Part 3 of 3: Community Health
The year was 2022.
Lockdowns had just been lifted, and we decided to run a modified version of The GOOD Games.
It ran over Canada Day weekend. July 1st to 3rd.
We set up the courts and nets, getting ready for the scheduled games later in the day. Pretty standard.
But before anything officially started, something happened.
People from the community started showing up early.
Not to watch. To play.
They went home and grabbed whatever they had. Soccer balls. Basketballs. Volleyballs.
And just started.
Strangers playing strangers. No teams, no structure, no sign-ups. Just people figuring it out as they went.
Older players mixing in with teens. Kids jumping into games with adults. People who clearly hadn’t played in years getting pulled in anyway.
Not planned. Not organized.
But it worked.
That’s when we realized we were onto something.
Most communities don’t get many moments like that.
Not because people don’t want them.
But because everything tends to be structured.
You sign up. You get placed. You stay in your group. You play your time slot. Then you leave.
There’s not a lot of overlap.
What we saw that weekend was the opposite.
No one was waiting to be told where to go.
They just found each other.
That idea has stayed with us.
And in a lot of ways, it shaped what The GOOD Games has become.
When you walk into the Games now, it’s still structured. There are tournaments, schedules, and brackets.
But layered on top of that is something else.
You can compete in one sport, wander into another, try something new, or just stop and watch something you didn’t expect.
And because everything is happening in the same space, people mix.
Not in a forced way.
It just happens.
You’ll see an adaptive try-it activation happening beside a competitive match.
You’ll see kids trying something for the first time a few steps away from athletes who have been playing for years.
You’ll see people who came to watch end up playing.
And no one really questions it.
That’s the part that stands out.
Somewhere along the way, a lot of our environments became more separated.
Different ages. Different abilities. Different groups.
Even in sport.
You either compete or you watch. You either belong or you don’t.
What we’re trying to do is bring some of that overlap back.
Not by forcing it.
Just by creating the conditions for it to happen organically.
That’s not something you can really schedule.
But you can create space for it.
And when you zoom out, that’s where this starts to matter beyond the event itself.
Because communities don’t just become healthier through programs or announcements.
They become healthier when people feel connected. Like they belong.
Movement plays a role in that.
So does competition.
But it’s the shared experience that ties it together.
Cities talk a lot about health.
Usually in terms of infrastructure, services, and programs.
All important.
But there’s another layer to it.
You need spaces where people naturally come together.
Where activity feels normal.
Where connection doesn’t need to be forced or overly organized.
That’s the part we keep coming back to.
If you can create those environments, even for a weekend, you start to see what’s possible.
It’s not perfect, but we’re working on it 😉
That Canada Day weekend in 2022 showed us that If you give people the space, they’ll find their way into it.
They’ll play.
They’ll connect.
They’ll stay.
That’s what community health looks like to us.
