Smile well and often, it makes people wonder what you have been up to.
- Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige, 1906 – 1982
As Chair of OUTSPORT TORONTO, I found myself smiling well and often during 2011. It was a great year! We accomplished a lot for a volunteer organisation, working hand-in-hand with the member organisations whom we serve. I found myself smiling when
- I saw little kids playing ball-hockey with members of the Toronto Gay Hockey Association (TGHA) in the SportZone, where over a half-dozen of our member organisations created the first-ever co-ordinated showcase of LGBT sport and recreation during Pride 2011;
- I marched in the 2011 Pride Parade with even more organisations, showing Toronto that LGBT sport is alive and well in this city;
- I saw news coverage of the Toronto Gay Football League during that parade doing scrimmages to the crowd's delight;
- we received various invitations to participate in advisory panels and committees for the province of Ontario, PanAm / ParaPanAm 2015, and Seneca College;
- we started to get media coverage thanks to Patrick Burke leading up to the 2011 Scrum, with national spots on CTV and CBC, and articles in the National Post and Toronto Star, putting Toronto LGBT sport and recreation 'out there';
- I saw the results of the hard work of the Scrum 2011 committee come together the day of the Scrum – a very successful day for a completely new format, as evidenced by the evaluation results we received from participants, presenters, and panellists;
- I heard Patrick Burke's eloquent and moving keynote address at the 2011 Scrum, and then saw the very positive reaction from the audience to this fantastic ally;
- we received an unsolicited invitation to submit a proposal for the 2012 Toronto District School Board's Futures conference in the wake of our successful Scrum 2011;
- we added our sixth new member organisation, bringing our total to 21 of the roughly 30 organisations of which we know in the city;
- I sat in the Ricoh Colosseum to watch the Toronto Marlies play, and saw the joint Marlies - TGHA anti-homophobia PSAs; and
- each time the OUTSPORT TORONTO board met, where each director – themselves members of member organisations, and most with board / executive responsibilities in their own organisations – showed incredible dedication to the mission, vision, and values of OUTSPORT TORONTO.
Those are just a few of the things that give me a sense of pride in OUTSPORT TORONTO and our member organisations. As we close out 2011 and enter into 2012, your OUTSPORT TORONTO board of directors is planning for the year ahead.Â
As part of doing that, all member nominees and board / collective / steering committee / executive members should have received an eMail from our Director for Membership and Member Services, James Scott, asking you to attend our Town Hall meeting on the 28th of January. I also extend my personal invitation to you all. It is vitally important that you are there to help us shape our objectives for 2012. We did this work last January when we held our Vision and Values session, out of which came our current set of value statements, and our vision statement. As OUTSPORT TORONTO was created by its member organisations, and is governed ultimately by them, we want to ensure you have every opportunity to provide your input on what OUTSPORT TORONTO should be doing on your behalf. We will be taking the results of the Town Hall, and folding that into our objectives-setting and planning for 2012. So, please, make sure your organisation is represented.
In closing, I'd like to thank all our member organisations for their continued support as OUTSPORT TORONTO matures. Only a year and a half into our existence, we continue to work hard to ensure we are meeting the needs of our member organisations, the LGBT community at large, and society in general, as an ambassador for our member organisations. I'm honoured to have served as Chair this past year, and am looking forward to an even better 2012.Â
All the best in 2012 to you all!
Warm regards, Shawn
