Pellerin: In Ottawa, we have a great sports culture

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On Sunday evening I’ll be at Carleton University for the opening ceremonies of the Canadian Ultimate Championships, which are held in Ottawa this year. The event brings over 2,000 junior and adult competitors and stretches out over a full week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk not just about a sport I happen to be mildly obsessed with but the great sports culture we have in this town.

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It’s my teen’s last year on the ultimate junior circuit, which is bittersweet as is just about every other major milestone your kids hit. I have enjoyed the great learning and leadership opportunities she’s had, the friendships and the sheer pleasure of competing in a team sport where there are no referees. This is, bar none, what sets ultimate apart from other competitive sports. Players have to sort out their issues by themselves. That means coaches and especially parents are expected to stay on the sideline where they belong and let the “spirit” of the game rule the day.

As a parent, I love seeing the kids discuss fouls and how to resolve them to everyone’s satisfaction. And now that I let myself be convinced to take up the sport, I’ve also discovered a larger frisbee culture in Ottawa that is extraordinarily welcoming and encouraging. Everyone takes the time to give you pointers and tips, including members of opposite teams. Because everyone wants the game to be a great experience overall.

When you join the Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association, the system asks you to rank yourself from absolute beginner to high-calibre touring player. I’m a solid two (athletic background but new at frisbee) yet I’m treated like everyone else, including that one time last month I agreed to be substitute player on a Montreal team at another Ottawa tournament. We didn’t win all our games but we had a bunch of fun.

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I could make my gentle reader’s eyes bleed by writing about frisbee all day but the truth is that in Ottawa we have a great sports culture that is so much bigger than disc-chasing. I spent 17 years in martial arts and I know we have fantastic athletes here, including many world champions. If you’ve ever gone lane-swimming early you’ve no doubt seen the swim clubs wrapping up their training by the time you show up at 6 a.m. Competitive and recreational athletes of all kinds are everywhere.

According to a report by the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 27 per cent of Canadian adults say they participate in a sport, compared with 68 per cent of children ages five to 17. My observation over the last two decades living in this town is that in Ottawa it feels like we’re well above those levels. As you can tell by the high number of facilities we collectively own, maintain, manage and use — without complaining about how much it costs.

Soccer, hockey, rugby, flag football, softball, volleyball, track and field, climbing, plus all the ones I don’t have space to list, so many different disciplines where so many people push their limits to be the best version of themselves they can be.

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Sports teach you humility, especially when you keep going nowhere in competition. When you fight past that stage you can reach incredible levels, as the 26 Ottawa athletes at the Paris Olympics this year are showing us.

You see the character of a people as they spend hours on hard benches, in cold arenas and on lawn chairs as little kids in clusters endeavour to chase hockey pucks or soccer balls or plastic discs or whatever other dreams they have. Parents who sacrifice their weekends and vacation budgets to drive their kids to tournaments because the kids believe they have a shot at improving themselves and doing well at something they love? It’s the most beautiful sight there is.

Play on, Ottawa.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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