making friends in a positive, barrier-free atmosphere.

It’s specifically for girls and designed to support and empower them through sports like pickleball, squash, archery and basketball as well as activities like crafts, poetry, drama and music. Each day also includes a one-hour session in the swimming pool.

Each week of the GIRL-Centric! Summer Camp costs $288.75.

She Plays Multi-Sport is a 10-week program that runs three times a year for girls ages eight to 12. The program, which is run in the fall, winter and spring, offers girls a chance to learn from knowledgeable and understanding coaches about a variety of sports, including pickleball, baseball, soccer and touch football.

The focus is on helping young girls develop skills and learn to be part of a team in an upbeat environment. The cost of the 10, one-hour Saturday sessions is $199.