Sports for Support, based out of Vancouver, B.C., is a charitable organization building connections in the Yukon.
The charity’s teen founder, Cameron Lee, was in the territory on Aug. 22 talking to Premier Ranj Pillai and other partners. Conversations with Pillai covered expanding within the territory and building networks up here, Lee said.
The Vancouver Canucks have collaborated with Lee’s organization by donating used equipment, which was noted on the charity’s website. Some of this equipment may find its way to Indigenous communities and more remote parts of the territory.
Equipment shipped to the Yukon is supposed to spread across the territory and find its way to families and organizations promoting youth sports, inside and outside of Whitehorse.
“How it’s going to work with permeating that equipment across the territory, is those families can come into the Yukon office and pick up the equipment they need,” Lee said.
“I believe some is going to remote communities, as well as Indigenous communities.”
Lee told the News that he was referred to the Council of Yukon First Nations Grand Chief, Peter Johnston, during his meeting with Pillai and Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn.
Lee founded the organization in 2022 to provide youth with access to sports equipment. The charity’s website states its mission is to encourage children to participate in sports.
The charity has already sent over eight boxes of hockey gear to the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association, as seen in an Aug. 22 social media post by the association, which showcases its delivery with Lee present.
Lee became familiar with the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association during a 2021 hockey tournament in B.C. He became familiar with some of the Whitehorse coaches and was told about a perceived shortage of sporting gear.
“Through those conversations I kind of learned that equipment up here, even for Whitehorse, was not accessible, as well as other remote communities around the territory,” Lee said.
Youth hockey players would need an estimated $1,000 to get fully kitted out with the right gear, Lee said. This includes sticks, ice skates and protective clothing.
Sports for Support reached out to Air North and requested sponsorship to help bring the charity’s cause to the Yukon. In response, Air North provided the funds for Lee to fly up here to meet with the premier.
A shortage of professional sporting equipment is a topic the News heard about from another Yukon sporting association, the Yukon Cricket Association. Charitable causes such as Lee’s may provide a solution to a problem experienced across Yukon communities.
Contact Jake Howarth at [email protected]
