Requesting Support for the Regent Park United Soccer Team - by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, seconded by Councillor Shelley Carroll

Through persistence and community support including an early and significant donation from community leader and philanthropist, Mr. Denham Jolly, the team raised enough funds to play in the Cherry Beach Soccer Club. The team were very successful last season. Earlier this year, this young start-up team reached out requesting support for their team to access the Regent Park Athletic Grounds. Last summer, the team was holding all of their practices and games at the Cherry Beach soccer field despite the Regent Park Athletic Grounds being the local field for the youth. The youth and their families are required to travel to and from Regent Park to the Cherry Beach soccer field multiple times a week. This additional cost and time put unnecessary hardship on the young players and their families, as many guardians worked off-peak shift hours and not all had access to a private passenger vehicle. Recreation staff at the City have been working hard to support the team in accessing permitted time on the Regent Park Athletic Grounds. The team was issued a permit for Fridays for two hours from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m, for a period of 13 weeks. The permit costs a total of $1,638.52. Unfortunately, the team is currently unable to pay the full permit cost due to further financial strain on the families brought on by new COVID-19 hardships. We are requesting that City Council waive the permit fees for the Regent Park United soccer team as means to support equitable access to City facilities and the goals of the Council approved, Regent Park Social Development Plan.