The Steadward Centre holding virtual fundraiser for its parasport athletes

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No matter how far they’ve come, The Steadward Centre is still striving to go the distance.

One part teaching, one part research, the facility — whose full name is The Steadward Centre for Personal and Physical Achievement — is housed within the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation at the University of Alberta.

Its goal is to provide physical activity and sport opportunities for adults, youth and children living with disabilities.

“Basically, anyone who identifies with needing some kind of adaptive programming,” said director Jennifer Leo. “So, we see people with a wide range of disabilities and impairments. And that’s one of the things that’s quite unique about us, is you don’t need to have a specific diagnosis to come to The Steadward Centre, which is really great for people who either don’t meet the diagnosis criteria or are awaiting one, or for younger children.

“There are lots of reasons.”

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And with the demand comes the ever-increasing need for volunteers.

“We definitely have a lot of support from students in terms of volunteering within our program. We couldn’t run our programs without the undergraduate and graduate students, they’re amazing,” Leo said. “They help us to have more capacity, and in turn, we’re able to provide really rich learning experiences for them for when they go out into the professional world.”

Within the centre, there are varying levels of athletic development, from programs focusing on inclusivity all the way up to parasport and Paralympic pursuits.

But regardless of ability, not much compares to seeing someone push through the adversity they’re facing and reach an individual goal.

And while there is no shortage of inspiration to be found on that end, the centre offers some a place they can belong, which they might not necessarily feel elsewhere.

“We do find that our programs have a really significant impact on people’s lives,” Leo said. “Not even just in terms of the sport, I had an email from a staff member who was talking with one of his members, and The Steadward Centre is the only place he goes outside of his house during these COVID times.

“So, this is his whole sense of community, this is the only interaction that he gets. So, that’s a pretty amazing piece, to be able to provide that sense of community and socialization in addition to the health and well-being that comes from physical activities.”

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April Lam trains with the Steadward Bears Para-swim team, which provides those living with disabilities a chance to develop high-performance swimming skills at the University of Alberta Van Vliet Centre pool in Edmonton, on March 13, 2014. Photo by Ed Kaiser /Postmedia, file

Of course, the global pandemic doesn’t discriminate between able-bodied fitness facilities and places such as The Steadward Centre, which have had to lock down at different times over the year.

“It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster. We’ve gone through a few different phases with everything closed down for a while and we had to put together a whole return-to-activity plan,” said Leo, adding all the stringent guidelines had to be followed. “We reopened in August-September with a bunch of protocols in place. Our Parasport was put back on pause for in-person stuff as with all levels of sport.

“But our coaching staff has been incredibly resilient and creative to pivot toward remote program delivery. We’ve been exploring how to get everybody connected, so our swimming and our athletics teams have been training together through Zoom.”

Unfortunately, their location on campus doesn’t include the benefit of receiving direct funding from the university, as is often the assumption.

“They provide us with our program space, which is incredible,” Leo said. “But all of our operating costs we are responsible for fundraising each year. So, paying for our staff, buying new equipment, right now, all our personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.

“Because we have lower capacity, we have fewer people through our doors, so we have less revenue. We still have the same staffing expenses, and then it is also more challenging to fundraise because it’s tough for everybody right now. So, it’s hard to reach out to businesses that in the past have donated to us, because we know that they’re also struggling.

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“We are a not-for-profit, so the donation side is always at the forefront.”

The centre’s latest initiative(www.uab.ca/GTD), Going the Distance, is looking to help increase access to parasport opportunities for the Steadward Bears athletes.

Running from March 15-26, participants can join the athletes, virtually, in logging daily exercise minutes to raise funds for the program’s activities, facilities, equipment, competition and travel expenses, while the Steadward Bears will also be sharing their stories of what the centre has meant to their lives.

Registration is now open to the public, with a recommended donation of $25.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge