Intact grants $160,000 to 12 Olympian-led youth projects

MONTREAL: The Canadian Olympic Committee and Intact Insurance have announced the 12 Olympian-led projects that will receive the first Intact Olympian Impact grants, a program that will award a total of $160,000 and is backed by a $1 million, three-year commitment from Intact, according to a Team Canada release dated Oct. 28.

The grants go to four active and eight retired Olympians who run community sport programs across the country. The release says the program was formerly named the OLY Canada Legacy Grant, which is now in its seventh edition. Projects are grouped under Podium, Play and Planet streams, and the release does not give per-project amounts.

Track star Andre De Grasse, a seven-time Olympic medallist, is funded for his Future Champions Scholarship Program, which offers financial assistance, mentorship, coaching, nutrition and academic support to emerging track and field athletes, including youth from marginalized and remote communities. In the release, De Grasse said the funding will help up-and-coming high school track athletes access the resources they need to earn university scholarships and become champions in the classroom and on the track.

Rower Jill Moffatt receives support for MOMentum, which provides financial grants to pregnant and mothering Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes and pairs them with a new podcast. Leah Ferguson, a 2012 Olympic wrestler, will expand Girls CAN Wrestling, which funds and mentors women coaches. Ferguson said she remembers seeing the word legacy everywhere in the Olympic Village in London, and that the grant lets her build that legacy in communities across the country.

Several winners focus on free programming for young people. Bobsledder Jay Dearborn’s Find Your Sport will serve 2,900 children and youth aged 4 to 18 in Ontario with BGC South East, while biathlete Megan Imrie’s Iyarhe Nakoda Ski Team offers free cross-country skiing to Indigenous youth in Alberta in Grades 7 to 12, delivered with Spirit North. Paige Crozon, a 3×3 basketball Olympian, will run free basketball and leadership programs for Grade 5 and 6 students in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Snowboarder Juliette Pelchat’s Real Wild Kittens runs inclusive skateboarding programs in British Columbia, and hockey Olympian Sami Jo Small’s hockey school in Manitoba offers coaching, para hockey integration and financial bursaries. Skateboarder Annie Guglia’s Toutes en mouvement in Quebec is a free, female-focused multi-sport event, and freestyle skier Nicolas Fontaine’s Project Air Force offers trampoline and water-ramp training for young aerial skiers in Quebec.

Two projects fall under the Planet stream. Swimmer Tim Peterson’s Bike Bus in British Columbia is a free, supervised group cycling program that turns the school commute into physical activity, and skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva’s Drive into Gear will give the Calgary Flames Sports Bank a dedicated collection trailer to gather, reuse and recycle donated sports equipment.

“This program truly emphasizes the power of sport, bringing the Olympic spirit deeper into communities across the country,” said Jacqueline Ryan, the COC’s chief brand and commercial officer and CEO of the Canadian Olympic Foundation. Imen Zitouni, Intact’s senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, said the 12 Olympians are “transforming their experience into meaningful programs that remove barriers and create more opportunities for young people to participate in sport.”

The announcement comes as Canada’s next generation of athletes takes the stage abroad, with 28 Canadians heading to the first Youth Olympics in Africa and the Dakar Games now under way.