The Everybody Gets To Play program is aimed at breaking down barriers that prevent people from participating in recreation activities and promoting increased awareness and understanding.
Several people attended a workshop at the Estevan Public Library on Saturday and Sunday with a special focus on the Aboriginal community.
The workshop was conducted by Tim Haywahe, who is an Aboriginal support consultant with Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation, and Bonnie Wohlberg of the Prairie Central District for Sport, Culture and Recreation.
Each participant was given the program's First Nations, Inuit and Métis supplement with a community mobilization toolkit to help get more people taking part in recreation programs.
The workshop ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday.
Haywahe said the goal of the national program, which is run in Saskatchewan by Sask. Parks and Recreation, is to determine what barriers are preventing children from participating and to eliminate them.
"It looks at communities, people working with low-income families," he said.
"Young children growing up in society today, they have a lot of problems facing barriers of participation in the field of recreation. This program gives you ideas and helps plan and helps work with those kids to break down those barriers for themselves, so you get an increased number of kids participating in the field of recreation."
Although the workshop in Estevan focused on Aboriginal issues, a new aspect of the Everybody Gets To Play program added in the last two years, Haywahe said the initiative is open to anyone.
"People have a hard time to grasp the program itself, because (although) the program is for people across Canada, because it has the Aboriginal supplement, people feel that it's for Aboriginal people only. But it could be used in any sector of the population of the province," Haywahe said.
The toolkit provided as part of the workshop offers a comprehensive look at who Aboriginal people are, how they identify themselves, where they live, the challenges and trauma they have faced throughout history - including residential schools, abuse, racism and other injustices - and demographic statistics.
According to the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples' Survey, 73 per cent of Inuit children play sports outside of school at least once a week. Of First Nations children living off-reserve, 21 per cent participate in sports four or more times a week out of school. Also, 48 per cent of Métis children play sports one to three times per week.
According to the toolkit, common barriers limiting recreation opportunities for Aboriginal people include parents' social problems, traditional perspectives of the appropriateness of physical activity for Aboriginal females, poverty in urban centres, a lack of Aboriginal recreation providers, programs being too short and having a narrow focus, a shortage of trained leaders and volunteers, lack of money, and liability issues.
"The barriers right now in the field of recreation participation are usually equipment, transportation and skill, the knowledge of what recreation is," added Haywahe. "There are different fields, there's sport and culture and recreation. We try to build that capacity up by (giving them) the opportunity to understand what recreation really is. Recreation can be things like biking, hiking, horseback riding, skiing, things that keep you active in your leisure time."
The workshop also dealt with engaging and mobilizing the community to support the recreation project.
Outcome-based planning is key for someone trying to launch a successful recreation program. It is necessary to determine the required resources and the obstacles preventing people from participating. In order to acquire funding for the project, the group must establish its accountability and credibility.
Haywahe feels that the program is also a good way for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to work together.
"It's good bridge-building for non-First Nation and First Nation people to come together in understanding, because this program talks about a lot of barriers that Aboriginal people face in the province and how to address those issues. It's something good, it's something big and a program to help you better understand the people that you work with in the province."
