Students from the St. Joseph's Hockey Canada Skills Academy with some of the new equipment purchased using the OFSSA Try Day grant
Students at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew have been rewarded for giving something new a try.
St. Joe’s educator Mark Valliquette explains that the school is making use of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association’s annual Try Day grant to promote inclusivity and foster positive attitudes towards physical health with a new set of equipment for their weight room.
While the school has used past Try Days to introduce new and intriguing sports concepts like boardball, chuteball, and pickleball, but Valliquette says this year’s theme of “Focus on Fitness” was a perfect opportunity to provide an improved experience for their sports teams and the student body in general.
Valliquette is also quick to point out how important it is to use resources like the Try Day grant to keep providing students with new, sustainable activities that can hopefully spark new interests that can help develop young leaders.
Staff at St. Joseph’s are already expecting to apply for the Try Day grant again next year, and have already begun researching what new sport or experience they can introduce to students in 2026.
(written by Kasey Egan)
