The City of Kamloops: A Sport Heritage Community

By Tom Mayenknecht

Known far and wide as Canada’s Tournament Capital, the City of Kamloops has proven itself to be one of the most dynamic sport communities in Canada so many times over, it hardly needs another set of credentials beside its name.

Yet that’s exactly what the BC Sports Hall of Fame will bestow on Kamloops when it hosts the Annual Summit for the BC Sports Hall the weekend of September 19th-21st, 2024. As of September 20th, Kamloops will receive the special BC Sports Hall of Fame designation as Sport Heritage Community.

It’s a new initiative by the BC Sports Hall that is designed to put the spotlight on communities that have truly helped shape British Columbia sport history, heritage and culture over the years; communities that have produced some of the best sports programs and participation rates in the country. It is, quite simply put, a natural way for the BC Sports Hall – working in tandem with our stakeholders at the Government of British Columbia and viaSport, along with sport partners such as the BC Games Society, Sport BC, KidSport, BC Women & Sport, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and SportMedBC – to acknowledge the important role that communities play in fostering physical activity, play, organized sport and high performance.

We believe it is a truism that the stronger the sport ecosystem established by municipalities and other community leaders, the greater the sport culture in those communities. And where there’s strong infrastructure and sport culture, the more likely that kids will play in a safe environment — a welcoming Sport for Life setting — one with the highest standards of coaching, officiating, leadership and volunteerism. These leading communities will share many common characteristics, including but not limited to the investment of a significant amount of human capital in building their communities through sport.

It’s in those communities where generations of local government leaders have made it a priority to invest in sport facilities, programs and, sport and physical activity overall. It is these communities which emerge with notable clusters of sport scientists and sport medical and paramedical professionals. It rarely happens by accident or as a coincidence. It becomes organic.

Sport Heritage Communities such as Kamloops are the result of municipal leaders making good, wise and long-range decisions over and over again until sport participation, a west coast active living culture and, ultimately, sport excellence become synonymous with the village, town, city or regional district in question.

Kamloops doesn’t need this additional recognition from the BC Sports Hall of Fame. It’s been a long-standing sports community for decades. It’s been Canada’s Tournament Capital for more than 30 years. It knows it’s a good place to bring up a family and benefit from the learning lessons that sport provides for our kids. It doesn’t need this recognition for recognition’s sake.

Yet the Board of Trustees of the BC Sports Hall of Fame – along with our Sports Hall Foundation and Council of Chairs – are delighted to be planning for the official commemoration next month of Kamloops as a Sport Heritage Community in British Columbia.

It’s our way of saying thank you to the sport leaders – both volunteers and industry professionals – who have made it a hotbed for sport, recreation and physical activity. By doing sport the way you’ve done it in Kamloops, you’ve become the ultimate role models – as a community – for healthy, strong communities throughout the province.

We’re energized by the designation of Kamloops as a Sport Heritage Community in British Columbia and we’re excited by the recognition that will greet the next round of Sport Heritage Communities in 2025 and beyond. Make no mistake, Kamloops may be the first to be officially designated in this fashion, but it won’t be the last.

We like to think that we’ll be a busy BC Sports Hall of Fame in these coming years to honour many of the other cities, towns and villages that have traditionally put sport first and, in so doing, have set themselves up for optimal social, economic and sport success.

Every step of the way, we’ll give these communities the credit they richly deserve for their foresight and vision. With strong support from the grassroots up, Sport Heritage Communities will help British Columbia continue to grow as one of Canada’s foremost athlete and sport development hubs.

With more Sport Heritage Communities like Kamloops contributing new chapters of sport history, heritage and culture, year-in, year-out, we will be creating an inspiring environment for sport and recreation across BC. Thanks to the layers of leadership over time that result in a city like Kamloops doing sports the way it does, it will help us become the best British Columbians that we can be.

That will only strengthen the next generation of BC athletes, coaches and leaders…and give us even more reasons to be proud of where we live, work and play.