Students from Bridlewood Public School, Holy Cross Catholic School and St. Nicholas Catholic School take part in wheelchair basketball during the Lieutenant Governor Games at Variety Village in Scarborough on Friday, Feb. 27. Photo by Jessica Shackleton.

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

Para-skier and sailing skip Tracy Schmitt didn’t get to participate in gym class until Grade 6. She was simply told to sit on the bench, and nothing was done to include her.

In the fieldhouse at southwest Scarborough’s Variety Village on Friday, Feb. 27, it was the complete opposite.

Students from across the city took part in the annual Lieutenant Governor Games and were trying out adapted sports from wheelchair basketball to sitting volleyball. Everyone was moving, whatever their ability level was.

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Schmitt was the emcee of the event and welcomed the more than 500 participants to the Games during the opening ceremonies that were also attended by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Edith Dumont.

“What I love about the Lieutenant Governor Games is that they’re really early on getting schools involved in seeing the possibility that everybody gets to be involved in fun and play, and they’re learning through movement,” said Schmitt. “It’s just so fantastic, and it’s an opportunity that doesn’t get created. It just opens up possibilities, and it’s pretty great.”

She recently competed in a sailing race in Australia and was in San Diego last month, as the only female sailor. She came first.

“What I really love about Variety Village is that early on, they got me swimming. If I hadn’t been able to swim, I wouldn’t have been able to jump into a boat,” she said.

A Scarborough native who graduated from both Lester B. Pearson Collegiate and Berner Trail Public School, Schmitt has seen the impact Variety Village and the Lieutenant Governor Games have had.

Para-skier and sailing skip Tracy Schmitt, who grew up in Scarborough, was the emcee for the Lieutenant Governor Games at Variety Village on Friday, Feb. 27. Photo by Jessica Shackleton.

She also learned to climb on Variety Village’s climbing wall, which led her to become the only four-way amputee to ever climb the Himalayas of Nepal.

“That’s because of Variety Village, because of places like this that facilitated that. It lets the world know you can do it, and it jumps from sport to everyday living,” she said.