Benefits
• Exercise may boost academic performance in various ways, including: burning off pent-up energy and allowing kids to pay attention better and focus on their work; boosting self-esteem and mood; and increasing blood flow to the brain, helping with memory and concentration
• Kids will improve their sports talents, confidence, leadership, teamwork and fair game skills the more they play.
• Sports gets kids away from the tv screen. The biggest difference between overweight youth and their healthy-weight peers is the amount of time they spend in front of TV or computer screens, according to a new study that compares different lifestyles.
• Keeps kids out of trouble. Sports are a great influence for why kids say no to drugs, gangs and stay in school. Fewer fights happen when kids are active playing sports.
• Creates a sports hub where anyone in the local community can play their favourite sports for free
• Schools where students exercise each day, played extra sports and are discouraged from eating junk food saw overall scores climb by 18 per cent over two years in reading, writing and math, compared to about 4 per cent for similar schools who don't promote physical activity
• A great option for the students’ daily physical activity, as well increases the productivity of the student without increasing the demand on teachers.
Testimonials
“The kids love using sports walls; we can see our students playing more sports during and after school. They even created their own games to play. We’ve actually noticed fewer fights at school, which has been a big plus. Thanks!” Gordon Maclean - Gym teacher at St. Barnabas Catholic School.
"Sports walls have been a great asset to our school. The students love it and use it regularly. It doesn't matter if it's before, during, or after school, they are using the sports walls. They are even creating their own sports to play, with the help of the lines sports walls provides. It helps promote healthy active living and keeps the students engaged during recesses. It has been a great addition to our school and it is recommended that schools invest in the sport walls." Peter Stachiw - Principal at St. Barnabas Catholic School
“Sports walls have been a great addition to our school. The kids get so many new options of games to play with now and are taking full advantage of it. Even our volleyball team started to use the court outside to get in more practice hours since the gym isn’t always open.” Carolyn Anco - Principal at St. Brendan Catholic School.
How Did It All Start?
I used to play hockey with my friends in elementary school. Here’s the catch: I would have to carry my 65 pound net all the way to school from my house and back again just to be able to play my favourite sport for a few hours. After 2 weeks of playing hockey, no one wanted to help me carry that net back, which is understandable. Carrying such a heavy net after a few hours of hockey was a burden but without it, we wouldn’t be able to play.
This is where I came up with my idea. The only thing a net provides is a way to tell who scored a goal. I took this idea and boiled it down to drawing chalk nets on the school wall. It worked! However, this was just a temporary fix because after a couple days, some or all of the lines would wear off. This is when I got my second idea: Why not paint different sports courts on school walls? It’s a low cost for high value, little to no maintenance, permanent solution to my problem.
• Exercise may boost academic performance in various ways, including: burning off pent-up energy and allowing kids to pay attention better and focus on their work; boosting self-esteem and mood; and increasing blood flow to the brain, helping with memory and concentration
• Kids will improve their sports talents, confidence, leadership, teamwork and fair game skills the more they play.
• Sports gets kids away from the tv screen. The biggest difference between overweight youth and their healthy-weight peers is the amount of time they spend in front of TV or computer screens, according to a new study that compares different lifestyles.
• Keeps kids out of trouble. Sports are a great influence for why kids say no to drugs, gangs and stay in school. Fewer fights happen when kids are active playing sports.
• Creates a sports hub where anyone in the local community can play their favourite sports for free
• Schools where students exercise each day, played extra sports and are discouraged from eating junk food saw overall scores climb by 18 per cent over two years in reading, writing and math, compared to about 4 per cent for similar schools who don't promote physical activity
• A great option for the students’ daily physical activity, as well increases the productivity of the student without increasing the demand on teachers.
Testimonials
“The kids love using sports walls; we can see our students playing more sports during and after school. They even created their own games to play. We’ve actually noticed fewer fights at school, which has been a big plus. Thanks!” Gordon Maclean - Gym teacher at St. Barnabas Catholic School.
"Sports walls have been a great asset to our school. The students love it and use it regularly. It doesn't matter if it's before, during, or after school, they are using the sports walls. They are even creating their own sports to play, with the help of the lines sports walls provides. It helps promote healthy active living and keeps the students engaged during recesses. It has been a great addition to our school and it is recommended that schools invest in the sport walls." Peter Stachiw - Principal at St. Barnabas Catholic School
“Sports walls have been a great addition to our school. The kids get so many new options of games to play with now and are taking full advantage of it. Even our volleyball team started to use the court outside to get in more practice hours since the gym isn’t always open.” Carolyn Anco - Principal at St. Brendan Catholic School.
How Did It All Start?
I used to play hockey with my friends in elementary school. Here’s the catch: I would have to carry my 65 pound net all the way to school from my house and back again just to be able to play my favourite sport for a few hours. After 2 weeks of playing hockey, no one wanted to help me carry that net back, which is understandable. Carrying such a heavy net after a few hours of hockey was a burden but without it, we wouldn’t be able to play.
This is where I came up with my idea. The only thing a net provides is a way to tell who scored a goal. I took this idea and boiled it down to drawing chalk nets on the school wall. It worked! However, this was just a temporary fix because after a couple days, some or all of the lines would wear off. This is when I got my second idea: Why not paint different sports courts on school walls? It’s a low cost for high value, little to no maintenance, permanent solution to my problem.
