Youth Outreach

Recognizing that not everyone has an interest in participating in athletic programs, Engagement Through Art was created as an outreach opportunity for youth with varying interests, strengths, and passions. The program partners with community centres in the city, offering classes in different art mediums. They also provide workshops for immersive, performance-based arts experiences.

This two-day intensive basketball camp for Grade 8 students aged 12 to 14, integrates basketball skills development, drills, and games, with education and learning about the dangers of gang involvement. The camp involves approximately 120 students from seven secondary schools on Vancouver’s Eastside. Through engagement and positive role modelling, vulnerable youth at increased risk of gang recruitment are supported to make better life choices for themselves.

This event brings together professional athletes, UBC Thunderbird alumni, police officers, and at-risk youth to play flag football. Following the games, athletes give strategic talks, and former gang members discuss the myths and realities of gang life. The goal is to show students the consequences of poor choices, and to build bridges with kids who rarely talk to police or participate in school activities.

Students in Grades 8 through 12 at Churchill Secondary can take part in an after-school strength and resistance training club aimed at developing lifelong health and fitness habits. Participants learn the importance of motivation, hard work, and perseverance by working toward individual goals and personal bests, rather than promoting unhealthy comparisons to others. In March of 2024, the Iron Bulldogs hosted the first inter-school weightlifting competition, with students from Churchill, Lord Byng, and Kitsilano Secondary. The Club intends to expand to Magee, Lord Byng, and Kitsilano in the coming year.

The Vancouver Girl’s Basketball Association has partnered with Langara College Women’s Basketball, Vancouver Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the Lower Mainland Independent Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the Vancouver Police Foundation, and the Vancouver Police Department to host the Langara Challenge each January. The top eight teams from the senior and junior leagues are invited to participate, where the focus is on development of basketball skills and the importance of gender equality and representation in youth sports and athletics. Competitors also have a chance to receive scholarships.

High school is tough enough — especially in a new country, with a new language and social customs. These vulnerabilities can sometimes put teen refugees and immigrants on the wrong path. The Diversity, Community, & Indigenous Relations Section and the Vancouver School Board, with funding from the Vancouver Police Foundation, developed a program to help kids navigate through this difficult transition.

The program focuses on educating and creating awareness around law enforcement through peer and police mentorship to prevent the risk of gang recruitment or criminal involvement, or kids falling victim to bullying or harassment.

In sharing their experiences with other youth like themselves, newcomers and refugee youth are given a chance to form positive relationships with police and peers in the program, and to develop a sense of identity and belonging.

The program unites youth through fun and engaging experiences that promote social justice, healthy lifestyles, positive issues of identity, integration and adaptation, along with preventing bullying and violence. The NewKids Program is more than just a program for these youth: it is a life-changing experience.

This program supports youth with individual athletic, recreational, artistic, or resilience-based programming needs — from tutoring and driving lessons to volleyball camp and acting lessons. By encouraging youth to take part in activities that they are interested in, the hope is to decrease engagement and/or escalation in anti-social attitudes and behaviour. By emphasizing individual strengths, interests, and attributes, SAFARY aims to highlight the characteristics that make each youth unique, providing an opportunity to take part in community-based activities and programming that foster growth, learning, and resiliency.

This program promotes informal relationship building between police and at-risk youth through the simple act of sharing a meal and getting to know each other. Share-a-Meal provides an opportunity for seemingly unremarkable moments to transform into a catalyst for connection.

The program is funded by the Vancouver Police Foundation.

This program was a creative response to an unsafe situation after several unsanctioned boxing matches took place on school property. It is a means to support youth interest in combat sports by providing onsite supervision and skills development. Focusing on early intervention and crime prevention, while making connections and building relationships, the program actively engages vulnerable and at-risk youth through no-contact boxing. Participants foster athletic skills, strengthen their resiliency, and experience personal growth and development.

The VPD Titans Swim Club recognizes that many youth grow up without learning the necessary swimming skills to full enjoy aquatic activities. Club members are Templeton Secondary students, who meet at the Templeton Pool to learn and practice swimming techniques, stroke proficiency, and endurance. As the participants become more comfortable in and around water, they will build confidence with the introduction of new skills and challenges, fostering courage, determination, and resiliency.