In Spacing’s third issue, Ed Keenan wrote about the importance of play — spontaneous or organized — for our city. This oft-neglected issue is now it is back in the news. This week, the Toronto Sports Council issued a report (PDF) detailing the inadequate infrastructure for organized play in our city, as a lead-up to a summit today between Mayor David Miller and over 200 representatives of local sports groups.
As described in an article in the Toronto Star, the report found that, while Toronto has plenty of neighbourhood sports facilities for informal play (such as community centres) and high-end elite/professional facilities, the city is seriously lacking in mid-level facilities for organized amateur sports leagues, leaving the existing facilities over-burdened. As well, the lack of investment in public facilities in the last two decades means that up-and-coming sports that reflect Toronto’s changed demographics, such as cricket, are seriously underserved. The report also points to some simple (and perhaps inexpensive) ways of making it easier to play sports in Toronto, such as simplifying the city’s permit system for booking facilities.