With 2019 quickly coming to an end, it’s a good time for us to reflect on the past year, celebrate our wins, and the exciting opportunities coming to our City. Each year, Richmond Sport Hosting supports a multitude of events throughout the City, utilizing venues and hotels, and connecting with the local sport organizations to strengthen Richmond’s sport community and leave a positive lasting legacy. Here are some of our highlight moments from 2019.
On a personal level we had Pam Lacroix, Manager of Richmond Sport Hosting return from her maternity leave in January of 2019. In no time Pam was back into the swing of things, jumping back in on some ongoing bids, getting them over the finish line and connecting with past and new clients to seek out new hosting opportunities.
We kicked off the year with the Fencing Canada Cup #2 at the Richmond Olympic Oval, the Synchro National Stream Provincial Qualifier at Watermania, and the 2019 Mountain Regional Synchronized Skating Championships at Minoru Arenas. In the spring Richmond was host to the Para Ice Hockey Provincials, and we can proudly say that since the Oval completed the rink upgrades for accessible ice hockey, the Oval is becoming a highly recognized venue for accessibility and delivering quality experiences for all athletes and competitors.
The spring brought back familiar faces, with flagship annual events such as the Judo Pacific International, Wheelchair Rugby Vancouver Invitational, Greater Vancouver Open Dart Tournament, Richmond Jets Minor Hockey Spring Classic, Pacific International Cup Curling Bonspiel, Richmond Ravens Spring Ice Classic, Volleyball 17U/18U Provincials and the Delta Gymnastics Cash and Carry Cup. We also celebrated the one-year countdown to the 2020 CARHA Hockey World Cup.
We welcomed athletes from across Canada to the U14 Volleyball Nationals in May, with over 1,200 athletes in attendance. Minoru Park was also host to the 51st BC Elementary Track and Field Championships, along with the fields being utilized for the John Main 13U AA Baseball Tournament, Queen Victoria 15U AAA Baseball Tournament, and Steveston London Park hosting the annual U19 Cat Wheatley Tournament.
In the summer we hosted the first inaugural Battle of the Badges Canada, a basketball tournament for police, fire, corrections and military men’s division teams, with teams from Canada, US, Trinidad and Tobago. Mayfair Lakes Golf & Country Club hosted the 2019 Canadian Deaf Golf Championships in July, along with the U19C Women Provincials Softball Championships, and first-ever Richmond Mad Motto at Watermania Aquatic Centre, a short sprint-style triathlon.
In the fall Fencing Canada was back and hosted the Fencing Canada Cup #1 at the Richmond Olympic Oval. We also welcomed administrative staff to the West Coast, with Water Polo Canada hosting their Growth and Leadership Summit and Softball Canada’s AGM and Congress. For the second-time Richmond hosted the Petro Canada Sport Leadership sportif Conference at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel, having played host back in 2016 with great success.
To cap the year off, we were proud to host the BC Indigenous Provincials Basketball Selection Camp, Karate BC Provincials, 13th Annual International Wheelchair Curling Bonspiel, Speed Skating BC Cup Short Track #2, and the 39th Annual Richmond International Bantam Midget Tournament to name a few!
In addition, the last intake of the Richmond Sport Hosting Incentive Grant Program in 2019 was the largest intake of applications ever received. We saw an influx of new organizations, new sports to Richmond and a resurgence of sport organizations who had not applied for funding for several years – crediting Pam’s relationship building and innovation to secure new opportunities.
Not only did we play host to over 75 exciting events in 2019, but Richmond Sport Hosting was also gearing up for future opportunities, bidding for and winning the rights to numerous events, including the 2020 Indo Pacific Trampoline & Tumbling Championships, 2020 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 2022 Sport Events Congress, and the 2020 IWRF Paralympic Qualification Tournament. All of which we are excited to support, and we look forward to welcoming athletes, staff, coaches and spectators to Richmond in the coming years.
Over the holiday season our staff will rest up, as 2020 is the busiest year on the books, with 56 confirmed events thus far, and an anticipated 32,650 room nights, more than doubling the numbers of room nights from previous years.
We kick things off in March with the 2020 CARHA Hockey World Cup, with 147 teams from 15 countries, it is the largest international adult recreational hockey tournament in the world. It will be the largest event hosted in Richmond since 2010, with an estimated $12 – $15 million in economic impact to the City.
We are happy to announce that in 2020, Richmond will host its first National-level water polo event, the 19U Western Conference Championships. As well as the first national-level climbing event, the 2020 Lead & Speed Nationals, hosted on the new climbing wall at the Richmond Olympic Oval. We also welcome back the BC 55+ Games in September with sports being hosted throughout the City, and BC-athletes showing the meaning of being active for life.
With a successful 2019 coming to a close, and so many prestigious and exciting events to look forward to in 2020 and beyond, we thank our sport community and partners for your continued support and helping us make Richmond the premier sport hosting community in all of Canada.
