IT’S CALLED A TRY FOR A REASON: TORONTO INNER-CITY RUGBY FOUNDATION SCORES A ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION GRANT TO BUILD A RESLIENT YOUTH RUGBY COMMUNITY
Toronto, ON – The Toronto Inner-City Rugby Foundation (TIRF) is proud to be a 2021 Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) Resilient Communities Grant Recipient. TIRF received a $71,500 Resilient Communities Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) to deliver its signature virtual rugby curriculum for school-aged children and in-person rugby programming to both children and youth who reside in low-income neighbourhoods across Toronto. The OTF Grant will also allow TIRF to develop and execute a video skills bank that reflects the beautiful diversity of Toronto’s student athletes. The skills bank aims to introduce youth to key rugby skills in an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming manner while providing additional resources and support to high-school teacher-coaches preparing their student athletes for contact and non-contact versions of the game.
The in-person rugby programming will support the physical health and mental well-being of youth from Toronto’s neighbourhood improvement areas (NIAs), while the video project will serve as a skills-bank tool that teachers can use to introduce students to the sport while also reflecting the diversity of Toronto. The funds will allow TIRF to hire additional Rugby Facilitators and Multimedia Producers to execute the in-person programming and video project.
Spencer Robinson, TIRF’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coach of Youth Rugby and Belonging, explained “The grant will have a tremendous impact on youth by introducing them to rugby. Rugby is truly an inclusive sport that has interventions to welcome all body types, skills, and abilities to the game. We want young people from diverse backgrounds to be able to see themselves represented in the sport and succeeding in life. We’re also cultivating social connections and promoting active lifestyles which is crucial, especially in these times.”
ABOUT TIRF
For more than a decade, Toronto Inner-City Rugby Foundation has been transforming the lives of young people through sport. TIRF, a registered non-profit founded in 2011, builds community through rugby in 31 of Toronto’s underserved, low-income and priority neighbourhoods. Working in partnership with Rugby Canada; Rugby Ontario, Toronto rugby clubs; school boards and community service providers, TIRF reduces the financial, geographical, and cultural barriers that prevent children and youth from participating in the sport.
For more information, please visit www.TIRFrugby.ca
ABOUT THE ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION (OTF)
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded $115 million to 644 projects last year to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.
For more information, please visit www.otf.ca