PRINCE ALBERT — The Global Sports Academy at Carlton Comprehensive continues to show significant growth in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, according to an update provided at the board’s regular meeting on Monday.
Former Carlton principal and current Superintendent Jeff Court provided the Global Sports Academy report to the board. Global Sports has grown to include 90 student-athletes in three programs: high school hockey, Grade 7 and 8 hockey and high school multi-sport. Last year the same program had 70 enrolled according to the report.
Director of Education Neil Finch said that the program continues to grow at a substantial rate.
He attributed the positive numbers to many factors.
"It's word of mouth. We do some advertising for it too, but it's also a really nice option for our student-athletes to take part and then and it's got a lot of the elite athletes who find it appealing,” Finch said.
The program began with 19 students when it started in 2020 and rose to 39 in 2022.
“We first started as a high school programme and we've extended to Grade 6 to 8 over the years, right, so that's helped those numbers as well,” Finch said.
He added that the program now provides flexibility and sports options for students, which has made it a more attractive option.
The programs on offer include sport-specific training, sports therapy and nutrition education along with flexible learning opportunities. In his report, Court attributes the growth of the program to the high quality of the program overall.
The program has a mix of male and female students. The Grade 7 and 8 program brings in students from Red Wing, Ecole Vickers, Ecole Arthur Pechey and Osborne Schools.
Finch added that the education side is very important along with the athletic side of Global Sports. He explained that leadership work is done during classroom time which is also beneficial to students.
The Grade 9 to 12 program has a blended learning environment where students can work at their own pace and choose what they want to work on.
