Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
OCASI
Inclusive Model
for Sports and Recreation Programming
for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
June 2006
This project was made possible through funding provided
by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Health Promotion
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
OCASI, 110 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, M4R 1A3
Tel.: 416-322-4950, Fax: 416-322-8084, E-mail: generalmail@ocasi.org, Website: www.ocasi.org
2
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Acknowledgements
OCASI wishes to express our gratitude to all the organizations, groups, and individuals that
generously contributed their time and energy to collaborating on this project. Special appreciation
goes to the Executive Directors of OCASI member agencies and of scores of other organizations
across the province, in addition to practitioners throughout Canada and around the globe, who so
willingly helped OCASI staff members in obtaining information on existing recreation projects
and on past studies. Special mention goes to all the members of the project Advisory Group, who
devoted time for face-to-face meetings and teleconferences, and to the staff, volunteers and
Executive Directors of Kingston and District Immigrant Services (KDIS), Settlement and
Integration Services Organization (SISO), Catholic Cross-Cultural Services, Peel Region, and
Quinte United Immigrant Services, who offered to organize and host facilitated focus group
discussions and training on how to develop an effective sports and recreation program for
immigrant and refugee youth.
We appreciate the special effort and time devoted by Lloyd Kibaara of SISO, Craig Blackman of
COSTI, and Wali Farah of OCISO for conducting the feasibility study that allowed us to finalize
the model.
Special thanks to Kelven Goodridge, a researcher, who played an instrumental role in developing
the Provisional Model from which this final model was developed. Thanks to the OCASI staff,
Paulina Maciulis, Manager, Policy and Program; Immaculate Tumwine, Project Coordinator; and
Lily Mumbana, Bilingual Projects Assistant, for their leadership and hard work in all aspects of
this project.
Lastly, we would like to thank the Ministry of Health Promotion for their generous and continuing
support in making this project a reality.
3
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
This project was made possible through funding provided by the Government of Ontario,
Ministry of Health Promotion
4
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
This Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth has been
developed after testing the provisional Inclusive Model of Sports and Recreation Programming for
Immigrant and Refugee Youth by youth program staff from COSTI in Toronto, the Settlement and
Integration Services Organization (SISO) in Hamilton, and the Ottawa Community Immigrant
Services Organization (OCISO), each of whom offered to test some key concepts found in the
literature that were subsequently outlined in the Provisional Model. Each agency’s observations,
knowledge, and field experience were invaluable and all played an important role in shaping the
final model.
“United we stand, united we prosper.”
Hamilton focus group participant
5
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................................5
1.0
Literature Review ...............................................................................................................................................7
1.1
Immigrant Youth and Their Participation Level in Sports and Recreation ........................................................7
1.2
Benefits of Sports and Recreation as Outlined in the Literature.........................................................................8
1.3
Reasons for Low Participation of Immigrant and Refugee Youth in Sports
and Recreation Activities as Outlined in the Literature ...................................................................................12
1.4
Challenges Service Providers and Immigrant Youth Face................................................................................12
1.4.1 Challenges Service Providers Face ...................................................................................................................12
1.4.2 Challenges Youth Face......................................................................................................................................17
2.0
Attributes of an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for Immigrant
Youth as Outlined in the OCASI Provisional Model.......................................................................................21
2.1
How to More Effectively Engage Newcomer Youth.........................................................................................21
2.2
How to Develop a Focused Program.................................................................................................................25
2.3
How to Develop an Inclusive Program..............................................................................................................27
2.4
Additional Recommendations............................................................................................................................31
2.5
Proposed Sports Model Checklist Developed from the Provisional Model and Focus Groups .......................33
3.0
Outcomes of the Feasibility Study….................................................................................................................34
3.1
Feasibility Study Centres ..................................................................................................................................34
3.2
Elements of the OCASI Provisional Model Selected for Study by the Feasibility Study Centres ...................34
3.3
Characteristics of the Programs and the Features Studied by the Centres.........................................................36
3.3.1 The Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization..............................................................................36
3.3.2 The Settlement Integration and Settlement Services (SISO) in Hamilton.........................................................45
3.3.3 COSTI in Toronto.............................................................................................................................................. 52
3.4
OCISO, SISO, and COSTI Program Challenges...............................................................................................58
4.0
The OCASI Inclusive Model: The Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for
6
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Immigrant and Refugee Youth .........................................................................................................................59
4.1
Twelve Elements Essential to an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Youth..........................................................................................................................59
4.2
Further Recommendations for an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Youth ........................................................................................................................62
5.0
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................................64
6.0
Project Recommendations .................................................................................................................................65
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................................66
Appendix 1: OCASI Project Coordinator’s Plan Used in Seeking Input from Youth in Ontario
...............................70
Appendix 2: Questions Posed to Participating Youth and to Potential Participants ...................................................73
Appendix 3: Members of the OCASI Project Advisory Group ..................................................................................75
Executive Summary
This report summarizes findings from a two-year study that focused on the development of a
model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth. The first year
of the study consisted of a literature review to identify challenges and recommendations that had
been outlined in past studies in relation to participation of immigrant and refugee youth in sports
and recreation. The purpose was to outline features that had been proposed by past researchers as
positive attributes in programming for immigrant and refugee youth, given the numerous
challenges that they face in sports and recreation. Focus groups with staff from immigrant- and
youth-serving organizations were held in the first year to review the findings from the literature
and to assist in the development of the Provisional Model for Sports and Recreation Programming
for Immigrant and Refugee Youth. The second year of the project (April 2005 – April 2006)
focused on testing the Provisional Model in three organizations that have youth sports and
recreation programs to determine the Provisional Model’s feasibility. Youth participants
associated with sports and recreation activities in a variety of organizations, including youth
associated with sports and recreation activities in the three organizations that tested the
Provisional Model, provided input on the activities and processes that were recommended in the
Provisional Model. This was done through focus group discussions, interviews and written
surveys. The youth were also asked to comment on the activities and processes implemented
during the testing period.
7
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
This report details challenges as identified in the literature, in the focus groups, and by service
providers who provide other activities. These challenges range from lack of sufficient resources;
difficulties involved in fully engaging and obtaining support of the target communities; economic
hardship in the target communities that often make youth sports and recreation costly and
unaffordable; lack of understanding the cultural, economic and social circumstances surrounding
the target communities that in turn affect enrolment and effective participation in youth sports and
recreation; lack of suitable locations for community activities; parental time constraints; and
service providers’ lack of time and resources to develop effective solutions to related issues.
The report also outlines challenges that youth face as prospective sports and recreation
participants. Some of their concerns include racism and discrimination; participants’ unfamiliarity
with the offered sport; the cultural insensitivity of service providers; lack of financial resources to
facilitate transportation and purchase sports uniforms; and inadequate support, sometimes even
disapproval from parents.
Following the testing of the Provisional Model through implementation and the enhancement of
some of the features proposed in the Provisional Model, this report outlines the final model that
places emphasis on, among others, the following features that were considered most crucial to an
effective program: combining educational with sports and recreation activities; introducing sports
and recreation activities that immigrant and refugee youth found familiar and popular, due to
prevalence in their countries of origin, and use of these as vehicles to build confidence to learn
new sports and recreation activities; boosting parental involvement; developing youth leadership,
especially in the areas of officiating and coaching; building working and collaborative
relationships with other service providers; acquiring affordable and accessible space; developing
supportive internal organizational structure and top management support; funding and developing
strategies for working with funding partners; mobilizing immigrant and minority communities;
engaging diverse communities in the youth recruitment activity; training diverse community
coaches and people who are skilled in sports; operating under an anti-oppression and anti-racism
framework; acquiring transportation for youth; and, where possible, acquiring sportswear for
youth.
8
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
1.0 Literature Review
The first year of this project consisted of identifying past studies on youth participation in sports
and recreation activities and outlining some of the features that researchers considered positive
attributes. These findings from the literature were subjected to focus group discussions within the
immigrant serving sector (in Peel, Toronto, Kingston and Hamilton). At the end of fiscal year
2004-05, a Provisional Model emerged that outlined the elements that must be present for a sports
and recreation program for immigrant and refugee youth to be effective.
1.1 Immigrant Youth and Their Participation Level in Sports and Recreation
The issue of immigrant youth and their participation level in sports and recreation is of particular
importance in Ontario because of this province’s unique position as the destination of choice for
many immigrant families. In 2001, according to Statistics Canada, Ontario and its major urban
centres were home to over 50% of immigrants who arrived in Canada in the 1990s, with Toronto,
Ottawa-Gatineau, and Hamilton leading the province at 43.3%, 3.9%, and 1.9%, respectively. For
the whole of Canada, nearly 19% of the population was born outside of the country, a 70-year
high. Of the immigrants who journeyed to Canada in the 1990s, 73% lived in Canada’s three
largest metropolitan centres: Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal. This is remarkable, considering
that only slightly more than a third of Canada’s total population lived in these three areas.
Statistics Canada also reports that nearly 70% of the immigrant children who arrived in the 1990s
lived in the Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal areas as well. Seventeen percent of these children
between the ages of 5 and 16 lived in Toronto. Of these, half spoke a language other than English
or French at home.
In a research report titled Cultural Diversity, it was stated that “immigrant children and youth are
more likely to live in lower-income households” than Canadians who have been here more than
ten years (Canadian Council on Social Development, 2000). Are these children, some of the most
vulnerable members of Canadian society, being denied opportunities to enrich their childhood
when they do not participate in sports and recreation?
“In countries around the world, sport, recreation, and play are improving health—both mind and
body. They are teaching important life lessons about respect, leadership, and cooperation. They
are promoting equality for all and bridging divides between people” (UNESCAP). This
proclamation from the “Sport for Development and Peace: Towards Achieving the Millennium
Development Goals” summarizes the United Nations’ belief that play, sports, and recreation are
crucial in developing the minds and lives of our youth.
However, despite numerous studies and surveys that show that quality recreation plays a
significant role in the healthy development of children and youth and that undertaking sports and
recreation leads to better physical and mental health, improved school performance, and increased
self-esteem, a national study found that significant numbers of Canadian children and youth, aged
9 to 11, stated that they “almost never” participated in supervised sports (33%), arts programming
9
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
(63%), or community-based programs (65%) (Offord et al., 1998). It has also been established
that a high percentage of marginalized children—those who live in poverty, ethnic minorities, and
those who have recently arrived in North America—have no or very limited access to sports and
recreation (van Wel et al., 1996; Offord et al., 1998).
A lack of involvement in sports and recreation may be even more problematic for immigrant
youth, since sports and recreation may play an even more critical part in their development and
adjustment to a new society. With reference to North America in general, Stodolska (2004)
maintains that “the post-arrival period is often critical in terms of long-term success of young
immigrants, and is likely to have profound implications for their psychological and emotional
development, as well as for their identity. Young immigrants are faced with the new physical,
social and cultural environment of the new country.”
1.2
Benefits of Sports and Recreation as Outlined in the Literature
Despite the plethora of evidence to the contrary, some individuals and entities hesitate to ascribe
inherent benefits to participation in all types of sports and recreation. Of note, in 2001 the
Canadian Council on Social Development agreed that there are “positive physical, psychological
and social benefits to be derived from recreation,” but limited their recommendations to structured
recreation. By structured recreation we can refer to Kruissink, as mentioned in DeKnop and
Theeboom (1999), who outlined three different kinds of recreational activity, specifically those
that are highly structured (for example, participation on a sports team), those with average
commitment (for example, reading), and those that are free of obligation (for example, going to a
dance club).
The terms recreation and leisure describe any activity people choose to do during their free time
for fun, pleasure, or for the satisfaction it provides (Gibson, 2001). Mayes and Smith (2002) quote
Dr. Ron Dahl with a slightly different definition, stating, “Adolescent recreation engagement
involves non-school time activities and disciplines that have elements of choice, lead to
satisfaction, and encourage progressive learning and enjoyment” (Dahl, 2002). Activities may
include endeavours, such as reading, painting, hiking, swimming, dancing, or playing a musical
instrument.
Believing that recreation, sports, and leisure are inherently beneficial to youth and that they are
necessary for Canadian youth in particular, numerous voices have been advocating for increased
spending and collaborative efforts to bolster participation in sports and recreation among youth
(Anisef and Kilbride, 1999).
Physical activity and creative expression have been steadily decreasing in the public school
systems across North America. Yet, the following confirms what most people intuitively know to
be true. In April 2002, the Laidlaw Foundation commissioned the Canadian Institute of Child
Health (CICH) to produce a discussion paper highlighting research on youth, recreation, and
10
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
citizenship. It is clear from the paper, which surveyed over 1200 youngsters, that participation in
constructive leisure activities (including church and volunteerism, team sports, school
involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs) facilitates positive development (Eccles and
Barber, 1999) and that participation in constructive leisure activities during adolescence has
positive effects for the individual and for society as a whole through a decrease in the incidence of
alcohol and drug abuse (Mayes and Smith, 2002).
Various independent researchers, including the Provincial Play Coalition, identified at least seven
distinct reasons for participating in sports and recreation:







Identification with peer group
Cognitive development
Social development
Physical development and personal health
Emotional development
Moral development and community connectedness
Economic health
Belonging and Identification with Peer Group
Thomas et al., (1996) assert that “a sense of belonging enhances personal identity through an
increased sense of personal control over social interaction” and this can be true of recreation or
organized sports. Through her study of Metropolitan Chicago Korean-, Mexican-, and Polishimmigrant youth, Stodolska (2003) observed that adolescents “not only crystallized their ethnic
identities” but also began to explore what America and “American-ness” is really about primarily
because they interacted with one another. Adolescent immigrants “established their ethnic
identities not only through self-realization of their cultural distinctiveness.”
Cognitive Development
The Provincial Play Coalition (2003) quotes several studies that have shown “youth participation
in quality recreational activities contributes to…helping expand knowledge, develop critical
thinking and increased competence in academic achievement.”
Social Development
Thomas (1996) quotes Voyle’s study (1990) outlining adolescents’ reasons for participating in
activities that demand greater responsibility, such as, being provided a venue for self
determination and being able to develop and demonstrate capabilities through assuming
noteworthy roles. De Knop and Theeboom (1999) assert that team sports, like basketball, offer
many possibilities, among them the opportunity to develop better communication skills and to
make decisions in a group setting.
11
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Lastly, drawing from an American illustration, to bridge a gaping cultural divide, officials in
Phoenix turned to sport to help integrate Sudanese refugees into their new American culture
(Wheat, 2004).
Physical Development and Personal Health
As illuminated by Child and Family Canada, “recreation and sport activities have an obvious
positive link to excellent physical growth in children through the development of gross motor
skills (running, jumping and other use of large muscles), strength and endurance.” Of all the
identified advantages of sports and recreation, this seems to be one of the most widely accepted.
Unfortunately, as underscored by a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) August 2004
article, “nearly two-thirds of children and youth in Canada aren’t physically active enough to gain
health benefits” (CBC, 2004).
Emotional Development
The benefits of sports and recreation to immigrant youth are not unique to Canada even though
they have been less documented here. Recently arrived Chinese youth in New York City showed a
positive correlation between participation in recreation and self-esteem (Yu and Berryman, 1996).
Similarly, Donnelly and Coakley (2002) posit that for members of groups that experience social
and cultural marginalization, opportunities to develop and display competence, such as those
provided by sports, are especially important.
Indeed, as we shall establish from the observations made by program staff from our feasibility
study centres, the philosophy underlining the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services
Organization (OCISO) program is that given the very limited language abilities, newcomer
children are taught sports and recreation skills so these can serve as vehicles for integration and
for smoothing interaction with other kids at school.
De Knop and Theeboom (1999) note that the symbols in structured sports both material (e.g.,
uniforms) and non-material (e.g., team attitude) can be crucial to identity building among
underprivileged youth. Once again, as we shall see in the outcomes of the OCASI study, the
Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO) program coordinator very strongly
confirms that, without a doubt, the soccer uniforms that the program acquired for the 150
immigrant and refugee kids that are involved in their program have played a role in increasing the
program’s dramatic appeal to the youth in the community. On-the-spot interviews carried out
during immigrant youth soccer matches in Hamilton showed that the self-esteem and confidence
of the children was so high that after being asked what they saw as the next step, many of the kids
stated that they now wished to learn other Canadian sports. “Now that we can play soccer so well,
we want to play ice hockey,” one of the youth stated. Several youth stated that they also wished
their soccer teams to be recognized as good teams not just by the immigrant community but also
by the Hamilton community as a whole. It was clear that with sports uniforms the youth identified
more closely with each other and were more eager to attend the games and practices because they
did not wish to let down their team.
12
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
DeKnop and Theeboom (1999) also assert that society offers little to assist children in reducing
stress and tension. These co-authors highlight the need for a physical outlet like sports.
Moral Development and Community Connectedness
In 2003, the then Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation, Parks and Recreation Ontario,
stressed that “Recreation [was] vital to the health and well-being of individuals” and it
strengthened communities by encouraging volunteer involvement and providing constructive
activities for youth.” This has been clearly demonstrated in the programs of the three feasibility
testing centres where a large number of volunteers and youth are actively involved in recreation,
sports, and educational activities. Given impromptu interviews while the activities were in
progress, the groups of youth interviewed showed zeal and excitement and were aspiring to
become champions in their activity or to join new North American activities because they had
gained confidence and peer support. Many expressed readiness to participate in outreach strategies
designed to involve their adult communities, for example, through distributing flyers, inviting
adults to their activities.
The Canadian Council on Social Development (2000) highlights a positive relationship between
political involvement of adults and their having participated in extracurricular activities when they
were young. Those who did not participate in youth groups or team sports as children were much
less likely to volunteer or to fundraise as adults. We would expect, analogously, that in their
adopted homes, immigrant children would develop levels of political involvement in adulthood
commensurate with their participation in youth activities. Research that has recently concluded in
Miami concerning adolescent Haitian immigrants will most likely serve as confirmation (Stepnick
et al., 2001). The strong relationship between youth participation in sports and recreation and
adult participation in civic activities was strongly echoed by many members of the OCASI youth
project advisory group. They emphasized that many youth who engage in sports and recreation
activities tend to apply for, volunteer in, or get summer jobs related to the sports and recreation
activities in which they engage.
The observations of some of the COSTI athletics program staff confirm the assertion that the
youth who are involved in the athletics program do indeed get summer employment in the area of
sports and recreation, and many of them beyond that. Furthermore, in the case of the COSTI
program, the incorporation of a wide range of support activities, such as employment support for
youth, using COSTI’s wide experience with settlement services, has enabled more youth, who
initially were attracted to the COSTI Athletics Program, to get part-time employment, which in
turn can lead to eventual full-time employment. The group also agreed that, in their experience,
many youth who engage as leaders at this level eventually go on to lead when they are older due
to the skills developed.
Economic Health
Economic benefits of recreation for young people include “better use of free time,” which can
contribute to better decision making when faced with difficult options and morally challenging
situations. If youth can be taught to make positive choices, it ultimately “provides a high return on
social investments for communities” because of a reduction in the use of social services and law
13
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
enforcement (Canadian Policy Research Networks, 2001). Stating this more succinctly, the
Justice Initiative claims “one dollar spent in a youth program saves $7 down the road” (Canada,
Department of Justice, 1999).
Each year at the OCASI Professional Development Conference, OCASI members express
frustration that, due to limited resources, they are unable to conduct research and compile
information on viable program features that make immigrant youth recreation projects successful.
Similarly, they have voiced a need for a more coordinated approach to increasing immigrant youth
involvement and finding ways to overcome barriers to participation.
1.3
Reasons for Low Participation of Immigrant and Refugee Youth in Sports and
Recreation Activities as Outlined in the Literature
Understanding why children choose sports can help us engage more children and create better
programs. Researchers have deduced and chronicled the benefits that immigrant and nonimmigrant children receive when they participate in recreation, sports, and leisure activities.
Direct responses from young Australians with respect to their motivation for choosing sports show
physical fitness and health (30%), social contact (11.4%), emotional release (7.4%), personal
achievement (6.9%), and personal interaction (6.9%) as being the main draws (Thomas, 1996).
Among immigrant and refugee youth populations a comparable study of substantial size has yet to
be published. From several smaller studies that evaluate the challenges that service providers,
parents, and youth face, one is offered some clues as to what prevents immigrant and refugee
youth from participating in sports and recreation.
The OCASI Research on an Inclusive Recreation Model for Immigrant and Refugee Youth was
undertaken on the premise that sports and recreation have the following benefits for immigrant
and refugee youth. Sports and recreation activities







Afford networking opportunities for future personal and professional relationships
Present opportunities to improve English language skills
Provide a place to stay if their parents work at night and on weekends
Promote creativity among the youth, particularly with respect to recreational activities
Help build a culture of peace and tolerance
Offer positive images of community spirit
May help children forget about their difficult pasts or the challenging immigration
14
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
1.4
OCASI Report 2006
Challenges Service Providers and Immigrant Youth Face
Despite the benefits of sports, recreation, and leisure activities, immigrant and refugee youth in
Canada do not derive the maximum available value because of the numerous challenges that
service providers and youth face. The literature review, interviews, focus group discussions,
service provider surveys, and youth surveys revealed these challenges.
1.4.1 Challenges Service Providers Face
As immigrant youth have reported enjoying similar sports and recreational activities that
Canadian-born youth enjoy, such as school dances (Tirone, 2003), immigrant youth’s lack of
participation cannot be attributed to a lack of interest.
Table 1.4.1
Challenges Service Providers Face
Service Provider Challenge
1. Lack of resources, such as, affordable space
for educational, social, and recreational
programs for children and youth and
neighbourhood-based community services.
This leads to additional costs that prohibit
participation, such as, registration fees, which
youth in low-income, immigrant
communities cannot afford.
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
In their introduction to the United Way of Greater
Toronto’s Task Force Report on Access to Space,
Frances Lankin, President and CEO, and Jennifer
Lynn, Chair of the Board of Trustees of United Way
of Greater Toronto (December 2002) pointed to the
concerns of the United Way’s agencies about the
growing challenge they faced trying to find
appropriate and affordable community space for
educational, social, and recreational programs for
children and youth, settlement supports for
newcomers, and neighbourhood-based community
services. The Task Force documented what Lankin
and Lynn described as “the growing threat to
traditional partnerships for the use of low-cost space
between community groups and our public
institutions, and the opportunities and challenges
associated with community use of commercial space.”
According to the Task Force, lack of low-cost space
leads to “cancelled programs, higher participant user
fees, and often the redirection of volunteer resources
from programs to fundraising.” Many immigrant-
15
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
serving agencies have lost services due to this barrier.
For example, the OCASI member agency, St.
Stephen’s Community House, located in Toronto, is
quoted in the report as having been forced to close a
summer day camp program due to their inability to
relocate to an affordable place. According to the
United Way report, this closure resulted in a loss of
valuable community programming for 150 to 200
children.
The consistent lack of resources (money, space, or
time) has plagued youth programs for countless years
and is a “critical issue across the country” (Canada,
Department of Justice, 1999). It is noted that,
recently, funding has been provided to school boards
to alleviate the affordable space problem.
This could result in the lack of suitable or affordable
sporting equipment due to a change in settlement
funding, including youth and programming money.
Insufficient funding results in understaffing.
Lack of, limited, or unstable financial
resources.
Lack of time to plan, develop, and
implement models.
Service Provider Challenge
2. Immigrant youth have limited knowledge
of North American sports and recreation.
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
Research spearheaded by Vancouver’s Social
Planning Department in 2003, focusing on the
recreational patterns of older youth from China
attending secondary school in Vancouver,
underscored the impact of youth’s limited
knowledge of the culture of Canadian sport,
recreation, and other types of community
involvement, which, in turn, put these and other
recent immigrants at higher risk of nonparticipation (Vancouver City Council, 2004). The
report does not state, however, whether sport and
recreation activities with which the youth were
more familiar were among those offered.
The focus group discussions held with
representatives from immigrant-serving
agencies and from other youth-serving
agencies held throughout Ontario revealed a
16
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
list of complex challenges that they faced.
3. Many mainstream organizations lack
knowledge about issues facing immigrants.
This has been found to be a critical factor in both
the take-up of activities by youths and in their
ability to sustain interest in the activities.
Lack of activities that are respectful of
immigrant and refugee beliefs and culture.
Some service providers lack appreciation
for other cultures, and service provider may
be insensitive to the needs of youth who are
in a new multicultural environment.
Limited participant, family, and community
support for service provider’s programs.
4. Lack of viable sport, recreation, and leisure
activity models that facilitate the
implementation of effective programs.
This was strongly articulated in the focus group
discussions held in Hamilton, Kingston, Peel, and
Toronto.
Lack of human resources (volunteers,
coaches, and dedicated program staff).
Service Provider Challenge
5. Lack of knowledge and experience to
properly train staff in sport and recreation
instruction and to train volunteers and
coaches on the methods and means to
perform some community outreach.
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus
Group Discussions, and Interviews
Focus group participants underscored the
importance of acquiring information to help train
volunteers and coaches.
What information is available is not
centralized.
Some service providers, particularly those
who provide activities as individual
volunteers, do not know how to set up and
maintain a program, including creating and
sustaining partnerships.
6. Lack of or ineffective coordination
between collaborators and other interested
parties.
There is little dialogue and collaboration in some
cities among service providers and stakeholders.
This is a serious issue, given that different
stakeholders have a different resource levels. Some
17
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
settlement agencies have good outreach capacity
and good knowledge of the issues affecting
immigrants while mainstream sports and recreation
program providers may lack that capacity, but are
better equipped in terms of coach training and
available facilities.
7. Lack of intra-agency organization and
coordination as well as lack of awareness
among settlement staff, parents, and youth
concerning the need for sport and
recreation.
In the focus group discussions, it was pointed out
that settlement staff personnel do not always
appreciate the usefulness of recreation and sports
for youth as a settlement tool. There is,
subsequently, a tendency for information sharing to
suffer. Settlement staff welcomed the focus group
discussion because it gave them an opportunity to
realize their potential role for successful outreach
to occur.
8. There is an increase in demands for
services while the capacity to supply
sports, recreation, and leisure activities is
limited.
A 2004 media release by Parks and Recreation,
Ontario, entitled New Research Reports Serious
Challenges for Sport and Recreation
Organizations, states that “community sport and
recreation organizations are struggling to keep up
with the demand for local services” and that these
challenges relate to lack of resources, difficulty
recruiting volunteers, and increasing demands for
service.
Service Provider Challenge
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
9. Lack of or limited involvement of
immigrant youth in decision making
relating to programs geared towards them.
10. Lack of accountability on the part of some
service providers.
11. Failure to recognize that child integration
needs to start early.
12. Lack of interest from potential funding
partners who may not see sports and
recreation as a funding priority.
18
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
1.4.2 Challenges Youth Face
Why is there low participation in sports and recreation activities by immigrant and refugee youth?
For many recently settled newcomer youth, the settlement and integration process can be both
rewarding and challenging. In the literature some researchers choose the term acculturation to
define a process of culture modification by individuals, groups, or people of different cultures
adapting or borrowing traits from another culture (Gibson, 2001). Adjusting to a new country for a
youth can be difficult since their community life, social environment, and family routines can all
change (Yu and Berryman, 1996).
According to academics, sports or recreation programs that could assist young immigrants and
refugees in the settlement or acculturation process may be inaccessible for a variety of reasons,
such as participatory cost, time constraints, location of activity, lack of transportation, disapproval
from parents, peers’ unwillingness to participate, unsuitable organizational structure of sports or
recreational services, age of the child, or change in lifestyle. Unfortunately, the number of studies
concerning immigrant youth and their participation in recreation and sport is scanty at best
(CCSD, 2000). More studies should be undertaken because of the lack of data available for
19
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
statistical analysis and the ways in which youth spend their time changes as society develops
(Zeijl et al., 2001), thus warranting continual exploration of youth proclivities and preferences.
According to academics, researchers, and many practitioners, sports or recreation programs may
be inaccessible to young immigrants and refugees for numerous reasons, including those reasons
outlined in the following table.
20
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
Table 1.4.2
OCASI Report 2006
Challenges Youth Face
Youth Challenge
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
1
Socioeconomic
circumstance and
participatory costs. As we
shall see below, the
feasibility study that
followed the first phase of
this research explored the
challenges relating to
socioeconomic
circumstances of their target
community and observed
that the cost of
transportation alone was
prohibitive. These youth are
unlikely to have recreational
or sports facilities, such as a
swimming pool, at home.
With respect to participatory cost, the 1992 Family Expenditure
Survey (FAMEX) found that families with the highest household
incomes spend a lower proportion of their income on recreation. The
highest income earners spent 5.8% of their income, middle-income
households spent 6.3%, and the lowest income earners spent 7.5%.
The survey found that recreational spending is a greater drain on the
lowest of income earners, thereby restricting the activities in which
their children can participate (CCSD, 2000). The offspring of high
income earners participate more frequently in sports with a coach than
the children of parents of more modest means (CCSD, 2000); this
disparity potentially robs the economically disadvantaged group of
positive role models. Curiously, there was little difference between the
groups when comparisons were drawn to gymnastics or dance. As
youth get older, leisurely activities often supplant sport and recreation.
One adolescent participant in Stodolska’s 2004 study in the U.S.
highlighted how she was given the same amount of money in Korea
for recreation and leisure as she was in the U.S., but the amount she
received was not nearly enough to maintain her desired level of
socialization in her new home. Scott and Jackson (2002) point out that
what counts is not just the presence or absence of disadvantage, but
the gaps and distances created by inequality. Income inequality is the
most common (though imperfect) proxy for a host of potential threats
to inclusion and equal life chances for children.
2
Time constraints and
changes in lifestyle.
Adult immigrants, regardless of social class, experience leisure
constraints and reduced family time more often than non-immigrants
because of increased work obligations (Juniu, 2000). Adult
immigrants with a low level of income have an insurmountable workrelated burden, as many work two or more low-paid jobs as they strive
to earn sufficient income for the family upkeep. This was pointed out
in all the focus groups in relation to challenges and opportunities.
Having less time for both leisure and family affects whether parents
can drop off their child at a recreational program, and it limits how
much time parents can spend participating in leisure activities with
their young children. Upon immigrating to Canada, children as well
can find themselves “taking up correspondingly greater obligations,
such as staying home alone, caring for siblings, and finding paid
employment” to assuage their parents burden (Omidvar and
Richmond, 2003).
3
Location of activity or lack
of transportation.
Pack and Glyptis (1989), in Developing Sport and Leisure, state that
accessibility via public transportation and location in the
neighbourhood(s) of the clients served is paramount to the success of a
program where car ownership is not universal.
21
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Youth Challenge
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
4
Many children may find
that the activities provided
are not age or gender
appropriate and they are not
based on their culture and
interests.
Children are more likely than adolescents to take part in organized
activities. Girls “begin to withdraw from organized sport earlier than
boys” (CCSD, 2000).
Not enough girl-focused
programs or recreational
activities.
Because of religious or social customs, girls often have less access to
the same leisure opportunities as boys (Tirone, 2003).
5
Need for sportswear.
Children from low-income immigrant households often do not have
the necessary footwear (sneakers) to play a sport.
6
Inadequate cultural
sensitivity with respect to
programming.
For example, respondents in Tirone’s 2003 study of teens from India,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh commented that they would rather not
participate in a sport where tight-fitting clothes were necessary (e.g.,
gymnastics) as these compromise their religious beliefs regarding
appropriate attire.
7
Inappropriate facilities, such
as shower and change
rooms.
Due to cultural differences, children may not feel comfortable sharing
showers after playing a sport or being around individuals without
shirts while playing sports.
8
Immigrant youth may not
be familiar with sports and
recreation activities.
In 1996 Yu and Berryman stated that among the Chinese adolescent
immigrants in their study, “the activities they most frequently engaged
in could be characterized as being less structured.”
Unsuitable sports or
recreational activities or
services and unsuitable
organizational structures or
services.
Children may fear falling down and feeling humiliated while playing
ice hockey.
9
Threat of a new
environment.
Children may be afraid to go alone to an extracurricular program.
10
Fears around socializing.
Immigrant youth may be shy and hesitant to mix with other children
for various reasons (e.g., fear of rejection).
11
Disapproval from parents or
peers, e.g., parents may
refrain from having their
children join after-school,
family-focused activities if
they feel that their language
skills are not polished
enough to mingle with
Immigrant youth activities can often be restricted by parents because
of personal or religious beliefs (Pack and Glyptis, 1989). Gibson
(2001) also acknowledges that those who immigrate for economic
gain may acculturate more willingly to the dominant culture and
encourage their children to acculturate swiftly as well, whereas
political refugees may be more reticent to approve of acculturation.
This is particularly so when the activity to be engaged in is culturally
at-odds with the parents’ culture or where the children engage in what
22
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
Youth Challenge
OCASI Report 2006
Related Annotations from the Literature, Focus Group
Discussions, and Interviews
others (Stodolska, 2004).
Interviewees in Tirone and
Parachak’s 2003 study
report how parents
sometimes fear that
participation in sports may
conflict with schoolwork or
homework and may prohibit
their children from
participating in
extracurricular activities.
may be perceived as unacceptable activities, such as, children going
for a dance alone at night.
12
Racism and discrimination.
Studies have been carried out on the general exclusion of immigrant
children and immigrant youth. Among the studies that have focused
on youth who are immigrants or refugees was research commissioned
by the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and
Settlement (CERIS, 1999) to look into challenges faced by immigrant
and refugee children. The CERIS research targeted Ethiopian, Hong
Kong Chinese, and former Yugoslavian immigrant communities.
Omidvar and Richmond (2003) found that the settlement process has a
major effect on children and youth: many youth feel torn between
apparently irreconcilable values or cultures and a desire to fit into their
new homeland; feelings of isolation and alienation are linked to
perceptions of cultural differences and experience of discrimination
and racism; and when these conflicts are combined with a life lived in
poverty, there is a real danger of fostering a culture of alienation
among youth.
13
Language barrier. The
authors wish to highlight
the need for program staff
personnel to reflect the
linguistic demographics of
the population served.
Anisef and Kilbride (1999) state that immigrant youth in Ontario face
additional barriers that include coping with language barriers. Youth
often have to try to understand staff despite their language limitation.
23
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
2.0
OCASI Report 2006
Attributes of an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for Immigrant
Youth as Outlined in the OCASI Provisional Model
Overcoming the multitude of barriers and challenges listed above requires all stakeholders adopt a
multifaceted approach. The purpose of the OCASI research project on inclusiveness is an attempt
to put together recommendations from past research into a model that has been tested for
feasibility.
The following recommendations were outlined in the Provisional Model, and it was these
recommendations that were tested in the feasibility testing centres. The recommendations are
presented here as a collection of attributes that contribute to an effective sports and recreation
programming model for immigrant and refugee youth in light of the challenges and barriers
outlined above.
2.1
How to More Effectively Engage Newcomer Youth
The following attributes of an effective sports and recreation program for immigrant and refugee
youth were outlined in the OCASI Provisional Model:
1. Develop Internal Structures and Work with Colleagues



Emphasize staff and volunteer recruitment
Emphasize appropriate sports and recreation staff training
Ensure that other colleagues develop an interest in the youth program
2. Develop Strategies for Working with Other Organizations and Funding Partners






Collaborate with other organizations that have contact with immigrant youth and
immigrant parents
First educate (or review with) other organizations on the benefits of outreach and
public education and the sharing of resources and then obtain commitment for
inter-agency partnerships
Increase collaboration with, and cooperation between, mainstream sports and
recreation providers and immigrant-serving agencies to share information, such as
best practices, resources, and funding possibilities through informal and formal
networking
Develop strategies for working with partners, for example other OCASI member
agencies and other immigrant-serving organizations, including youth-serving
organizations, such as the YMCA and local Boys & Girls clubs
Consider space availability (Can the activity be done with partners who have the
space?)
Advocate for increased youth recreation, leisure, and sports funding so that service
providers can obtain the resources required to support their programming needs
24
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
3. Develop Strategies for Working with Youth and the Community








Before starting the program educate youth, parents, and the community on the
benefits of sports and recreation, including mental health benefits, cognitive
development, etc.
Develop strategies to actively involve youth at different levels and to effectively
train them
Discuss the challenges with youth, parents, and members of the community and
seek ways to minimize barriers (e.g., participation costs, time constraints, location,
parental consent, gender issues, suitability of the activities, and discrimination and
racism)
Utilize effective outreach strategies for community, parent, and participant support
(e.g., focus on school, parents, and youth and train and involve youth leaders)
Develop outreach strategies, such as announcements in local faith communities and
local ethnic presses
Integrate community voices in sports and recreation program development
Build activities from the “bottom-up;” involve members of the community and
make them a part of the decision-making process
As far as possible, make the program community-based. Parents must be involved
in the decision-making process if their children are to be completely integrated into
Canadian society (Omidvar and Richmond, 2003)
4. Develop Settlement Staff Awareness

Educate other settlement staff on the important role they can play in educating the
parents and youth they encounter in their work
5. Increase Outreach to Parents, Children, and the Community to Garner Support

The earlier a child is introduced to sports and recreation the better
6. Affirm the Desires of Program Participants
7. Articulate the Program Mission and Goals
8. Create a Culturally Sensitive Program
9. Make the Program as Inexpensive as Possible
10. Make the Program Gender and Age Appropriate
11. Ensure Activities Are Sufficiently Varied, Including Activities for Girls
12. Integrate Leadership Activities into Program and Organizational Activities
25
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
13. Program Appropriately


Different activities may be appropriate for immigrants who arrive at different times
(Juniu, 2000), for example a highly structured program offered by a local
organization may not draw the expected number of participants
Make the program suited to the group—Yu and Berryman (1996) stated that
among the Chinese adolescent immigrants in their study, the activities in which
they were most frequently engaged are as follows:
o
o
o
o
o
less organized
less expensive
less physically active
less skill oriented
easily accessible
14. Collaborative Program May Have Advantages
15. Involve Immigrant Youth in the Decision-making Process from the Beginning Stages
Tirone (1997) details how children often felt privileged to have their rich culture
permeate their lives, and they had great respect for their families and their culture’s
values and customs.


Ensure that activities capitalize on the strengths of immigrant communities.
“American, Western and non-American, non-Western models of approach and
intervention often represent different, competing worldviews. Many refugee and
new immigrant families come from countries with a collectivistic lifestyle,
different from the typically individualistic and competitive Western style. They
bring diverse needs, interests, and customs, and they are developing new linguistic,
cultural, political, economic, and social patterns, and new modes of inter-group
interaction” (Bridging Refugee Youth and Children Services, 2003)
Recognize the desires of potential program participants. To truly provide programs
that children want, their input is imperative, and the program will reflect the target
groups’ values and beliefs
16. Alleviate the Language Barrier

As far as possible engage program staff who linguistically reflect the demographics
of the population served
17. Make the Program Empowering


Impart leadership skills to newcomer youth and incorporate leadership training in
sports and recreation
Train immigrant and refugee youth in leadership
26
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Giving leadership roles to youth helps the development of skills and values
fundamental to democracy, and it leads to greater personal success.
Teaching children leadership skills can also produce long-term program sustenance
because the youth exhibit ownership over decisions and solutions; they are seen as
role models by others in the community, which enhances participation in the
program; and they can assist in spearheading initiatives to keep members involved
(Thomas, 1996; De Knop and Theeboom, 1999; Donnelly and Coakley, 2002).
According to the Lifestyle Information Network (1997), a program devoid of these
elements runs the risk of mediocrity or failure. A British Columbia study of teens
by the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism, and Culture listed several essential
elements of successful youth programs:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Respect
Empowerment
Empowering youth to question and listen
Diversity, mentoring
Youth centered
Locally delivered
Affordable, community focused and leadership.
(Lifestyle Information Network, 1997)
18. Minimize the Transportation Barrier
In the Youth Recreation and Sport Forum Report of March 2, 2001 entitled Pioneer
Leisure, youth stated that in order to improve transportation to recreation and sports
activities for young people, the following should be done:








Make the activities more central
Offer a variety of activities all in one large centre
Offer more regular bus timetable
Schedule more buses to sports venues on the weekends
Ensure buses run on time
Provide a discount ticket system for sports participants
Provide buses that go specifically to sports arenas
Provide free parking at sports arenas
19. Ensure Children Afraid to Attend Extracurricular Programs Alone Are Accompanied
by Friends, Parents, or Other Trusted Members of the Community
20. Ensure More Assistance Is Given to Youth Learning a Sport for the First Time to
Minimize or Avoid Embarrassment
27
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
21. Ensure Youth Are Not Discouraged by Cultural Norms

Is there a way to minimize the sharing of showers and to maximize privacy in the
showers and changing rooms?
22. Consider the Need and Possibility of Obtaining Sportswear for Participating Youth

2.2
Are there any local businesses willing to offer support?
How to Develop a Focused Program
1. Clearly Delineate the Program Mission and Goals for Youth and Colleagues
The mission and goals should be clear enough that the following questions are
answered:

What is the goal of the organization’s program?
o To teach skills?
o To aid in the acculturation process?
o To merely give the children a welcoming place to play?

What structure (i.e., highly organized, moderately organized, or loosely organized)
would be most beneficial in achieving the program’s goal?
o Is it a mix of ages and genders?

Does the program focus on one culture or does it aspire to be multicultural?
o The goal of the program must be explicit and all service providers’ actions
must move in accordance with the organization’s methodology and goal
o The benefits and detriments of each program type should be explored before
implementation, for example, recreation or leisure program coordinators should
know that programs for youth from one country or region can increase pride in
a specific bicultural identity. Coordinators should, however, remain aware of
the suggestion by Donnelly and Coakley (2002), who state that “programs
targeted to specific populations are less likely to have social inclusion effects
than those which bring together children and youth from different
backgrounds”
2. Introduce New Elements to Revitalize Existing Programs

Take advantage of the fact that immigrant youth have a high interest in sports that
they used to engage in before they left their home countries. For example, soccer is
conducive to attracting immigrant and refugee youth, which is essential to creating
28
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
a successful program (Walker and Shoultz, 1998). Why soccer? Because soccer
o Is a global sport: the World Cup is the most watched sport in the world
o Is now the most popular sport for boys and girls under the age of 14 in Canada
(Kremarik, 2000)
o Can be played with little equipment. Any ball about 8” in diameter will do and
children can wear their sneakers and use virtually any object, such as sticks for
goals if the object is to keep score. Children may need warm clothing if they
are playing outside, but other special gear is not necessary
o Is easy to learn, which makes it appropriate for a wide range of age and ability
levels
o Can be played informally with a single player or with up to 22 players in a
formal match
o Can be played indoors or outdoors
After four months administering the recreation program “Soccer in the Streets” for
a group of at-risk children in Atlanta, “incidents of non-compliance and defiance
towards adults experienced a 75% decline, peer conflict among the kids decreased
by 81%, and an astonishing growth of 55% was accounted for in teamwork" and
the program could be credited with helping keep youth “away from unhealthy
behaviour, such as drug use and participation in gangs, and towards a better
education, career, and healthier lifestyle” (Soccer in the Streets, 2003).
Canadian interest in soccer will increase as we host the world’s biggest youth
tournament, the FIFA World Youth Championship, in 2007 and, as a result, there
may be increased opportunities for corporate partnerships and sponsorships of local
soccer initiatives.
Currently there are competitive and non-competitive youth leagues throughout
Ontario, but there is no coordinated, year-round, non-competitive soccer program
in Ontario that is specifically designed for immigrant and refugee youth.

Other examples of sports to incorporate are
o Cricket
o Basketball
o Netball
o Other sports with historic significance to immigrant youth
In an OCASI-facilitated youth discussion held in June 2005 at the Driftwood
Community Centre, immigrant youth listed a wide range of sports and recreation
activities. Young girls included activities such as “skipping ball.” While soccer is
an important sport of interest for countless children, many immigrant youth come
from countries where other sports predominate. It was stated in the focus groups
that youth from India, for example, have an interest in learning and playing cricket,
as this was a predominant sport in their home country, and those who came to
Canada when they were older view it with a degree of nostalgia. Like soccer, this is
29
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
a sport that can be of interest in centres that are frequented by youth from India, the
United Kingdom, and other regions where cricket is popular. Similar consideration
can be given to other world sports, such as basketball, netball, etc. Girls from many
African countries used to play netball in school as part of their school schedule.
Team sports include the following benefits: physical fitness, coordination,
increased communication, and sportspersonship development.
3. Integrate Leadership Activities into New or Existing Program Structures
2.3
How to Develop an Inclusive Program
1. Refine the Process Using Tools that Enhance Inclusion
From the literature review and focus groups, some tools for facilitating the
development of an inclusive program include the following:




Brainstorming
Researching
Planning and taking action
Evaluation and recognition
For example, to determine if and why an element should be introduced as a stand alone
element or in combination with other elements or features, American Sports Data, Inc.
suggests asking such questions as:


How will the introduction of soccer or netball positively impact the community we
wish to serve?
What level of soccer or netball program do we want to create?
Furthermore, as evidenced in some of the focus group discussions, there is some
speculation that potential funding partners of sports and recreation programs view
sports and recreation for immigrants and refugees as important in themselves, and not
as an essential part of the settlement process.
2. Balance the Mental and the Physical
When programming for immigrant youth, there is a need to balance mental and
physical health; current and future academic success; future leadership; and
enhancement of children’s settlement in Canada. Resources, such as the Community
Toolbox website, and reports such as the Building Sustainable Non-Profit outline
general strategies to improve a community development organization’s methods with
respect to strengthening organizational culture, planning and leadership, relationships
and partnerships, and organizational relevance. A summary of their proposed steps
includes the following strategies:
30
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth






OCASI Report 2006
Complete initial brainstorming sessions
Convene a planning team
Research the existing community programs for immigrant youth (what makes them
work well or poorly)
Develop relevant outreach strategies by making connections with individuals or
preliminary partner organizations
o refugee and immigrant groups
o general or immigrant-specific, community-based organizations
o municipal or provincial government departments and agencies
o business associations
o faith-based organizations
o neighbourhood organizations
o social service providers, or school administrators
Research possible funding partners (larger funding partners could cover operating
costs while smaller funding partners could provide equipment)
Research what youth, parents, and the larger community want in the program. For
youth, several methods can be used to obtain this information:
o Surveys, interviews, and internet discussions
o Word of mouth and comments and suggestions boxes
o Informal group methods: postcards.
o Formal group methods: youth reference groups, youth peer consultations,
writing letters to young people’s organizations seeking advice
Are their desires congruous with brainstorming outcomes?
o Develop a method to maintain and retrieve records of youth preferences and
performance
o Research and develop consistent and concrete outreach strategies
o Invite parents to assist in planning, building, and administering the program
o Discuss what skills they want their children to learn as a result of the
recreational activity
o Answer questions about the brainstorming session and benefits of soccer and
recreation
At this stage, the document entitled Together with Youth: Planning Recreation
Services for Youth-at-Risk recommends outlining the findings of the brainstorming
process in a report:
i. Needs assessment process
a. How the effort began
b. Planning and implementation
c. Problems that occurred and solutions used
d. Type and sources of information collected
ii. Scope of needs assessment
a. Population, geographic area, special needs and groups
31
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
b. Organizations surveyed or involved
c. Inventory of programs and services currently provided
iii. Results of needs assessment
a. Community perception of issues and needs
b. Immigrant youth perception of issues and needs
c. Summary of issues, gaps in service and opportunities
d. Human and financial resources available
e. Recommendations for action (next steps)
f. Timeline is set for instituting the program
3. Planning and Action

Design the program and action plan incorporating insights, research, and
experience to outline steps and timeline in order to bring the project to realization
and achieve important outcomes:
o Goals ― outcomes you expect to achieve
o Objectives ― what needs to happen in order to achieve the goals
o Strategies ― how the objectives will be met

Conduct a staff audit to see if the staff is the necessary size and has the necessary
qualifications and qualities to carry out the program
o Should the program be supplemented with specialized volunteers from the local
community, desired age cohort, or target group?
o Can staff or volunteers receive training to supplement their existing skills or to
acquire the requisite skills, or are they sufficiently competent and committed to
the program?

Seek partnerships with and commitments from organizations to strengthen the
program’s areas of weakness:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Organize meetings, functions, picnics with agencies involved in youth issues
Examine the elements of the partnerships or collaborations
Ensure broad-based representation
Foster mutual respect
Agree to share resources
Ensure equality among partners
Identify mutual needs and interests
Reward cooperation
Create effective group process with clear ground rules and guidelines
Promote shared ownership and commitment by all participants
Develop open communication among collaborators
Develop clearly defined mutual goals and objectives
32
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth

Create a youth advisory group

Maximize youth engagement and participation by ensuring
OCASI Report 2006
o Youth outreach and retention strategies are outlined and initiated
o Activities appeal to young people, creating both a demand to get into programs
and compelling reasons to stay in them long enough to benefit and achieve
benchmarks
o Opportunities are created for young people to participate in the decisionmaking process in order to develop leadership skills

To give youth a voice the program could be structured so that
o Youth give constructive feedback to each other
Example: Time is built into drills and practices for feedback
o Youth share feedback about coaches and the program
Example: Coaches listen to players’ input and then incorporate their
suggestions

To give youth a choice ensure that
o Young people are involved in organizational decision making
Example: Older youth can help interview staff, and children can help decide on
the end of the season celebration
o Youth help decide how practice is run
Example: Youth can select their favourite drills and activities
o Coaches consult youth in decisions around strategy and team performance

To give youth leadership skills and roles try ensuring that
o Coaches create leadership opportunities for young people of all ages
Example: Children help distribute equipment or supplies
Youth help lead practices and drills
Teens help officiate
o Children and youth are given opportunities to give back to their programs
Example: Coaches schedule field and gym clean-up days
Teens coach younger players
Older youth are hired as program staff
References: Community Toolbox (http://ctb.ku.edu/) and Building Sustainable Non-Profits
(http://www.socialplanningcouncil-cnd.org/pdfs/sustainability_final.pdf)
33
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
2.4
OCASI Report 2006
Additional Recommendations
Facilities for Younger Children
Studies have shown that younger children are involved in family activities more than those
in their teens (Stodolska, 2004). Opportunities should exist for groups of immigrant
parents and for their young children as well to bond through sports, recreation, or leisure.
Combining Efforts
In 1997 Tirone identified small towns and cities in Ontario where families occasionally
joined forces and rented space at recreation facilities to engage in sports.
Special on Youth Leadership
In his 1992 book, Children’s Participation: the Theory and Practice of Involving Young
Citizens in Community Development, Roger Hart outlined the following eight degrees of
participation for young people:
1. Youth-initiated and shared decisions with adults
Projects or programs are initiated by young people and decision making is shared
between young people and adults. These projects empower young people while at
the same time enabling them to access and learn from the life experience and
expertise of adults.
2. Youth-initiated and directed
Young people initiate and direct a project or program. Adults are involved only in a
supportive role.
3. Adult-initiated and shared decisions with young people
Projects or programs are initiated by adults but the decision making is shared with
the young people.
4. Consulted and informed
Young people give advice on projects or programs designed and run by adults. The
young people are informed about how their input will be used and the outcomes of
the decisions made by adults.
5. Assigned but informed
Young people are assigned a specific role and informed about how and why they
are being involved.
6. Tokenism
Young people appear to be given a voice, but in fact have little or no choice about
what they do or how they participate.
34
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
7. Decoration
Young people are used to help or "bolster" a cause in a relatively indirect way
although adults do not pretend that the cause is inspired by young people.
8. Manipulation
Adults use young people to support causes and pretend that the causes are inspired
by young people.
According to Hart, the organization, its partners, and its clients must decide what type of
leadership role is best. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling into a participation style out
of short-term convenience (e.g., manipulation) rather than long-term growth. Once this is
done, the organization can then tailor their leadership development training to fit their
needs of short-term, developmental, or consultative participation. If the recreation or
sports program is one that is unstructured or moderately structured, such as a drop-in
program with minimum time commitments, age-appropriate leadership activities can be
intertwined with the program in the following ways:

Ensure hands-on involvement at all programmatic levels such as outreach,
planning, budgeting, implementing, and evaluating programs, and giving
opportunities to solve problems and use reasoning skills to the benefit of the
program and organization

Offer varied, progressive leadership roles for youth at the small group, large group,
event, and program levels

Develop opportunities to educate others on community and program values and
history

Provide multiple, consistent opportunities to develop and practice leadership skills;
remember to treat young people as equals; and be prepared to provide continual
resources and training to help them succeed in projects or tasks
More comprehensive literature on challenges that youth and service providers face and more
literature relating to recommended solutions can be obtained from the OCASI Provisional Model.
Below is a quick checklist that is also delineated in the Provisional Model.
35
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
2.5
OCASI Report 2006
Proposed Sports Model Checklist Developed from the Provisional Model and Focus
Groups
PROPOSED SPORT MODEL CHECKLIST*
Before the launch of your organization’s program, the following checklist can be utilized to
ensure inclusion of the salient aspects of the model:

















Educate youth, parents, and the community on the benefits of sports and recreation
(including mental health benefits, cognitive development, etc.)
Discuss the challenges with youth, parents, and community members and discuss ways
to minimize barriers (e.g., participation costs, time constraints, location, parental
consent, gender issues, suitability of the activities, and discrimination and racism)
Involve parents and interested community members
Affirm the desires of program participants
Articulate the program mission and goals
Develop strategies to effectively involve and train youth to participate at different levels
Provide awareness training for other settlement staff (e.g., the need for their assistance
in educating the youth and parents they encounter in their settlement work)
Develop strategies to work with partners (e.g., OCASI member agencies, other
immigrant-serving organizations, including youth-serving organizations, such as the
YMCA and Boys & Girls clubs)
Emphasize staff and volunteer recruitment and appropriate training of staff and
volunteers.
Emphasize outreach (e.g., focus on schools, local faith communities, local ethnic press,
parents, and youth; and train and involve youth leaders)
Collaborate with other organizations that have contact with immigrant youth and
immigrant parents. First educate or review with these organizations the benefits of
sharing resources and then obtain a commitment to work collaboratively
Consider space availability. Can the activity be done with partners who have the space?
Consider the need and possibility of obtaining sportswear for participating youth. Can
local businesses assist?
Ensure that youth are not discouraged from participating because of cultural norms. For
example, is there a way to minimize sharing of showers and maximize privacy in the
showers and changing rooms in facilities that have these features?
Provide assistance to youth who are learning a sport for the first time to avoid or
minimize embarrassment
Ensure that there are varied activities, including activities for girls
Ensure that children who are afraid to go alone to extracurricular programs are
accompanied by friends, parents, or other trusted members of the community
*Checklist developed from the first phase of the OCASI research
36
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
3.0 Outcomes of the Feasibility Study
The feasibility study, undertaken during the period April 2005 to June 2006, involved taking some
of the attributes outlined in the Provisional Model, as explained above, and testing them to see if
they were practical and effective in terms of increasing immigrant and refugee youth participation
in sports and recreation. In some cases, the testing involved observing the impact of new
elements, for example, introduction of soccer to an existing program, while in other cases, it
entailed highlighting and accentuating existing elements, such as collaboration, and noting the
impact on an existing program.
3.1 Feasibility Study Centres
The three feasibility study centres in which the testing occurred were the Summer Youth Program
in Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO), directed by Wali Farah; the
youth program at Settlement Integration Services Organization (SISO) in Hamilton, led by Llyod
Kibaara; and the COSTI Athletics Program in Toronto, spearheaded by Craig Blackman. These
organizations sought to address the sports and physical activity needs of the immigrant and
refugee youth community, with the understanding that these activities would enhance their mental
and physical health as well as contribute to 1) their settlement and integration process, 2) a healthy
lifestyle, and 3) increasing their community and societal participation. The three organizations
wanted to remove barriers to participation in sports and recreation programs for immigrant and
refugee youth.
3.2 Elements of the OCASI Provisional Model Selected for Study by the Feasibility Study
Centres
The three feasibility study centres selected the elements to be studied after reviewing the
extensive barriers identified in the OCASI Provisional Model, including the following: programs
lacking age, gender, or cultural sensitivity; transportation issues; insufficient outreach to target
communities; lack of inter-agency collaboration and partnerships (which could prove invaluable
for obtaining access to facilities and vital related resources); lack of youth empowerment (e.g., not
involving youth in program planning); and absence of needs assessments.
The OCASI Inclusive Recreation Model for Immigrant and Refugee Youth made
recommendations for improving programming, some of which follow:





Introduce new or enhance existing features
Strengthen collaborative relationships with other organizations that serve newcomer youth
Combine educational and recreational activities
Introduce new sports that are more attractive to specific immigrant youth communities
with a view to increasing participation of youth in sports and recreation
Develop a plan of action to address barriers and other access issues already identified in
the different studies, including those identified in the Provisional Model
37
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Improvements in programming for immigrant and refugee youth may lead to higher participation
levels because such improvements generally include better community outreach and more
attractive programs.
The key features tested for feasibility at the three centres were selected from the numerous
recommendations outlined in the Provisional Model. The Youth Project at the Ottawa Community
Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) selected the following elements for testing:








Keep the Focus on Education
Take maximum advantage of parents' preference for educational activities by combining
education with sports and recreation activities
Improve public education and outreach to target communities
Develop or improve collaborative relationships with community associations and
stakeholders
Increase youth involvement in the community education process and the decision-making
process regarding the education, sports, and recreation activities to be offered utilizing a
pre-activity needs assessment and a post-activity evaluation
Strengthen intra-agency structures
Involve youth in planning and encourage youth leadership in the area of programming
Enhance volunteer training
The Settlement Integration Services Organization (SISO) in Hamilton selected the following
elements for testing:







Introduce sports and recreation activities that are preferred by immigrant children because
of their familiarity and combine these with new North American programs
Improve the process of recruiting and training of volunteers
Maintain the interest of organizations that provide sports and recreation programs
Increase collaboration with other immigrant and refugee youth oriented agencies
Increase collaboration with relevant mainstream organizations, other community members,
and stakeholders
Improve youth empowerment programming
Promote public education
The Youth Athletics program at COSTI in Toronto selected the following elements for testing:





Develop programs that youth and parents perceive as having value in society
Involve parents
Involve partners
Provide leadership skills to youth
Provide coaching skills to youth, parents and volunteers
38
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
3.3
OCASI Report 2006
The Objectives of the Three Testing Centres and Characteristics of the Features
Studied by the Centres
The stated objective of the three testing centres was to balance the needs of a diverse group of
service providers throughout Ontario. In light of the Feasibility Study outcomes and the
observations of researchers and practitioners, the three centres were also committed to
contributing to the development of a successful sports and recreation model. Such a program must
be








Inclusive (discrimination-free and culturally sensitive)
Inexpensive
Conveniently located
Age and gender appropriate
Community based
Flexible
Collaborative
Empowering
From the outset, the three testing coordinators saw leadership and leadership training for
immigrant and refugee youth as a vital element in sports and recreation programs. This was in
concurrence with the findings from the literature review.
3.3.1 The Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO)
Background
The Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) Youth Summer Program is
coordinated by Wali Farah. The program was initially set up to help newcomer children learn
English as a Second Language (ESL). Over the years, OCISO staff combined ESL with other
activities and, more recently, OCISO has achieved a greater balance between education and sports
and recreation. As newcomer parents tend to place greater importance on education and ESL for
their children and less on sports and recreation, OCISO developed a program that started as ESL,
evolved to include youth leadership and recreation, and finally incorporated sports skills
development. The overall aim was to improve the self-confidence and self-esteem of newcomer
youth, as a way of helping with their settlement and integration, and to enhance their education.
The program has been funded by the United Way for ten years and the City of Ottawa has
contributed funding over the past three years. The Ottawa School Board has always been
supportive: they have contributed the use of facilities that include classrooms, gymnasiums, and
an outdoor playground.
The program targets newcomer youth who are in the ESL program. If they are new, but not in the
ESL program, they cannot be admitted to the OCISO summer program since an ESL teacher has
39
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
to refer participants. The program provides skills development due to the participants’
vulnerability. In school, their English language skills are limited, and they make easy targets for
bullies. The program aims to help them build confidence in their English language skills during
the summer months and to increase their self-esteem through recreation and sports skills
development.
The parents are new and focused on other priorities, so the project is geared
to giving confidence to the kids. The focus is not on just having fun but on
developing skills, such as skills in volleyball or basketball. The girls, in
particular, need to acquire those skills.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Citizenship and Immigration Canada Funding
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) granted approval to allow one of the Immigrant
Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP) staff coordinate the program: this was an important
step.
One cannot achieve integration if the kids are not participating in all the
community events and activities in their new country. Now we do not have
to look for special funding for coordination. So, all the money we get from
the United Way is used for the supplies and the equipment that we need.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
At the time of the research, the CIC funding had been made available for three years.
Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion Funding
For the first time, because of this OCASI research that enabled us to focus
very strongly on aspects of an effective model and that made us put even
more emphasis on incorporating and building more sport and recreation
skills, we got funding this year from the Ministry of Health Promotion. We
used information from this research plus our ten years of experience to
show how children were falling into the cracks.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Implementing Aspects of the OCASI Provisional Model
The OCISO Program Coordinator explained that the aspects of the OCASI Provisional Model that
they were implementing involved strengthening the combination of ESL with sports and
recreation skills development, including arts and other skills that are related to activities in which
children can engage during the summer months.
Testing Elements of the OCASI Provisional Model
40
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
The idea of balancing sports and recreation programs with existing education programs was
decided upon by OCISO in 2002. Prior to 2002, although some recreational activities were
organized, the main focus was on educational activities. With respect to recreation and sports, the
focus was to be on skills development rather than simply the provision of activities. The objective
had become to enable youth to develop some skills by the time they left the program:
The goal was to assist those new kids that do not have language skills to use
the acquired sport and recreation and other skills to connect with other kids.
Meanwhile, we would continue to improve the much needed language
skills.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
OCISO youth program staff see sports and recreation as an important vehicle to integration,
enabling youth to make friends, learn socialization skills, and practice their language skills. They
also see sports and recreation as a way to build character in individuals, a factor that is important
in helping them feel more confident, to develop positive social experiences at school, and be less
engaged in destructive activities, including drug and youth gang activity. For them, sports and
recreation are not simply leisure activities. However, a key challenge has been parents’
perceptions of the role of sports and recreation in their children’s chances for success at school.
Immigrant parents tend to focus solely on academic success and for many parents sports and
recreation play a minimal role, if any. The challenge for the OCISO youth program staff has been
a question of how to change this perception to one that is more accepting of the benefits of sports
and recreation in the context of settlement.
Keeping the Focus on Education: Focusing the Public Education Message
When testing the combined sports and recreation and education element of the OCASI Provisional
Model, the OCISO strategy was to focus on public education: a vigorous campaign was planned
to raise community awareness of education. OCISO emphasized their commitment to the
provision of a good education to the children of immigrant and refugee parents. All OCISO
activities are to enhance, or are in addition to, that goal.
Emphasis was on the fact that we were going to help achieve the parents’
education goal, and on the fact that all else was additional. Subsequently, the
parents have come out to support our program, especially with respect to girls.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Working with Youth, Parents, and the Community
Recognizing the important role that sports and recreation play in improving learning ability,
including improving the language skills that are key in attaining academic success, OCISO youth
program staff and volunteers designed a strategy for working with the youth and community that
involved facilitating more meetings with community members, during which an improved and
more focused message on children’s education was to be delivered. Parents were encouraged to
send their children to the summer activities because of their education value.
41
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
The parents are educated on the fact that, not only are the kids learning
recreation and sports skills, but that they are also learning English. So they
know that their kids need to learn English, and that we have a program
called English as a Second Language (ESL).
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
In addition, parents were informed that, along with ESL, the OCISO summer program also aimed
to increase knowledge in other subjects, and OCISO also organized other activities to help youth
practice their English skills in order to help the children get ahead in their education.
Improving Sports and Recreation Needs Assessment and Boosting Youth Involvement in Decision
Making
The strategy entailed involving the youth much more in decision making with respect to the wide
array of programs and activities to be offered, partly through a pre-activity needs assessment and
through a post-activity evaluation. The Youth Committee was instrumental in bringing
suggestions and making decisions relating to programming. The coordinator stressed the efforts
relating to youth and community involvement as part of the feasibility study:
This year we had a form that each student had to complete. We involved
them by asking them what type of sports activity they wished to participate
in so that it is not us merely allocating youth to a sport. We asked them
prior to the program to tell us their choice. At the end of the program we
made them complete another form evaluating the program. We asked them
to tell us what they had learned and what should be changed.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Increased Meetings with Parents and Community Associations
The coordinator also stressed that they held many meetings within the community.
We met with the parents apart from the meetings that we had with
community associations. We emphasized ESL and education. ESL and
other educational activities are the hook. More parents that are not usually
inclined to send their children to sports and recreation activities are now
seeing value in them. They are now sending their youth for the program as
an entity due to the way we have integrated education with sports and
recreation elements.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
According to the OCISO youth program coordinator, in order to boost the participation levels of
youth in sports and recreation, “developing strategies for working with youth and with the
community has to be done.”
42
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Programming, Rather than Talking about the Program
The program coordinator emphasized that, while they strengthened community outreach, focused
the message on education, and boosted youth involvement in decision making, they geared their
programming towards providing a wide array of both education and sports and recreation
activities:
We wanted the activities to speak for themselves. Some communities may
not see that sports and recreation are as important as straightforward
education in the classrooms. So, instead of lecturing them on the virtues of
having girls play in sports, we find it is better to practically show how sport
is done and how it is important by providing the opportunity and helping to
provide a sports or recreation activity for the girls. Parents start to develop a
certain measure of confidence and to buy into the program once they realize
that the program is well organized, structured, and comprehensive. The
parents enrol the children – the girls – to participate in all these activities,
and then they observe the girls taking part in them. They see it for
themselves that we respect the girls by separating the girls from the boys
and, at the end of the day, the girls get the freedom to play in sports.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Strengthening Sports and Recreation and Educational Activities
On OCISO’s part, testing the concept of combining sports and recreation activities with
educational activities entailed making an effort to strengthen both the sports and recreation
elements as well as the education side of the program, while at the same time making an effort to
strengthen public education and increase mobilization of community support in order to be able to
observe the impact on youth participation and on parental support.
According to the OCISO youth program coordinator, enhancing the quantity and quality of sports
and recreation activities as well as strengthening the education activities, including literaturerelated activities, has been instrumental in achieving the objective of encouraging parents to send
youth for recreation activities.
Respecting Different Cultural Norms to Lessen the Anxiety of Parents
The OCISO youth program coordinator explained that their program recognizes the fact that
some parents are reluctant to send children to recreation and sports activities due to the cultural
practices in their countries of origin. According to them, in most of their activities, girls are
separated from boys:
In soccer, for example, because of the cultural reasons, when they are little
we do not separate them, but when they are, for example, high school age,
we separate them. We have enough girls to make teams and we ask them
what sports they wish to take. They often choose basketball, volleyball and
some soccer. Kids are coming from a number of different backgrounds and
43
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
countries, so it is a mixture of different approaches. For us the safest way
and the most effective way is to make sure that girls and boys do sports
activities side by side but currently we do not mix them. Of the 150 kids,
over 50% are girls. We have now added a Francophone component to make
it easier for them. This will include about 50 students so it will be 150 plus
the 50 Francophones.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Strengthening Internal Structures and Ensuring Staff Development within OCISO
While the literature has not emphasized the power of organizational structure and the key role of
the organization’s executive directors, the OCISO youth program coordinator places importance
on organizational structure and organizational leadership. In OCISO’s case, he emphasized that
the structure and leadership allowed him and his team to function in a flexible and creative way.
This enabled the program to become dynamic, and it facilitated making the changes necessary to
implement the elements suggested in the OCASI inclusive model.
At OCISO, the E.D.’s involvement has been essential. If Executive
Directors don’t get involved and engaged, you cannot do it. Different
agencies use different models and I cannot speak for other agencies. Here,
in OCISO, each manager is independent and they are able to propose what
they want to do and to convince the rest of the management team. And if
everyone agrees, then that manager is responsible, and, whatever it takes,
they will do it. And there is no problem as long as everyone agreed.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Stressing the importance of internal structures and organizational staff to the success of any youth
sports and recreation program, the OCISO youth program coordinator expressed:
This is a very essential element. If you want to deliver a significant part of a
program like this one, you have to have everyone from the Executive
Director to frontline worker buying in. You have to have a structure. At
OCISO now we have a structure. We have the agency volunteer coordinator
involved in recruiting volunteers that work with the youth program. My
own program takes charge of delivering the program in which all the staff
are fully engaged. They participate in the recruitment of the volunteers and
in training them. Our program works with the volunteer coordinator. In
terms of hiring staff, for example, the coaches, that is the responsibility of
the program. To emphasize the staff and volunteer recruitment and to
emphasize volunteer training and staff training and the colleagues’ interest
in the program — all of the three are very crucial. The Executive Director
has to buy in and then assign one of the managers to take charge. Some
executive directors do not have an interest, or are obstructive, when it
comes to change
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
44
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Developing Strategies for Working with Funding Partners and Other Organizations
The essential nature of working with funding partners was stressed as follows:
It is not only important but it is essential. You cannot do without it. For that
reason, we partnered with a number of organizations either seeking funds
from them or seeking in-kind contributions. When it comes to space, for
example, we always partner with the School Board to provide one of the
schools in summer to accomplish the activities. We also ask the city to avail
the playground. Otherwise there is no place for them to play, for example,
baseball or soccer. Other organizations include art organizations, including
theatre groups. In Ottawa we have a number of theatre groups that are
community-based organizations that help us. They come in and do a play
and teach kids how to do a play. We take the kids to places where they
participate in recreational activities, including literature-related activities. In
this way, we achieve the objective of combining education with recreational
and sports skills development.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Collaboration with Other Organizations and Agencies Serving Immigrants
Like SISO in Hamilton, the OCISO program in Ottawa puts emphasis on collaboration with other
organizations and agencies. Much of the collaboration that they have been trying to boost as part
of the feasibility testing of the OCASI model is with the new immigrant communities. The
process that the OCISO staff followed is described by the youth program coordinator:
First educate and then review with the organizations in question the benefit,
and then obtain commitment, with respect to outreach and public education,
and with regard to sharing.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Collaboration with New Immigrant Communities through Alliances with Community Associations
With respect to the strategy used to develop collaboration with immigrant communities, the
coordinator explained
We sat down with immigrant community associations and explained what
we were doing or what we were trying to do and how. We informed them
that, with their help and with their commitment, we would be able to
expand their work as well as OCISO’s work to benefit the new
communities. Very importantly, the success of the work would attract more
funders in future. We met with, among others, Congolese, Spanish,
Sudanese, Somali communities. Those were major ones. We have been
trying to make sure that they are fully engaged in this process and the
people that we can recruit from them.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
45
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Among the many advantages of collaboration with the communities is the fact that, apart from
taking advantage to undertake public education and to promote the programs, the communities
have non-financial resources, such as coaches.
This year we are contacting sports associations to help us with the
recruitment of the best coaches, for instance. The communities do not have
money or many other resources, and they have a lot of challenges. But they
have coaches. They have people who know this stuff. At the same time, no
one has programmed activities in the fashion in which we have
programmed them. We have said to the associations, ‘if we collaborate in
this approach in which we combine sports with other educational stuff, and
if we all participate, then, in the coming years, we shall have less
challenges related to funding if we show success within the affected
communities’. We have had meetings with grassroots community
organizations and with the affected immigrant community associations for
purposes of consulting on aspects that include their expertise, the needs in
the community, and with regard to children that need to participate. We
also get guest speakers from a number of organizations in areas such as
career development. We contact organizations for other essentials.
(OCISO Youth Program Coordinator)
Collaboration with Mainstream Organizations and Associations: Bringing together the Immigrant
and Sports and Education Sectors
Staff from the OCISO program worked hard to collaborate with mainstream organizations and
associations in the Ottawa area. According to the program coordinator,
We approached mainstream sports associations to help us with the
recruitment of additional coaches, with used equipment, and with other inkind assistance. The Ministry of Health Promotion expects us to take that
kind of initiative. The immigrant-serving agency has to take the initiative to
facilitate the achievement of goals relating to new communities, including
the goal of improving education outcomes of newcomer children. In
Ottawa, there are a number of immigrant-serving agencies. Even though
they do some integration work, and even though small immigrant
associations are also doing some activities here and there in their
communities, most are not consistent due to a variety of challenges.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Indeed, in terms of programs across the board, OCISO has taken the initiative to provide a
summer program each year that combines education with sports and recreation activities.
This is bringing together the immigrant community, volunteers, and the sports, education
and arts sectors in their programming.
46
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
In Ottawa, we are the only agency that is doing this type of program.
Mainstream organizations do sports and other activities; however, we are
the only organization that focuses on the combination of sports with these
other educational activities. Eventually, we will have to convince others to
take our approach. But, for now, everyone is relying on us.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Working with a Program Performance Management Framework
The coordinator emphasized the importance of developing an operational framework to ensure
that all the program elements are accomplished on time particularly since the summer is a very
short period for that number of activities to be accomplished. The program should explicate the
goals and activities, and it should ensure pre- and post-program evaluation by youth. The
framework will ensure that program implementation is not haphazard.
Space Availability and Proximity to Youth
An observation made by the OCISO youth program related to the availability of space for youth
programs. While an all-year program is challenging, the fact that the OCISO program was a
summer program eased potential space constraints.
It can be done. If it is year round, it is another matter. For us, the best place
is at the schools. Indeed, the schools should support something like this
because the kids are coming from their schools. The traditional recreational
centres such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls clubs that offer sports and
recreation may be far from some of the kids. For newcomers, it is really
crucial that we partner with and ask for space from the schools. They
should provide us that because the schools are close to the kids and they
have the classrooms, they have the field for play, and they have lockers for
the kids. So, it is doable and we have been partnering with the schools for
ten years. They have always provided the space for free for us as an in-kind
contribution. With other agencies, like traditional sports agencies, it may
not be easy and besides it might not be that effective because of the
distance. Schools are everywhere, but these sites for clubs or associations
are not everywhere. They are located in specific areas in the city. City-run
community recreation centres are another possibility but, again, they are
used by everybody and they usually charge fees, and it might be an
impediment finding the right timing. So, with respect to newcomer
immigrant children, the schools are the most accessible sites, especially
when an immigrant-serving agency wants to run the program or to create a
tailored program.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
47
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Asked how important is it to advocate for immigrant youth recreation and sports funding, the
OCISO youth program coordinator stated,
I think it is a must. It is very important. Without funding, no one can do
anything. For the immigrant families, their utmost priority is settling and
finding a job, taking the kids to school. Enrolling them in sports is…not the
number one priority. In addition, accessibility has usually to do with
money. Most sports clubs and associations charge a user fee. That fee
cannot be afforded by many of the newcomer families. To assist those
families, they have to subsidize the fees at those associations. The easiest
way is to fund more appropriate programs for those immigrant kids. If you
are new to the country, you have no job and you have three or four kids,
you have to make choices. Even those working may not afford. So, funding
has to be available, and I think it is important to bring the communities
together so that they can advocate together for more funding. When we
show the immigrant communities that this can be done, then they can come
together to put pressure on the local authorities to address the issue. It is
crucial. No doubt about it. Also, once the community sees the result, it is
easier. Even the funders, if they first see results. Our program has been
there for ten years. In those ten years, we have shown what we can do. It
really matters for funders because they have to look at the history and are
excited about the progress made. Many of the small associations and small
communities do not have the luxury to create a history to show what they
can do or what they have done and to wait that long. That is why
immigrant-serving agencies, such as OCASI and others, who are already
there, should advocate to immigrant youth recreation and sports services.
(OCISO Program Coordinator)
Gaps in the Literature from the Perspective of OCISO Staff
The OCISO program staff observed that in the literature not enough emphasis has been given to
the role of the executive director of an agency. The program officer may be good, but he or she
will face barriers, if the executive director is not a visionary and stifles creative problem solving.
3.3.2 The Settlement Integration and Settlement Services (SISO) in Hamilton
Background
The Settlement Integration and Settlement Services (SISO) youth sports and recreation program in
Hamilton is coordinated by Lloyd Kibaara. It is not a core program. It is part of the Host Program,
a Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) program that involves matching a newcomer to a
resident.
The local Community Foundation helped start the program through the provision of funding.
While CIC does not give activity money for this particular component, they do pay the salary
under the Host Program.
48
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
The youth program coordinator at SISO observed that, while the Host Program involved matching
a newcomer youth to a resident, simply bringing two youths together and asking them to socialize
with little to do together was not conducive to effective integration. According to the coordinator,
there was a need to support activities for integration to happen.
In accordance with youth culture, [after] bringing a newcomer youth and
another youth and saying to them, “Okay, you are buddies,” [you’ll find
that] very little integration occurs through meetings. But, if there are
activities that they like that can bring them together, then the integration
happens. We figured that just matching kids with kids does not work. It
never does. There must be something they can do together to make it work.
We also determined that there should be something beneficial to the kids.
Apart from the play, there must be something that they can take home.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
The components of the SISO Host youth program includes literacy support, which is comprised of
homework help and a summer reading program for ESL, non-francophone youth. This program is
facilitated in the summer.
Literacy Component
SISO staff accomplishes the summer reading program through a partnership with public libraries.
This is specific for newcomer youth, who are mostly government-sponsored refugees being
relocated to Hamilton. Most have limited English language skills:
We know that they communicate in their first languages when they go
home to their families, and they tend to lose whatever they learned in
school during the year. We do not want them to forget what they learned in
school before the next school year. During the summer we have volunteers
who serve as reading buddies and together they engage in a summer
reading program.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
Sports and Recreation Component
The program also includes an “Integration through Sports and Recreation” component, which
entails involving Host Program youth in group activities. In this component, a recreation activity
segment (a gym activity, or a sport, such as basketball or soccer) during the summer, is perceived
by SISO Host youth program staff as “an opportunity for youth to meet their matches and to have
some way of socializing without being intimidated by a one-on-one interaction with a youth. It
has worked perfectly for that purpose.”
Challenges Related to the Recreation Component
The recreation component is not funded by CIC. The coordinator expressed that
49
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
It is not cheap to run a recreation or sports program. The kids we are talking
about are low income. Buying those soccer shoes is beyond their means.
Last year we got some money to buy the uniforms and the socks and all
they were required to buy for themselves was just a pair of soccer shoes.
But most of them could not even afford that. One hundred and fifty kids,
every one got a full uniform. The only problem was the pair of shoes. And
yet funders are not keen to buy. The funding we received from Tourism and
Recreation would not be able to cover the boots. It was not enough.
(SISO HOST Youth Coordinator)
Integrating Familiar and Popular Sports and Recreation Activities
One of the key attributes of a good sports and recreation program for immigrant and refugee youth
as expounded in the OCASI Provisional Model is the introduction of sports and recreation
activities that are familiar and popular to immigrant youth, such as soccer, basketball, and
volleyball. This was in contrast to the premature introduction of newcomer children to new sports,
such as ice hockey and North American football, that tended to intimidate newcomer youth,
especially in cases where the youth are isolated, homesick, and lack the necessary confidence and
self-esteem to learn a new sport.
It was stipulated in the OCASI Provisional Model of programming for immigrant and refugee
youth that, once the newcomer youth gained entrance to a social circle and gained confidence
through participation in familiar sports, they were more keen to learn new sports activities that
require new skills, such as ice skating or ice hockey, unusual sports for youth who had never seen
snow before arriving in Canada.
In the case of SISO, in the fiscal year 2005–2006, 150 newcomer youth were divided into 10
soccer teams.
Large Number of Volunteers
The large number of volunteers not only required tremendous logistical effort to organize, but it
also required the training, recruitment, and assignation of community volunteer coaches and
referees to ensure smooth coaching of the teams and to prepare youth for the major tournament in
which all the teams were to compete. It was important that, at any one time, there were sufficient
volunteer coaches and volunteer referees to provide the necessary coaching to the different soccer
teams and to referee matches whenever there was competition. Additional volunteers were
necessary to stay on the sides of the field to ensure youth safety.
As stated earlier, apart from this soccer activity which proved very popular to both newcomer
girls and boys, these youth were also involved in summer reading in the library and also involved
in other educational activities that included listening to speakers and engaging in discussion
before going for soccer practice.
50
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Monitoring Youth and Community Interest
SISO youth program staff monitored the level of interest in the activities in order to identify issues
and resources required to effectively implement the new activity. OCASI youth project staff had
several meetings with the SISO Host Youth Program Coordinator and also visited SISO on two
different days. On the first full-day observational visit, OCASI youth project staff witnessed a
motivational presentation to the youth by a medical doctor who was himself an immigrant,
renowned for working with youth who had experienced vicarious trauma. Apart from the
animated discussion, the youth were very impressed by the fact that the doctor had lived in several
countries and spoke many languages, which enabled him to build a very quick rapport with the
group. On this occasion, following the discussion and educational component, the youth
proceeded to practice for the upcoming soccer tournament.
On the second observational visit, OCASI staff attended a full-day soccer tournament that took
place on a Saturday. All the youth were in full uniform and in a competitive spirit. Many parents
were present along with a good number of Canadian residents from the community, many of
whom had stopped by because they were curious about the event. There were also a good number
of coaches and volunteers, some of whom were acting as referees for the games. Since there are
no resources available for the program staff to supply refreshments, some parents brought along
bottled water and some brought food for the youth. There was an air of festivity around the soccer
field. Both girls and boys were playing. Since this was part of the Host program, some Canadianborn youth were also participating in the competition and their parents were present. It was clear
that the occasion was also an opportunity for networking and for socializing among parents and
community members.
According to the SISO Host Youth Program Coordinator, there was no doubt that introduction of
a popular sport attracts a large number of parents and youth, especially if the activity is well
organized. It also helps if the sport is integrated with education activities, such as reading.
However, according to the coordinator, success in this activity requires time, time to recruit and
train volunteers.
Need for Uniforms and Sports Gear
Based on the number of requests from participating youth, it became clear to SISO Youth
Program staff that providing sports gear and uniforms was essential to attracting and retaining the
interest of immigrant and refugee youth in the sport activity.
The children who were provided uniforms for the first time on that day were very emotional and
very happy, and some informed OCASI staff of how it had always been their dream to be in a
soccer uniform. OCASI staff observed an immigrant mother who burst into tears at the sight of
seeing her son for the first time in a soccer uniform. In an interview she revealed how she
appreciated the invitation from SISO Host youth program for her son to participate in soccer. As a
newcomer, she said that she had been totally isolated prior to receiving the call from SISO relating
to the youth activity. She explained that she had attempted to enrol her son in a sports program at
a mainstream organization, but could not because of the cost. In addition, she did not feel “at
51
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
home” in that institution. She expressed that at the SISO events, both she and her son felt at home
because there were “a lot of other immigrants there” and they felt welcome. All the children who
were interviewed in Hamilton were proud of their teams and of their uniforms.
Approximately 50 students were interviewed as they were waiting for their teams to play.
Increasing Collaboration with Funders and Other Organizations
The observations of the SISO youth program staff and volunteers pointed to the need for increased
collaboration with funders. Indeed, one of the elements that SISO youth program staff committed
to testing was to increase collaborative efforts not only with funders but with other settlement and
mainstream organizations.
Strengthening relationships with funders required a conscious decision to provide them and
partner agencies with more information about activities, and to ensure that all contributions
(whether support from funders, organizations or the business community) be given a high profile
to visibly acknowledge their generosity. According to the coordinator, “The most important
development arising out of our taking on 150 kids to give them soccer training, and combining
this with other activities, such as youth discussions, is the awareness within the city. Our program
has become a city-wide kind of a model that has been noticed by mainstream soccer clubs.” With
respect to funding, the coordinator identified how “the CIC now allows such sports and recreation
activities to be reported as supporting activities to the Host Program. However, we now need
money to undertake the activities. That is why we are looking for money.”
The SISO efforts to consciously implement elements from the OCASI Provisional Model and the
literature attracted the attention of the City of Hamilton and of the Hamilton Social Research and
Planning Council. Representatives agreed to be interviewed and to share their experience with
OCASI youth project staff.
The SISO staff stated that during the testing period, they diligently highlighted their activities in
as many forums as they could, actively seeking to work with other organizations and committees
in the city.
What has worked well for us is our relationship with the city. Not a funding
relationship with the city as funders, but with the city as collaborators in the
whole process. The city…started a diversity group that focuses on access to
city facilities, including recreation facilities. We meet once a month with
the Culture and Recreation Department and we discuss access issues,
challenges, and what should be done to attract diverse communities in the
city. In the last year they gave us 50 family swimming passes to introduce
the new arrivals to city facilities.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
52
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Involving Youth in Decision Making
The coordinator underscored the importance of involving youth:
I have a core group of youth, referred to as youth group advisers. Seven of
them come together once every month. They review programming for the
previous month and offer suggestions especially with respect to planning
the actual activities. The structure that comes into core programming is
guided by that core group.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
Challenge of Developing Relationship with Parents
Despite the challenges of involving parents, persisting in inviting parents to participate is still
valued by SISO. It was acknowledged that, due to a variety of constraints that parents face, most
are not able to participate and tend to drop youth off for practice and to pick them up after
practice. It was stated that, to address this challenge, it had been decided that:
This coming year, we have an outreach worker who will be working
specifically as a community builder for twenty hours a week. She or he will
be talking to parents, holding parents’ forums to explain the benefits of
physical activity and how it ties in with other aspects of the integration
process. So we are working on a very different concept of an outreach
worker.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
Training Staff to Make the Environment as Culturally Diverse as Possible
The coordinator explained that, in the Hamilton youth catchment area, there are a lot of refugee
youth who have already been traumatized in other parts of the world before their arrival in
Canada. Subsequently, there is a need for program staff training to ensure that staff is as sensitive
as possible to the emotional needs of youth. Currently, some of the discussions that we have
before soccer practice have to do with vicarious trauma, using doctors who are themselves
immigrants and trained in helping youth. Staff members try to be very sensitive when
programming in order to increase the confidence of youth and to reflect the diverse nature of the
community in terms of the program and its environment:
We are certainly more sensitive than mainstream Canadian recreation
centres. We know that the kid goes to a recreation venue with a mental
predisposition “When I go there, they are going to judge me,” “These
people don’t like me.” If they do not understand what they are saying—the
language barrier—or if the environment does not seem to be generally
friendly, this makes matters worse. Before the kid gets there, he or she is
already traumatized in their mind. So, basically, frontline staff should go
for training.
(SISO Host Youth Coordinator)
53
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Using an Anti-racism, Anti-oppression Framework
In this research, one of the concerns of youth was racism and discrimination at clubs and
recreation centres. Whether this is real or perceived, it was clear to the SISO Youth Program
Coordinator that parents must understand that the institution was operating under an antioppression and anti-racist framework. Making clear that the program would not tolerate any form
of racism or discrimination made youth feel more secure and more at ease in the knowledge that if
an incident occurred, there would always be someone to talk to about it.
SISO Sports and Recreation Program—Summary of Observations and Elements Tested
Over 50 youth in Hamilton were interviewed and over 50 responded to a written questionnaire
relating to the testing of the elements from the OCASI Provisional Model and the implementation
of elements such as introducing soccer. The youth, the program coordinator, and some volunteers
made the following observations:






Taking part in the soccer has made us make a lot of friends and that has encouraged us to
keep coming back
As soccer team members, we have to keep coming to the practices and to the tournaments
because we do not wish to let our team down
Wearing uniforms makes us feel professional
The next step should be to have the whole community come out because we are not just
playing for our little group, and we want all the community to come out and watch us
We are playing for the whole community and we would be willing to distribute flyers and
to go knocking on doors to publicize our events
We want to show off to the community that we are good, not just to our fellow immigrants
SISO Coordinator’s and Program Staff’s Observation on Gaps in the Literature
From the perspective of SISO program staff, even though the literature discusses the important
role of funding partners, it does not delineate the many different ways in which a funding partner
can make a significant contribution, particularly with respect to working in partnership. From their
relationship with the City of Hamilton, SISO knows that funding partners can make a big
difference, especially in small cities that are isolated. The City of Hamilton personnel have been
interested in learning more about programming for immigrant and refugee youth and have had
discussions with OCASI project staff. This is very different from some small cities, where city
staff has not taken such initiatives. The funding partners sometimes can assure continuity of
programming, which is essential for program growth.
54
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
3.3.3 COSTI in Toronto
Description of COSTI Youth Athletics Program
The COSTI Athletics program in Toronto is coordinated by Craig Blackman, who started the
program before he joined COSTI, arising out of his background as a track runner:
I used to run track at national level for a number of years, so I used to do
my project on my own. I brought it to COSTI as a way to engage kids. I
was doing this at Scarborough, which covers a very wide geographical area,
extending from the lake up to the 401 and Pickering. There are
approximately 800,000 people in that area. There are kids hanging out and
doing all kinds of things. What I found was a way to engage them through
sports and thereafter to do the other things. But what was interesting, I got a
number of e-mails, and a lot of single mothers were having a lot of trouble
with their daughters and some were well on the way to being delinquents
because they did not have anything else to do. So I took them.
The program has been expanded to cover one area in the Malvin and Finch
area and there is going to be another one in the Bathurst area. Homework
help will be part of it.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
The COSTI program is a youth immigrant and youth-at-risk program with the emphasis being
initially on sports with auxiliary services. Some are going to be offered to them whether they want
them or not. And others are offered when and if we can offer them.
Implementing Aspects of the OCASI Provisional Model
OCASI staff had several discussions with Craig Blackman and made an observational visit to the
program while the athletics session was in progress. During the visit, OCASI staff took the
opportunity to interact with some of the youth and parents.
Youth Perception of Immediate and Long-term Value of Activities
The COSTI project became very successful, particularly in the year during the study, due to the
the youth perception that the program had value to them in the form of opportunity to go to the
United States for competition; opportunities to get employment through acquired coaching skills;
opportunities to get homework help; and opportunities for general learning through seminars. The
program success was also due to parent and police perception of value in the form of preventing
youth from engaging in destructive activities and of the direct educational benefits from seminars
and from homework help.
This year alone, just from word of mouth, we have had 520 kids go through
the program. It is a ten-month program. I am overwhelmed. Some days
55
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
there are more than others. They are getting something out of it. They are
getting some direction. Some of them want to go to the US. So we are
going to set the homework help, plus a component on how to get
scholarships (who do they contact), and on job finding because COSTI has
this resource. So every Tuesday they will have homework help and we will
just put up the job postings. In other words, now I am going to offer
everything. It is going to be a one stop for the kids. They are going to know
that we are going to have a fun stop, but if you need something else, we
might have it.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
While for the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization’s summer program, ESL is
the feature that attracts parents and youth, for COSTI athletics has the greatest appeal. This is
because “when kids see athletics, they think of Olympic games and so on.”
The COSTI Athletics program and the related seminars and homework help holds special value
for parents and youth because it is an athletics program, which is perceived by many youth in the
target community as having long-term athletics possibilities. Parents and program partners also
view the program as having preventative value in terms of distracting youth from activities that
would be harmful to them.
The Evolution of the COSTI Program
Initial work out and track running
The COSTI program has evolved from the initial track running to youth leadership training
and to training older kids for National Coaching Certification (NCC).
First it was athletics coaching, then the focus shifted to providing
leadership skills, and now we do all kinds of seminars. The
workouts were arranged in two ways: One was just for kids that just
wanted to come and work out.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Involving parents and introducing seminars
Many of the children were accompanied by parents who stayed to watch while the children
were practicing.
They would observe the youth doing activities, and they would talk
to me and to some of the other kids. They could see it was friendly
chat and they were not making dates or something like that. That
was very important. I would say to the parents, “Come and help if
you want.”
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
56
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
According to the Athletics Program coordinator, the workouts were subsequently
shortened and the children, some parents, and the coordinator would have conversations
on topics that were generic in nature.
We talked about Internet safety—how not to be involved in chat
rooms and what to do and what not to do; apartment safety;
nutrition, including sports nutrition and general nutrition; what to
eat, what not to eat; what was good. The kids talked about diet,
drinks and their impact on brain cells. For some of the kids this was
totally new to them.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
The structuring of the conversations with presenters
Regarding the location and changing nature of the talks, the Athletics Program
Coordinator expressed the following:
The conversations occur at the track side. I try to drag in the parents
too and they have been like, “Wow!” We shorten the workout and
we have presenters, for example, the police and the kids participate.
We have done discussions on themes like drug prevention and crime
prevention, and it has worked very well. And the next stage is…
There is a radio station in Toronto, 93.5. It looks like they are going
to be one of our supporters. I am afraid when they describe the
program I am going to be overrun. Kids in the area will be
interested!
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Preparing Youth for Athletics Competitions
The Athletics Program coordinator was excited by the commitment and continuance of youth in
the program:
Pretty much every one of the youth had stayed over a number of years. Through word of
mouth they learned that I worked with girls, and single mothers were thrilled because
they saw the activity as creating a place that they could feel comfortable with. My
youngest is five and the oldest is twenty-four. In track there is the Minor Track
Association 5 to 14, and then there is 14 and up. What was good was that we could have
them train together. Obviously the little kids could not do nearly the same things. But the
thing is that they were together. So the little kids watched the big kids and the big kids
could help.
Some of the youth that train with the COSTI program are prepared to participate at international
events in the U.S. It started as a modest project, but now the youth have requested scholarships to
assist them to go to the U.S. for athletic events:
57
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
We have immigrant kids that are doing fine. I had some kids that are good
and some that are not. And now we have some kids that are really, really
talented, so much so that the kids that are making the standard have been
flown to Pennsylvania for four days by a chocolate company. The company
has flown 27 kids. I have a kid who just went down to New York City—top
six in North America. These kids would never have been discovered. The
kids love it. I am amazed. They come back all the time.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Youth Training and Enhanced Employment Opportunities
As part of the focus on leadership skills, the program sends some of the youth for the National
Coaching Certification (NCC). The Coordinator explained that he does not personally train the
youth as coaches, but prepares them and sends them to the training for certification.
I got them a Level One NCC. This meant that upon completion, the
qualified youth can better help me when I am training other kids on track
running because they actually understand what I am talking about. In
addition, when kids from this program go seeking part-time employment in
Parks and Recreation they are not just regular applicants. When these kids
go there, they already have their certification and so tend to get jobs right
away.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Involving Youth in Decision Making
The COSTI Athletics Program coordinator stressed the importance of involving the youth and
community members in the design of programs. As is the case with the SISO and OCISO
programs, in the COSTI program there is a council comprised of five youth that informs the
coordinator of youth interests and their ideas for the program’s future direction.
They state what they would like to see more or less of. It is how some of
the significant changes came about in the program – helping youth with
homework, scholarships to go to the U.S. and now they say they would like
to do training camps and when I say, “How?,” they say they will do the
fundraising. This was stuff that came from them. We make it clear to the
youth that if they make suggestions they must also get involved in
accomplishing their ideas. They started to make brochures and they have
made a request to see if we can have a website. I’ve talked to our IT people
and they have said they’ll help them, so I am good with it. They say they
want to do certain things; they are prepared to do them. They would like to
make presentations to the class or to sections of the school provided I go.
They are willing to do the presentation provided I am there for support.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
58
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Relationship with Parents
The coordinator pointed that while involving parents was important, there were challenges as
parents and children sometimes provided contradictory advice.
The parents will tell us one thing and the kids will tell us another. “I can’t
wear shorts.” “I can’t wear tights.” You can talk to the parents, but the kids
may not want to do it. At the end of the day, you make the call, but you
need to get their perspective. If the kids don’t like what is being requested
of them, they are not going to come.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
It is important to involve parents at the beginning of the decision-making process to engage them.
Keep them informed of what is going on and see if they have any suggestions. The program tried
to get them involved and it made a difference.
As long as I went to them and said, “I need some direction. What do you
think is the way to do this?” They were prepared to let their child do
whatever you want them to do.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Parents did, however, face a variety of constraints that prevented them from active and consistent
participation.
Partnerships as an Essential Element to Sports and Recreation Programming
The Youth Athletics Program Coordinator noted the importance of partnership in sports and
recreation programming for immigrant and refugee youth. When COSTI finally allowed him to
undertake the activity as a COSTI program, he was given approval to look for partners. In the
COSTI project the first key partners sought were the police. Through this partnership the program
was able to attain resources that became important in sustaining the program.
The police loved it because it was actually one of the few things that
engaged females. There are lots of basketball [programs] for guys and lots
of other stuff, but for the girls….The police liked that, so they started
funding us right away through a program called “Proaction.” I am not sure
if it is province wide. They started off by giving us about $15,000 to do the
program. Then we got the city to give us a permit to use Richmond Stadium
and that is worth about $10,000.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Accessing police resources
Partnering with the Police Department was helpful because the youth now have access to some of
the jobs advertised by the police. This is due to the fact that the COSTI Youth Athletics program
targets the same areas as those targeted by the local police.
59
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
For instance, now they have 100 positions available for the summer.
The police jobs are not sports related at all. They involve positions
like working as a receptionist, or in a motor pool. Applicants have
to be from certain areas of the city, and the youth in my program
come from those same areas and would be eligible to apply. Now
we are going to rush to see if we can get them to apply and to
prepare them for getting into these positions.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
By being in the program, the youth are able to get early information on opportunities and are also
able to get the job search support and assistance needed.
Need for Coaches and Volunteers
The coordinator explained that even though it was clear that popular sports attract youth to enrol
and to stay in sports, the COSTI program does not include other popular activities, such as soccer:
Apart from the Athletics [Program we offer], I could do other sports, but
then I find I would need other coaches. Right now, it is easier because I can
concentrate and specialize. Also I find that in the Toronto community
where I am operating, Athletics has turned out to be the best one for both
girls and boys. If I do basketball, the guys might play, but the girls might
not because they may get intimated by it, which means they would just
stand around. With the current Athletics program, everybody is together.
Where they can’t run together, they can run in twos, two boys, two girls,
going one after the other.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
The coordinator stated that he was going to train a few parents as coaches so that they too can
assist him. In his view
Volunteer recruitment is really crucial. I emphasize volunteer training. I
train them in the basic stuff and if they indicate and show more interest in
being more involved, I give them formal training. To have enough people
to help you, and particularly if they have some skills, is crucial.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
Appeal of COSTI Program’s Age Range
During an observational visit, some parents told OCASI that they preferred the COSTI Athletics
Program to other programs because it accommodates children of all ages. Indeed, the coordinator
explained:
Some clubs only take older kids and some only take younger kids. The
problem is that a parent who has a 9 year old and a 15 year old is not going
to drop off and then pick up the two kids from different tracks. Some don’t
60
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
even drive. That’s why I take both ages in the same place because it is
convenient. Sometimes the parents sit and watch and sometimes they go
and help and that has made a difference to me. Besides, it helps the kids to
get fit.
(COSTI Athletics Program Coordinator)
COSTI Coordinator’s Summary of Important Program Attributes
The coordinator stressed that from his observations the following aspects of the
Provisional Model were crucial to the success of his program: the perceived short- and
long-term value of the program by youth, parents, partners, and the community; partners
adding value to the program; and recruitment and training of volunteers. Involving youth
in decision making and providing leadership proficiency that involve skills acquisition,
such as coaching, are also very important. Financial resources enable the program to
continue.
3.4 OCISO, SISO, and COSTI Program Challenges
Youth Transport
Emphasizing that transportation can make or break a program, the three coordinators revealed that
the main challenge they experienced was transportation for youth.
We do not have passes. Some kids do not have transportation. So what we
do is some of the parents who live in the area drop them off and we pay the
ticket to go home.
(COSTI Youth Athletics Coordinator)
Up until last year, the City provided 120 bus passes for each kid. Last year
they said they would not provide them, and we were surprised. We used
United Way funding for the 70 most needy students. We have once again
requested passes from the City for the fiscal year 2006–2007, but they only
agreed to provide bus tickets for some kids. We are worried that it will
impede some kids from coming. Initially they all got tickets.
(OCISO Youth Program Coordinator)
Lack of transportation does hinder kids from participating. I observed
during the summer—because that’s when we have the longest stretch for
recreation—I discovered that some of the kids would miss practices and
some would even miss games due to lack of transportation. Last summer,
we did not have any funding for transportation.
(SISO Youth Program Coordinator)
Stressing the high priority of youth transportation, the SISO Coordinator expressed,
61
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Transportation is very essential and when we were developing the proposal
for the current program we stressed the transportation because we would
rather have the children there without the equipment.
Parental Involvement
The second significant challenge is engaging the parents. The target communities face a lot of
socioeconomic challenges and these challenges make it difficult to focus on sports and recreation.
Continuous and persistent work has to be done on a long-term basis to keep parents engaged.
General Funding Resources
To continuously hold the interest of the youth, there is a need for resources to ensure that planning
occurs and to facilitate programming and outreach.
4.0
The OCASI Inclusive Model: The Model for Sports and Recreation
Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
4.1
Twelve Elements Essential to an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Youth
Concluding from the observations by program coordinators, parents, volunteers, youth, as well as
from observations of OCASI Youth Project staff at the three testing centres, there are twelve
common elements that must exist in an inclusive sports and recreation program for immigrant and
refugee youth. The OCASI Inclusive Model aims at ensuring the inclusion of all youth in sports
and recreation, including immigrant, refugee, and at-risk youth. The model is based on the
elements described by program coordinators and program staff as essential, and by youth, parents,
and volunteers as important to them. The identified elements are not to the exclusion of others
identified in the Provisional Model; rather, they are here given priority. Some essential elements
(e.g., funding) were already identified as important elements in their own right.
Asked to outline the top twelve elements that that they identified as essential in their youth sports
and recreation programs, the three OCISO, SISO and COSTI youth program coordinators listed
the following (They are not listed in order of importance, all are seen as more important than other
actions that can be taken to ensure a sports and recreation program has the elements essential to
success):
1. COMBINE EDUCATION WITH SPORTS AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES
Integrate the activities and ensure that the activity has value that the youth can clearly see they
are taking home. Many newcomer parents and youth do not see ‘mere’ physical benefits from
sports and recreation as a key value. However, sports as a vehicle for assisting youth to learn
and to perform better in school is seen as a value, as is assisting to keep kids out of trouble.
62
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
2. INTRODUCE FAMILIAR AND POPULAR SPORTS AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES
Use these as the vehicle to build confidence in the youth to facilitate their learning new sports
and recreation activities.
Asked what should be the next step, a group of youth in Hamilton said, “Now that we are
experts in soccer, we want ice hockey.” These youth now had the confidence having played
sports prevalent in their country of origin, and felt they wanted to try a new sport.
Newcomer youth who lack self-confidence and have no chance to build it will be hesitant to
play ice hockey for fear of humiliation. With the intermediary step of playing a sport with
which they are familiar, the youth will tend to look for more challenging opportunities.
3. ENCOURAGE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
“This is very important. It is not the most important, but it is very, very important.”
(Lloyd Kibaara, SISO Coordinator)
4. DEVELOP YOUTH LEADERSHIP BY OFFERING BASIC TRAINING IN OFFICIATING AND
COACHING
“This is another very important piece. The crucial element is not only involving them in
decision making, but giving them hands-on, sports-related leadership training. Giving them
proper skills for continuity and sustainability.”
(Lloyd Kibaara, SISO Coordinator)
“Youth participation in planning and designing and in leadership is important. They imagine
more things that you can think of. They come and ask me, ‘Can I do this?’ And I am saying,
‘You are kidding!’”
(COSTI Program Coordinator)
5. BUILD WORKING RELATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
“This includes loose partnerships that are based on a concept such as ‘I need the facility, but I
will find the funding,’ rather than ‘let’s partner to get the money together’ because the funders
may not appreciate the latter partnership concept.”
(Lloyd Kibaara, SISO Coordinator)
“Strategies for working with other organizations are on two levels. In our case, we are not a
sports-focused organization. We are not a sports-delivery organization. Our main focus is not
recreation. So what we have done is we have tried to link these kids with local service
providers. We’ve talked to the YMCA; we’ve brought in schools providing access; we’ve even
worked with a church, whereby they open up a gym and we help them recruit and help to train
volunteers. We get the church youth involved, and they play alongside the immigrants. We
started off and then stepped aside and let the project continue. We are actually trying to connect
the newcomer youth with the main sports and education providers. At that level that is what we
are doing. And I think that is what it should be. We are an intermediary between the
newcomers, many of whom are so unfamiliar with the new environment, and the mainstream.”
(SISO Youth Coordinator)
63
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
6. ENSURE THAT FACILITIES ARE WITHIN GEOGRAPHICAL REACH OF YOUTH
 Offer lots of activities all in one large centre
 Offer a more regular bus timetable
 Schedule more buses to sports venues on the weekends
 Ensure buses run on time
 Provide a discount ticket system for sports participants
 Provide buses that go specifically to sports arenas
 Provide free parking at sports arenas
7.
DEVELOP SUPPORTIVE INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND TOP MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT
Get your agency involved so that they can free up your time and provide support, either
financial or human resources. “Because that’s what always kills the program. The start up. It
will never get going unless somebody has got time to dedicate to the activities and to
planning.”
(OCISO Youth Project Coordinator)
Obviously, organizational support and structures are crucial. All employees should be on
board with regard to the youth program because they act as support in terms of outreach.
“They explain the objectives and the benefits of the program to the parents and to the
participants too. You ought to sell it to every member of staff.”
(SISO Youth project Coordinator)
8.
CREATE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR WORKING WITH
FUNDERS
The OCISO youth project coordinator suggests that the top priorities are transportation and
facilities. Uniforms are less important and can be focussed on later. The SISO program
coordinator suggests that programs ought to build a more collaborative relationship with
donors, especially if the partner is the City. In short, receiving funding is imperative for the
successful operation of youth sports and recreations programs, and each organization needs to
prioritize its top funding needs.
9.
MOBILIZE COMMUNITIES
The OCISO youth program coordinator encourages programs to mobilize the target
communities. Youth, parents, and interested community members must advocate on behalf
of such programs. It only takes a few parents a few moments to advocate for youth to their
parliamentary representative or City Councillor. Resources must be mobilized in order to
prevent further marginalization.
“It is important to engage different communities. We found that recruiting someone with
whom the kids and parents could identify was helpful when it came to one community.
However, we found that as soon as you recruit from one group, then the other groups that live
in the area do not bother to come. They say it is for ‘them’, whatever the ‘them’ are. So we
left it open and we got everybody. And so it was a far bigger group and a more diverse group
64
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
and probably people who do not belong to anybody come. That’s how we got funders
involved.”
(COSTI Program, Coordinator)
“If you are going to get people to help you mobilize, then you’ve got to get a very diverse
group of people mobilizing so that some groups do not say it is for them. There are also
things that you do not know that are going on and they would help you by saying, ‘This is not
going to work because our people do not do that.’ And you’ll say, ‘Okay, we shall not do that.
Let’s go do something else.”
(COSTI Athletics Program
Coordinator)
10. ENSURE PROGRAMMING REFLECTS DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
Obtain an ethnically diverse team of community coaches and people who are skilled in sports.
They could be athletes, possibly former Olympians. The children would benefit from seeing
themselves in terms of their cultural and ethnic background. The team of coaches and
assistants should have experience or receive training for working with diverse communities.
Let parents who may be concerned about letting their children attend night events know why
these events must be held at night, and respect cultural norms in cases where parents do not
condone having their children participate in night activities
Regarding the difficulty some children have with changing in public change rooms, this is an
issue that must be acknowledged and addressed. Either changing rooms should be made more
private, or children, where possible, should be encouraged to arrive at activities programs
already dressed to participate in sports.
11. OPERATE UNDER AN ANTI-OPPRESSION AND ANTI-RACISM FRAMEWORK
To address the issues of racism and discrimination, perceived or otherwise, it is helpful if all
programs for immigrant and refugee youth operate under an anti-racism and anti-oppression
framework.
12. ACQUIRE TRANSPORTATION FOR YOUTH
Educate funding partners on the importance of subsidized transportation for youth from lowincome communities.
4.2 Further Recommendations for an Effective Sports and Recreation Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Youth
EXPLORE CREATIVE WAYS OF RAISING MONEY FOR YOUTH PROJECTS AND SPORTSWEAR
Seek out businesses and organizations that have youth support programs.
DEVELOP A PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
This is a written work plan for the program that includes the overall goals and objectives.
This should be an evolving document that changes as circumstances change.
65
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
TRAIN VOLUNTEERS THOROUGHLY
Given limited resources, volunteers are essential to programs, but their ability to help a
program achieve its stated goals is dependent upon thorough training.
66
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
5.0
OCASI Report 2006
Conclusion
The project revealed the importance of sports in young people’s lives and it highlighted the need
to program and implement sports and recreation activities in a professional manner. While many
organizations may still be focusing on the program itself, due to the current population diversity in
Ontario, there is as much need to focus on the environment and the framework within which the
sports and recreation activities are undertaken. This will ensure not only cultural sensitivity but
also that the program caters to the sports and recreation needs of youth from low-income
communities.
The comprehensive attributes outlined in the Provisional Model were in practice inter-related,
inter-twined, and complex. While it was expected that community outreach included outreach to
parents, it was sometimes easier to engage community associations than it was to engage the
parents. However, immigrant and refugee parents often experience a wide variety of barriers of
their own that make it difficult for them to stay effectively engaged.
While the attributes outlined in the OCASI Provisional Model were mainly a collection of
recommendations made in past studies and literature findings, they were practical in nature: none
of the coordinators viewed the recommendations as being purely theoretical. Even advice that
seemed academic (for example, the Community Toolbox website and the Building Sustainable
Non-Profits report) gave very practical advice regarding program planning and evaluation as well
as how to increase youth participation. The coordinators stated that they successfully applied these
tools without any problem.
Tools and information do exist that will help improve programming for immigrant and refugee
youth and will aid in overcoming some of their barriers. The challenge is to continue to raise
awareness and promote practices that are instrumental in sustaining immigrant and refugee
interest in sports and recreation.
From the literature review, the paucity of information regarding the role of the City as a proactive
program partner was apparent. Additionally, there was a weak emphasis on the importance of
supportive organizational structures and top management. Indeed, for there to be strides in
improving programming for immigrant and refugee youth, top managers in organizations that
provide sports and recreation services have to be committed to the development of an appropriate
framework that facilitates access for all. They also have to support the creation of an empowering
organization in which staff can program creatively, with a view to facilitating wider access. Based
on youth and parent interviews, a clear need exists to raise the awareness of top management in
order to improve access for newcomer youth. OCASI has a significant role to play in promoting
shared learning and best practices across the province and nation.
67
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
6.0
OCASI Report 2006
Project Recommendations
Due to the great success of the programs, it is imperative that further work be done to boost
immigrant and refugee youth participation in sports and recreation. The Project Advisory Group
and the program coordinators at the three testing centres have made the following
recommendations to OCASI in order to continue increasing the level of participation of immigrant
and refugee youth from low-income communities:

Bring together community-based, immigrant- and refugee-serving organizations that have
demonstrated enthusiasm for working with OCASI to implement the model at their
organizations and encourage organizations to focus more on their programming for immigrant
youth from low-income immigrant communities

Promote the model to mainstream sports and recreation organizations and work with them to
identify approaches and opportunities for increasing the participation levels of immigrant and
refugee youth from low-income communities

Promote dialogue and collaboration between the settlement agencies and mainstream
organizations. Examine opportunities and challenges regarding the implementation of the
recommended model between the two sectors. OCASI should work with these organizations
to identify strategies for cooperation and to reduce barriers to implementation. Mainstream
sports and recreation organizations should be encouraged and assisted to recruit, motivate, and
provide opportunities for the thousands of youth who are not participating in sports and
recreation activities due to barriers

Train staff and recreation leaders from mainstream and immigrant- and refugee-serving
organizations in different regions in the province on the implementation of this model. The
training should disseminate good practices while developing the skills and abilities and
building the knowledge required to implement this model

CIC should include the sports and recreation component in settlement funding
68
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Bibliography
Active 2010. Active Ontario Toolkit. Retrieved March 2, 2005 from
http://www.activeontario.org/toolkit/en/recreation_tool kit.asp
American Sports Data Inc. Sports Participation: The Metaphor of Youth Development. (No date).
Retrieved on February 24, 2005 from
http://www.americansportsdata.com/pr-recreation-leisure.asp
Anisef, Paul and Kenise M. Kilbride. (1999). The Needs of Newcomer Youth and Emerging
“Best Practices” to Meet Those Needs - Final Report. Settlement Directorate, Ontario
Region, Citizenship and Immigration Canada—Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on
Immigration and Settlement.
Bridging Refugees Youth and Children’s Services. Program Objectives and Unique Needs
Addressed. (No date). Retrieved on February 24, 2005 from
http://www.brycs.org/brycs_feature072003.htm
Canada. Department of Justice. (1999). Arts and Recreation Sector Roundtable on Youth Justice
Renewal. Retrieved February 13, 2005 from
http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/partnership/ars.html
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2004, August 31). How to Get Kids Moving: Improving
School Phys-Ed. CBC News: In-Depth. Retrieved March 11, 2005 from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/educatio n/physed.html
Canadian Council on Social Development. (2000). Cultural Diversity. Retrieved February 1, 2005
from http://www.ccsd.ca/subsites/cd/docs/iy/
Canadian Council for Refugees. 1998. Best Settlement Practices: Settlement Services for Refugees
and Immigrants in Canada. Ottawa: CCR.
Canadian Policy Research Networks Inc. 2001. Four Hypotheses about the Public Policy
Significance of Youth Recreation: Lessons from a Literature Review and a Data Analysis
on “Learning through Recreation.” Laidlaw Foundation.
Catalano, Richard F., M. Lisa Berglund, Jeanne A. M. Ryan, Heather S. Lonczak, and J. David
Hawkins. (2002). Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on
Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs. Prevention and Treatment, 5(1).
Dahl, Ron. Adolescent Brains and Developmental Opportunities: The Role of Recreation
Engagement (Public Lecture, May 29, 2002; Toronto, Canada)
DeKnop, P. and Marc Theeboom. (1999). Sports Stimulation Initiatives for Under-privileged
Youth in Flanders (Belgium). Journal of Education and Training, 20(1): 4-48.
69
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Donnelly, P. and Jay Coakley. (2002). The Role of Recreation in Promoting Social Inclusion.
Laidlaw Foundation. Retrieved February 26, 2005 from
http://www.laidlawfdn.org/files/children/donnelly.pdf
Eccles, J. and Bonnie Barber. (1999). Student Council, Volunteering, Basketball or Marching
Band: What Kind of Extracurricular Involvement Matters? Journal of Adolescent
Research.
Gibson, Margaret. (2001). Immigrant Adaptation and Patterns of Acculturation. Human
Development, 44:19-23. University of California–Santa Cruz.
Hart, Roger. (1997). The Theory and Practice of Involving Young Citizens in Community
Development and Environmental Care. UNICEF.
Juniu, Susana. (2000) The Impact of Immigration: Leisure Experience in the Lives of South
American Immigrants. Journal of Leisure Research, 3.
Kremarik, F. (2000). A Family Affair: Children's Participation in Sports. Canadian Social Trends,
August. Retrieved March 15, 2005 from
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/pdf/social/sport2.pdf
Lifestyle Information Network. (1997). Youth Recreation, Make it Happen. Ministry of Small
Business, Tourism and Culture, British Columbia. Retrieved February 17, 2005 from
http://www.lin.ca/lin/resource/html/make.htm#I3
Mayes, S. and Nicole Smith. (2002). Recreation and Citizenship: A Review of Research Trends,
Gaps, and Future Directions. Laidlaw Foundation. Retrieved February 22, 2005 from
http://www.laidlawfdn.org/files/final-rec-and-citizenship-paper.pdf
Offord, D., Ellen Lipman, and Eric Duka. (1998). Sports, the Arts and Community Programs:
Rates and Correlates of Participation. Workshop Paper for "Investing in Children: A
National Research Conference, 1998." Ottawa.
Omidvar, Ratna and Ted Richmond. (2003). Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion. Laidlaw
Foundation. Retrieved March 3, 2005 from
http://206.191.51.193/files/children/richmond.pdf
Ontario. Parks and Recreation–Ministry of Tourism and Recreation. (2003). Youth at Risk.
Retrieved February 19, 2005 from
http://www.tourism.gov.on.ca/english/sportdiv/rec/youthat.htm
Ontario. Parks and Recreation. (2004). New Research Reports Serious Challenges for Sport and
Recreation Organizations. Retrieved February 14, 2005 from
http://216.13.76.142/PROntario/PDF/MediaReleaseOct4 2004.pdf
70
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Pack, Caroline and Sue Glyptis. (1989). Developing sport and leisure: good practice in urban
regeneration. London: Dept. of the Environment.
Scott, K. and Andrew Jackson. (2002). Does Work Include Children? The Effects of the Labour
Market on Family Income, Time and Stress. Laidlaw Foundation.
Soccer in the Streets. (2003). Retrieved February 14, 2005 from
http://www.sits.org/newsletter/fall2003.html#1
Stepnick, A., Carol Dutton Stepnick, and Philip Kretsedemas. (2001). Civic engagement of
Haitian Immigrants and Haitian Americans in Miami-Dade County. Kellogg Foundation.
Retrieved March 18, 2005 from http://www.wkkf.org/pubs/Devolution/Pub3670.pdf
Stodolska, Monika. (2003). Impacts of Immigration on Ethnic Identity and Leisure Behaviour of
Adolescent Immigrants from Korea, Mexico and Poland. Journal of Leisure Research, 1.
Stodolska, Monika. (2004). The Role of Recreational Sport in the Adaptation of First Generation
Immigrants in the United States. Journal of Leisure Research, 3.
Thomas, D.R., L. Chalip and J. Voyle. (1996). Enhancing Well-being Through Sport and
Recreation, Community Psychology and Social Change: Australian and New Zealand
Perspectives. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
Tirone, Susan. (1997). Leisure and Centrality of Family: Issues of Care in the Lives of South
Asians in Canada. Journal of Leisurability, 24(3).
Tirone, S. and Vicky Paraschak. (2003). Race and Ethnicity in Canadian Sport. In J. Crossman
(Ed.). Canadian Sport Sociology. (pp. 119-138). Toronto: Nelson.
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. (2005). Youth
Participation Manual. Retrieved March 9, 2005 from
http:/www.unescap.org/esid/hds/Youth/part-manual.asp
Vancouver City Council. (2004). Administrative Report. Retrieved March 9, 2005 from
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20040708/csb6.htm
Van Wel, Frits; Hub Linseen; Toon Kort; and Ellen Jansen. (1996). Ethnicity and youth cultural
participation in the Netherlands. Journal of Leisure Research, 2.
Walker, Pam and Bonnie Shoultz. (1998). Retrieved March 8, 2005 from
http://www.thearc.org/faqs/ leisure.html
Wheat, Ann. (2004). The Journey of a Thousand Miles: The Lost Boys of Sudan Discover New
Lives in Phoenix. National Recreation and Parks Association.
71
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development. Community Toolbox. Retrieved
February 21, 2005 from http://www.ctb.ku.edu/
Yu, Ping and Doris Berryman. (1996). The Relationship among Self-Esteem, Acculturation, and
Recreation Participation of Recently Arrived Chinese Immigrant Adolescents. Journal of
Leisure Research, 4.
Zeijl, Elke; Manuela du Bois-Reymond; and Yolanda te Poel. (2001). Young Adolescents’
Leisure Patterns. Loisir et Société, 24(2).
72
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Appendix 1
OCASI Project Coordinator’s Plan Used in Seeking Input
from Youth in Ontario
June 2005
PROJECT BACKGROUND
While a variety of studies have been undertaken resulting in recommendations made to youth recreational
programs and, in particular, programs for immigrant youth, there has been a gap in disseminating the wide
pool of recommendations to immigrant and other organizations that work with youth.
OCASI has observed the need to draw together recommendations from the various studies and to enhance
the dissemination of a Model developed from these findings among organizations that serve immigrant
youth. There is also need for a Feasibility Study to establish the extent to which the given Model is
perceived by service providers as implementable in the immigrant communities that they serve.
In 2004/2005 the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) initiated a two-year youth
project: Research on Inclusive Recreation Model for Immigrant and Refugee Youth.
BENEFICIARIES
The Youth Project was developed to benefit newcomer/immigrant youth aged 18 and below. Direct
beneficiaries of the project will be organizations that provide recreation programs for immigrant youth.
PROJECT LONG-TERM GOALS
The long-term goal of this project is to facilitate and to increase participation of newcomer/immigrant
youth in recreation activities, as a consequence of strengthened capacity of organizations that provide
youth recreation programs.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to increase participation in recreation by immigrant and refugee youth
through the identification and dissemination of information to sports/recreation stakeholder communities in
Ontario on recommendations from past research and on recreational models that are currently being
effectively implemented in the province.
It is hoped that the project will also increase awareness and understanding of decision-makers for the
benefits of youth participation in sports and recreation as well as to increase public awareness of benefits
of youth participation in sports and recreation.
YOUTH FOCUS GROUPS
As part of this project OCASI is coordinating focus groups with immigrant and other youth to discuss and
answer four questions:


What are the benefits of immigrant and refugee youth sports and recreation activities?
What are the barriers for service providers and for potential youth participants?
73
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth


OCASI Report 2006
What attributes contribute to an effective sports and recreation program for immigrant youth?
What are the benefits of teaching youth leadership skills?
The comments and suggestions from the participating youth will be included in a sports and recreation
Model that is being developed to assist organizations and individuals that develop sports and recreation
programs for immigrant and refugee youth.
1.
BENEFITS
Focus group participants will be requested to list all of the benefits of sports and recreation for
immigrant and refugee youth that they can think of.
2.
FACILITATING FACTORS
The youth will then be requested to state what they see as conditions that facilitate the involvement
of immigrant and refugee youth in sports and recreation programs.
3.
CHALLENGES FACING IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH SERVICE
PROVIDERS
The youth will be asked if they can think of any challenges faced by organizations that provide
services to immigrant and Refugee Youth.
4.
CHALLENGES FACED BY IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH
Participants will be asked to list the challenges faced by immigrant and refugee youth with respect
to participation in sports and recreation.
5.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY YOUTH
The Youth will be requested to give recommendations focusing on:
6.
o
What they perceive to be a good sports and recreation program
o
How service providers can more effectively engage newcomer youth
o
Other factors that need to be present if the program is to succeed (e.g. parental support)
o
What sports and recreation activities they would want to see offered (e.g. softball), listing
them in the order of importance.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD PROGRAMS
Participants will be requested to list any very attractive youth sports and recreation program that
they have either participated in or that they are aware of.
o
Would they recommend it to others?
o
Why?
74
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
7.
8.
OCASI Report 2006
YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND INVOLVEMENT
o
To what extent do the youth see youth involvement and youth leadership as important to
the success of any sports and recreation program?
o
Would any of them be interested if leadership training were offered to them in the area of
sports and recreation?
o
What role would they play?
o
How do they perceive the role of the rest of the community?
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The focus group participants will be asked what additional comments they wish to make in relation
to youth sports and recreation, particularly with respect to immigrant and refugee youth.
75
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Appendix 2
Questions Posed to Participating Youth and to
Potential Participants
Sports and Recreation Survey
to be Completed by Youth
Please help us to complete this survey. It can be completed individually or in small groups, with
each group completing only one set. We would like as many youth as possible to give their
suggestions.
The purpose of the survey is to get ideas from youth on how sports and recreation activities can be
improved.
Thank you.
1.
2.
3.
4.
BENEFITS: What benefits can sports and recreation bring to you? List as many benefits
as you can think of.
FACTORS THAT MAKE IT EASIER: What makes it easier for you to get involved in
sports and recreation programs? State as many factors as you can think of.
DIFFICULTIES FACED BY YOUTH: List different things that make it difficult for you
to participate in sports and recreation.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY YOUTH:
a) What kind of sports or recreation activities would you like to be involved in (e.g. tennis,
dancing, cooking)? Please list the most important ones first.
76
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
b) What advice do you want to give to organizers of sports and recreation activities for youth?
What can they do to make sports and recreation activities easier and more interesting to
attend?
c) What advice do you want to give to your parents and to your community, including schools?
(How can they make it easier for you to take part in sports and recreation?)
5.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND INVOLVEMENT
a) Do you think it is important for youth to be involved in leadership positions in any
sports and recreation program? For your answer, tick only one of the boxes below.
Not Important [
]
Important [ ]
Very important [
]
b) Would you be interested if leadership training were offered to you in the area of sports
and recreation?
If you are answering this question as a group, how many in your group say Yes?
_____
How many say no?____
c) For those saying yes, what responsibility would you like?
d) How do you think your parents, and the rest of the community can help children to
take part in sports and recreation?
6.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: What additional comments do you wish to make with regard to
sports and recreation activities that would make it easier for immigrant or refugee youth to
participate?
77
Model for Sports and Recreation Programming for Immigrant and Refugee Youth
OCASI Report 2006
Appendix 3
Members of the OCASI Project Advisory Group
Representatives from OCASI Member Agencies
Wali Farah, Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO), Ottawa (Chair)
Qaseem Ludin, Afghan Association of Ontario, Toronto
Joe Boateng, Jamaican Canadian Association, Toronto
Loly Rico, FCJ Hamilton House Refugee Project, Toronto
Anna Lee Boschetto, University Settlement, Toronto
Joyce David, Kingston & District Immigrant Services, Kingston
Loyd Kibaara, Settlement & Integration Services Organization (SISO), Hamilton
Bianca Di Nardo, The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County (MCC), Windsor
Brenda Parris, Catholic Cross Cultural Services – Peel Region
Seevgul Topkara- Sarsu, WoodGreen Community Services, Immigrant Services
Aislinn Clancy, Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA – Cross-Cultural and Community Services
Penny Ross, Ysan Grow (YMCA of Hamilton Burlington)
Jahan Zeb, Immigrant Culture Art Association
Orlando Ferro, Quinte United Immigrant Services, Belleville
OCASI Staff Members
Paulina Maciulis – Manager, Policy and Programs
Immaculate Tumwine – Projects Coordinator
Kelven Goodridge – Youth Project Specialist
Lily Mumbana-Ngweme – Projects Assistant
78