The Pulse: Aug. 28, 2024

Two events that focus on encouraging women and girls to get involved in sports are set to close out the summer.

High school students Tessa Muddle and Avery Witherspoon started Flag Like A Girl (FLAG) nearly a year ago. FLAG is hosting a free camp for girls aged seven to 14 on Aug. 31 at Foote Field.

Muddle and Witherspoon started FLAG because they wanted to build a pathway for girls to get into the sport and they were encouraged by female sports leaders from Fast and Female. They also didn't really like playing on coed teams with boys, Witherspoon said.

"We just noticed that boys aren't super fun to play with, just because they don't give us a lot more opportunities," Witherspoon said. "They don't give us the credit for what we do."

The girls both started playing flag football within the last two years. Witherspoon said flag football involves less physical contact and a smaller field size. "Flag football is a really good opportunity for girls, or anyone who's a little more cautious to play football, because they hear 'football' and immediately think of tackling and contact," she said. "But this is a great version because you're doing everything basically the same, except instead of being tackled, you just have to pull a flag."

Football is a great sport for young people, Muddle said. "I think football is one of the best sports to play, especially as a young kid, and when you're growing up through junior high (school) and high school, because it really teaches you the importance of teamwork and hard work and dedication," Muddle said.

Qualified coaches will teach the girls at the camp, Muddle said. "We're focusing mainly on building basic skills for flag football because it's a camp focused for the younger ages of seven to 14 — learning how to throw a football, learning how to catch a football," Muddle said. "Then we're getting into more kind of the first game play experience you'll have, which is just a very low-stress scenario."

They'll send the girls who fall in love with the sport to the Northern Alberta Flag Football Association for now but plan to start their own girls league sometime next year. "I think our opportunity to create the league is great because we have experience in coaching and we also know what we want the league to look like, to give girls the right pathway through the sport," Witherspoon said. "We want competitive teams and a recreation league for the girls that don't want to take it as far, but just want to have fun with the sport."

A week after FLAG's event, women and girl skateboarders will take over Woodlands Skate Park in St. Albert for The Ambush on Sept. 7, an annual event put on by Tigers Skate Club.

• The City of Edmonton has partnered with the Edmonton Police Service to launch the "Here to Help" campaign to enhance transit safety as 22,000 students return to school. More transit peace officers will be stationed at key LRT stations and transit centres during peak hours to help riders, while the Community Outreach Transit Team will provide broader social support. The campaign includes increased security measures, including security cameras, emergency phones, and alarm systems.
• The City of Edmonton has proposed routes for a potential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to enhance the existing bus network with dedicated lanes, which would improve travel times and frequency. Proposed routes include connections from Castle Downs to Century Park, West Edmonton Mall to Bonnie Doon, and the University of Alberta to Ambleside. A report detailing the proposal, presented at an urban planning committee meeting on Aug. 27, envisions implementation within five to 10 years.
• Edmonton's existing facilities cannot handle the increased volume of organic waste from the City of Edmonton's expanded food scraps collection program, administration says. The City plans to build a new composting facility, expected to be operational by 2028, at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre, and will hire a third party to manage the extra waste in the interim. City councillors will review a report outlining these plans and other options at a utility committee meeting on Sept. 3.
• The Alberta Human Rights Tribunal is hearing a gender discrimination complaint filed by Edmonton 2SLGBTQ+ advocate Marni Panas against the Edmonton Police Service after she says she was repeatedly misgendered during a 911 call in April 2019. Panas, a trans woman who has worked with the police service on 2SLGBTQ+ issues, said the incident eroded her trust in the police and violated her rights under gender, gender expression, and gender identity.
• Edmonton International Airport celebrated International Dog Day on Aug. 26 by highlighting the calming presence of therapy dogs at the airport, which help nervous travellers relax before flights. The airport, the first in Canada to implement a pet therapy program, also hosted an adoption drive with the Greater Edmonton Animal Rescue Society.
• Premier Danielle Smith has revealed the next steps in her government's plans to restructure Alberta's healthcare system by potentially removing Alberta Health Services as the operator of some hospitals, transferring them to other operators, such as the Catholic provider Covenant Health. Smith told attendees at a UCP town hall on Aug. 17 in Drayton Valley that the plan would improve healthcare delivery through competition and accountability. Critics argue the move could lead to service disruptions, particularly in rural areas, and may further privatize the public health system.
• A survey by Pollara Strategic Insights for the National Police Federation (NPF) has found that most Albertans support the existing Alberta RCMP over a proposed independent provincial police service. The survey found that 84% believe there are more pressing priorities than creating a new police force, and 87% want a detailed cost analysis before any changes. The NPF is a police union representing around 20,000 RCMP members across Canada and abroad.
• Edmonton's Saville Community Sports Centre is hosting the Curling Canada U-25 NextGen Classic, featuring men's, women's, and mixed doubles events. The competition includes teams from across Canada, with champions earning spots in the 2024 PointsBet Invitational and significant funding. All games will be streamed online.

On this day in 1930, plans were underway to transform Victoria High School.

The original schoolhouse opened in 1911. It was one of several schools built during the period to serve the city's booming population. It was also the city's first dedicated high school, and as such was given a creative name — Edmonton High School. The school cost about $150,000 at the time and was designed by architect Ronald Lines, known for several other buildings in the city including Strathcona School and the Union Bank. Two years later, the school was renamed Victoria High School in honour of Victoria, who was then queen.

In the 1920s, the principal of Victoria High School began pushing the province to turn the facility into a composite high school — a then-new education concept to offer a combination of academic, technical, and vocational training in one building. As part of the plan, the City of Edmonton designed a $600,000 expansion of the overcrowded school.

However, it took almost two decades for construction to start. The 1930s saw economic contraction that meant a shortage of funding for construction, and the Second World War during the 1940s meant a shortage of steel. The first wing of the school expansion didn't open until 1949, with another phase opening two years later.

In addition to classrooms, the newly expanded school offered woodworking facilities, industrial workshops, food labs, a swimming pool, and more. High school students walked its halls during the day, while classes for adults were held in the evenings. The original 1911 building was demolished in the mid-1960s.

Enrollment numbers at Victoria High School steadily declined over the next couple of decades. It mainly served as a vocational high school as well as an adult education centre. In 1985, Victoria High School saw another transformation — this time into an arts-focused high school, a project of then-principal Bob Maskell. It was renamed as Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts.

The school eventually added junior high and elementary school programs, and now houses students from kindergarten to the Grade 12.

In 2007, part of the school was destroyed by arson, which caused $3 million in damages. That same year, major renovations were started to update some of the facilities that remained from the original 1949 expansion.

More than a century after it became Edmonton's first high school, the institution known to many as "Vic" now has a reputation as one of the best art-focused schools in the country. Like other schools in the city, "Vic" is preparing for the start of a new school year. This fall will see the addition of students from Jasper, as the Edmonton Public School Board has offered space to students who have been displaced by the wildfires that destroyed parts of Jasper this summer.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Coffee with the Chamber starting at 8:30am at Fort Edmonton Park
• Tours for Tots | Art Detective Challenge starting at 10am at the Art Gallery of Alberta
• Open Cockpit Day starting at 10am at the Alberta Aviation Museum
• Stroller Tour | AGA100 Act II: Landscape to Land Use starting at 11am at the Art Gallery of Alberta
• Sherwood Park Farmers' Market starting at 3pm at Emerald Hills Shopping Centre
• Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market starting at 3:30pm at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre
• Edmonton Tech Wednesdays starting at 5:30pm at GRETA Bar YEG
• Dining with artists | a mural walking tour with Jamelle Davis of JD Art starting at 6pm at Cask and Barrel
• Garden Concerts: Ben Sures starting at 7pm at Anglican Parish of Christ Church

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Sept. 5: Edmonton Region Export Meetup at The Common
• Sept. 6-7: Cocktails and Jerk Festival at Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park
• Sept. 7: Ice Dyeing at the Providence Renewal Centre

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.