When the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) took the lead to put Canada on the map as a key participant in the 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE) as declared by the United Nations, we hoped that our colleagues, partners and Canadians in general would become engaged and participate in celebrating this important event. Importantly, we wanted to ensure that schools across the country were informed and had the opportunity to build on the spotlight being placed on the importance of Physical Education to the healthy development of children and youth.

The results were remarkable. Not only were Canadians informed, but hundreds of special events and celebrations were held from coast to coast over the course of the year. These events were shared with CAHPERD, and were posted at the www.yearofsportandpe.ca website for others to learn from and build on.

In January 2005, CAHPERD launched its “Keep the Physical in Education” campaign. This campaign was integrated into all of our planned and IYSPE specific events and activities. In addition, PSAs and merchandise were developed around this theme. The ultimate goal of the campaign was to raise awareness about the importance of quality Physical Education for all children and youth with the hope of improving the quality and quantity of Physical Education being provided in Canadian schools.

To give the Year its look, a Canadian Year of Sport and PE logo was developed and shared across the country. The logo appeared on many national sport and physical education organization websites, on school resources and promotions, merchandise, newsletters, university websites and resources, and was integrated into conference themes and special events.

This dedicated website was launched at the beginning of the year, and served as the heart of the Canadian Year of Sport and Physical Education campaign – the hub where all participants could go to share ideas, learn about ideas, download resources, access lesson plans, and much more. Provincial associations, partner organizations, media, parents, teachers and anyone with a vested interest in enhancing school sport and physical education programs in our country book marked this site, and visited it often and share with us their events planned throughout the year. Since its launch at the beginning of the year, the www.yearofsportandpe.ca website has received more than 220,000 page views, accounting for 25% of all of CAHPERD’s web traffic.

CAHPERD also planned many special events throughout the year, including three themed “Keep the Physical in Education” weeks. “Keep the Physical in Education” Winter Week took place from February 21-25^th and focused on healthy hearts and cardiovascular fitness activities. Free teaching tips, lesson plans, activity ideas and resources were all provided to teachers to download on our website.

“Keep the Physical in Education” Spring Week took place from May 23-27, 2005. During this week, schools were encouraged to participate in nation-wide activities, challenges, and celebrations. Many ideas were provided in the themed monthly calendar, which focused on running, jumping, throwing; track & field; athletics games and events for the month of May.

The highlight of the “Keep the Physical in Education” Spring Week was the SpecTAGular National School Challenge that took place on Thursday, May 26^th. During this challenge, 260,053 participants from 949 schools across the country yelled 'Tag, you're it!' in a massive game of tag. Media across Canada picked up on this event, and visited schools to cover their events. SpecTAGular was so well received that we are running it for a second time on Thursday, May 25^th 2006. Megan Punnett, Miss Canada 2005, joined in the challenge by playing Tag with 500 students at an elementary school in Oakville, Ontario.

Also during this week, two graduating Physical Education students from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Daniel Bélanger and Marie-Pierre Morin, began cycling across Canada to raise more awareness of the International Year of Sport and Physical Education. Their journey began in Nova Scotia on May 24^th, 2005 and they arrived in Vancouver on July 26^th, 2005.

“Keep the Physical in Education” Fall Week took place from October 3-7^th, 2005. CAHPERD partnered with Go for Green on the promotion of International Walk to School Week, which took place at the same time.

A highlight of this week was the declaration of October 7^th as “Sport and Physical Education Day” across the country. Following suit with the declaration by Quebec to celebrate “Sport and Physical Activity Day on October 7^th, CAHPERD lobbied Federal and Provincial Ministers of Education, Health and Sport and as a result, seven other provinces passed formal proclamations in their province to celebrate this day. Way to go Québec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland!

CAHPERD sent a delegation of six children, one junior leader and two leaders to Hammamet, Tunisia to participate in the International Children's Festival, August 23-30th. Organized jointly by the International Rainbow Week Movement and the Tunisian Association for Sport for All, the festival aimed to give children from around the world the opportunity to take part in a multitude of both sporting and educational activities.

At the Festival, the children took part in numerous activities based on Sport as a means of promoting Education, Health, Development and Peace, as part of the theme of the 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education.

As a culminating event for the Year, CAHPERD hosted a national Physical Education Forum in Ottawa, Ontario on November 17-18, 2005. During this event, more than 100 leaders from across Canada gathered to expose the critical issues impeding on the quality of school Physical Education programs being provided to children in Canada, to highlight the minimum program standards that are necessary, and to strategize actions for change.

As an outcome of this historic event, a series of recommendations and actions have been established that will be carried out over the short, medium and long term with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all Canadian children and youth have the opportunity to experience a quality Physical Education program in order to develop the skills that they need to lead healthy, physically active lives.

In Canada, as is the same in much of the world, we are faced with a physical inactivity epidemic. The 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education has enabled us to bring more attention to this issue, and most importantly to the solutions. Government officials, school decision makers, educators, parents and the media have been targeted to make them more aware of the critical role of school quality Physical Education programs in teaching the knowledge and skills that all children need to be physically active, and their role in making this happen.

CAHPERD is grateful to the United Nations for providing us with such an opportunity. Children and youth have a fundamental right to a quality Physical Education program. The 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education has allowed us to strengthen our voice to get this message heard. And the efforts will continue as we move forward to Keep the Physical in Education.

The Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) is a national, charitable, voluntary-sector organization whose primary concern is to influence the healthy development of children and youth by advocating for quality health, physical education and sport experiences. Since its inception in 1933, CAHPERD has become recognized as the voice of physical and health education in Canada. For more information visit www.cahperd.ca or www.yearofsportandpe.ca