Cheer Story: City of Estevan – Easy Stretch
Fresh Faces, New Look for South East District
South East Sport, Culture & Recreation District held their Annual General Meeting last week.
Executive Director Joni Hagen said there are some new additions to their board of directors.
“This year we had six vacancies, so we had some returning members stay on the board and we had three new members,” she said. “Krista Klemmer from Weyburn, Danielle Hoffman from Stoughton, and Brian Chmarney from Pilot Butte have joined our board team.”
She shared on the organization’s new logo.
“The new logo was just an opportunity to rebrand ourselves and make sure that we continue to have a fresh new look and be relevant to our communities as we move into the future,” said Hagen. “In 2018 we actually changed our name as well to South East Sport, Culture & Recreation District.”
Formerly the organization was called South East Connections Sport, Culture & Recreation District.
She said the new logo’s three ribbons signify the three areas they promote and work in, sport, culture, and recreation.
“And of course, they’re pointing toward the southeast, and that signifies the geographic area that we work in,” she added.
She said the South East District is like a one-stop shop for information for sport, culture, and recreation, as they provide resources to community groups.
“We provide a lot of resources to community groups, including sport clubs, recreation, pool, rink boards, as well as art and culture organizations such as museums and art councils. We’re really here for them as a connector or liaison to other provincial organizations,” said Hagen.
“We also provide a lot of networking and training opportunities for volunteers,” she noted. “Volunteers are the ones in communities that are making sport, culture and recreation happen, and so we work a lot to support those volunteers so that they can succeed in what they’re doing in their communities.”
The meeting was held at the Happy Nun Cafe in Forget. Laura Strong spoke on “Inclusion and Diversity: In the Context of Sport, Culture and Recreation in Rural Saskatchewan”.
Article courtesy of Discover Weyburn
Kick off for KidSport Month
In the coming weeks, events are planned across the province to spotlight and support this program’s important work. In 2018 alone, KidSport Saskatchewan assisted more than 12,000 youth facing financial obstacles that may have otherwise prevented them from participating in community sport programs.
For details about an event near you, see the link below.
Upcoming KidSport Events
Cheer Story: Wolseley Sea Cadets Biathlon Program
There’s a Seat at the Table
Do you have an interest in sport, culture or recreation? Do you enjoy working with a team of energetic, fun and passionate people? Would you like to be a part of a unified voice for sport, culture and recreation for south east Saskatchewan? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then our Board is for you!
Each year the South East District Nominations Committee seeks leadership candidates from across the south east to provide direction to our District and to serve on the ten-member Board of Directors. Directors occupy staggered two year terms and have an opportunity to participate on a Board Committee. Candidates may come from a specific community, but once elected to the Board, they do not represent that community but govern on behalf of the whole of South East District.
“As I continue to learn more about South East District, I feel privileged to be part of such a professional board of directors and community focused organization. I look forward to the ongoing liaison within the partnerships (agencies, organizations) and people (our communities).”
- Check out the Candidates Package to learn about the role and commitment of the Board.
- Complete our Nomination Form to submit a nomination to the Board. Deadline: May 17, 2019.
Career Opportunity: Recreation Coordinator – Radville Laurier Regional Park
Under general guidance from the Radville Laurier Regional Park (RLRP) Board, the Recreation Coordinator is responsible for the coordination of RLRP part‐time staff; for the development, promotion and evaluation of community recreational programs / services; and to act as a liaison between the RLRP Board, staff, community and sport, culture and recreation organizations.
Duties and Responsibilities:
1. The coordination of RLRP part‐time employees and volunteers, including:
- Scheduling
- Recruitment
- Training/orientation
- Staff discipline
- Employee conflict resolution
- Planning and delegation of work
- Handling employee concerns
2. The development and organization of a variety of recreational activities in the community
(including facility coordination and scheduling).
3. Work with community groups and committees to facilitate the organization of community special
events.
4. Inventory and supply monitoring, including ordering.
5. Representation of RLRP at meetings and workshops:
- Prepare agenda, background documentation and reports as well as be present and take minutes at RLRP board meetings
- Attend applicable association meetings at least once per year, for example: Minor hockey, minor ball, senior hockey etc.
6. Prepare grant applications and follow up with accurate documentation.
7. Prepares annual and long term operational and capital budgets and controls departmental spending within budget allocation.
8. Coordination of fundraising events and arena advertising.
9. RLRP safety plan development, monitoring and execution.
10. Promotion and marketing of community sport, culture and recreation programs and events through community bulletins, social media, radio, posters, etc.
11. Assists Recreation board with policy development and reports for strategic planning and maximization of facility use and programming as well as reviewing policies annually prior to commencement of each season.
12. Establishes and maintains effective public relations through positive community development with a variety of user groups and volunteers.
13. Ensures continual communication with recreation organizations to learn about their needs and provide assistance and support as required.
14. Assists in ongoing project work, program implementation and facility planning.
15. Guides the department with adherence to all policies and procedures, and provincial and federal laws, regulations and legislation.
16. Other duties as assigned.
To Apply
Email Human Resources at rlrp@sasktel.net
Volunteer Recruitment
Volunteer recruitment is a hot topic for community organizations throughout Canada and the southeast is no exception! What exactly is volunteer recruitment? and how has it changed over the last 20 years?
Volunteer recruitment is all about matching your organizations needs to the skills and interests of a volunteer. It is essential that these needs be linked directly to the organizations mandate and that a job description is able to be formulated with identifiable tasks and responsibilities.
Volunteers of today are very sophisticated and are not wanting to just fill a spot or be a general workhorse.
Canadians state that the primary reason they volunteer is to contribute to their communities. The next two major reasons are to use skills and experience and because they have been personally affected by the cause. The breakdown is as follows:
- to make a contribution to community (93%);
- to use skills and experience (78%);
- personally affected by the organization’s cause (59%);
- to explore one’s own strengths (48%);
- because their friends volunteer (48%);
- to network with others (46%);
- to improve job opportunities (22%); and
- to fulfill religious obligations or beliefs (21%).
Take a moment to reflect on these trends in volunteering and see how your organization can adapt to help meet the desires of the new volunteer. Now that you have reflected on this note it is time to ask.
According to Volunteering in Canada, 45% of non-volunteers had not become involved because no one had asked them to, which suggests they might sign up to volunteer if they were approached the right way. On the other hand, about one-quarter (27%) had no interest in volunteering and 7% had not been satisfied with an earlier experience of volunteering. These percentages are no different than those recorded in 2007.
What this tells us is that we need to be prepared to shoulder tap and ask people to volunteer and when you ask to make sure you are prepared to answer questions regarding roles and responsibility, time commitment. You may need to negotiate some of the tasks and time commitment to match the volunteer’s capacity.
Here are the latest statistics from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating.
For additional resources check out the National Volunteer Week website at www.volunteer.ca/nvw2019 or contact Tara-Leigh Heslip at South East District.
Email: cdc@southeastdistrict.ca
Phone: 306.695.2006
AGM Keynote Speaker Laura Strong
Join us at our Annual General Meeting at the Happy Nun Cafe as we celebrate our 20th anniversary!
Inclusion and Diversity: In the context of Sport, Culture, and Recreation in Rural Saskatchewan, presented by Laura Strong.
Our keynote presentation will explore our cultural identity and how to effectively bridge cultural and language barriers.
You will learn about how one’s own cultural identity and perceptions shape our behaviors and responses to others. You will also learn how to effectively bridge cultural and language barriers and how to move toward enhanced cultural competence and positive responses to differences.
Laura currently works at the Regina Region Local Immigration Partnership (RRLIP) and has been working in the immigration sector since 2014. Sport has been a consistent and important part of Laura’s entire life, most notably in the area of curling, where she has represented NL Nationally 8-times at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and currently plays for the Saskatchewan-based Amber Holland Team.
Building Capacity in South East Communities
South East Sport, Culture & Recreation District helps build capacity in south east communities by providing various training opportunities. Our mini-workshops (one-two hours in length) offer condensed, results-based learning opportunities for local sport, culture or recreation volunteer teams or boards! Communities can complete mini-workshops on a variety of interesting topics (inclusion, effective meetings, policies and procedures) that will help volunteers gain valuable skills and that will leave them with tools and templates to put new ideas into action! These are offered for free in community and can be held in conjunction with a community board meeting.
South East District delivered an Introduction to Grant Writing mini-workshop at the Pangman Library on April 3, 2019. Nine (9) volunteers from the community and surrounding areas participated. Participants reflected on the workshop: “This was a quick workshop with lots of good ideas and new information”. “I now feel more confident to take on writing a grant, and feel I know what funders are looking for!” “I learned that a lot of planning will need to take place before applying for grants.”
To host a mini-workshop in your community, fill out the South East District host form at www.southeastdistrict.ca. Inquiries: Tara Heslip, Community Development Consultant, at 306.695.2006.
Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program
South East District would like to make communities aware that Canada and Saskatchewan signed the bilateral agreement for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) in October 2018. The program will provide more than $896 million in federal funding for all types of Saskatchewan infrastructure projects over the next 10 years until 2028.
Saskatchewan residents will benefit from these investments through:
- cleaner air and water;
- reduced greenhouse gas emissions;
- sustainable water management;
- enhanced public parks, recreational facilities and other spaces that make communities great places to live;
- faster commutes and travel times and easier movement of goods for businesses; and
- better transportation and digital infrastructure for people living in remote communities.
Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream – $56.2 million
Funds will help:
- build stronger communities; and
- improve social inclusion.
Saskatchewan is implementing the following two-stage process to: 1) gather information about the current infrastructure demand in our province and further develop program criteria; and 2) to plan and prepare for a full, more detailed application intake.
EOIs accepted from Friday, March 15, 2019 until 4:30 p.m. CST on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.