Message from Sport and Recreation

By Christine Stapleton

Despite the cancellation of competitive sport this year, our coaches, staff, student staff and student athletes have worked incredibly hard, pivoting to meet new procedures and protocols as in-person training shifted to virtual, and back again. It was a challenging year. But through it all our student athletes figured out new ways to connect, support the community, and continue to train; and I will be forever impressed by their strength of purpose and strength of character. I would encourage your to check out these recent stories about our student athletes, that showcase how they have given back to our community this year. I am so purple and proud:

Western Track & Field Virtual 50km Run

Mustangs Football Curtis Fortune Helping the Homeless

Western Mustangs Men's Hockey Player Organizes Food Drive 

As I look towards Fall 2021, there is lots of planning going on at the University, OUA, and U SPORTS levels. U SPORTS has announced its championship dates, but there is still uncertainty about what our sport seasons will look like this upcoming year. I am thankful that through it all, Western remains committed to Sport, and we remain hopeful that we will see some return to competition this Fall. 

With that in mind, we are so pleased that the Western Mustangs will be seeing significant investments in areas that will impact student well-being and safety, improve sustainability, as well as improve flexibility of use. There will be major improvements made this summer to TD Stadium and the Thompson Recreation Athletic Centre (TRAC). These investments will give Western beautiful, safe, accessible, more efficient and sustainable spaces we can all be proud of, and where students can come to recreate and compete, and they reflect Western's investment into our students' health and well-being.

Once the upgrades are complete, these will be attractive, multi-use spaces that support collaborative campus activities for students, staff and faculty, and alumni. They will also make Western a destination for city, provincial, national and international events. The majority of the renovations and upgrades are scheduled to be completed by Fall 2021. More details about these investments can be found here: Western Mustangs News

The University has demonstrated a continued commitment to investing in Sport and Recreation in recent years and I am so pleased that they recognize the major role that Sport and Recreation plays at Western — helping to form the spirit and tradition at the core of the university community, and playing a pivotal role in the university's post-COVID recovery plans. 

Western is also committed to providing our student athletes with the tools necessary to achieve excellence in the classroom, on the field, and in their chosen profession. We recently launched our annual Adopt A Mustang program, which helps to trengthen each team's ability to recruit the best and brightest student-athletes and remain competitive on a provincial, national and international level. This year we are hoping to improve supports for all our teams, but especially our women's teams where we have seen declining donations in recent years. The demands of health and training continue regardless of COVID-19. I hope you will consider becoming a Game Changer by supporting the Mustangs today: Give now. Adopt a Mustang

We also have several upcoming Mustangs Alumni events that you may be interested in: Alumni Events

I am so incredibly grateful to you, our Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni for your support this past year. You have really stepped up to support us in different ways – attending virtual events and supporting our fundraising initiatives and social media campaigns; and you have helped to make our student athletes feel valued. I can’t overstate how much that means to me. I really appreciate that our Athletic Alumni have continued to engage with us.

I hope you have a wonderful and safe summer, and I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you in the Fall.

Christine Stapleton, Director, Western Sport and Recreation