The Canadian Sportsman

The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…

It’s hard to see the forest for the trees.

I think sometimes we’ve got the opposite problem in this industry. We see the forest and we are well aware of the ‘big picture’ realities, knowing that we need to do something, anything, to bring new people, preferably younger, into our midst.

But we want to get them all fast, at once, in large numbers, and so we try to come up with ideas to attract a lot of ‘new people’ in one fell swoop, often forgetting how difficult it is to re-grow a forest overnight.

It may be on a small-scale, but the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA) youth camps have been planting saplings for quite a few years now.

Since 2003, the youth camps have been providing a free introduction to racing for children (aged 10-13) from a non-harness racing background.

Liz Waples, camp coordinator since 2007, estimates roughly half of the kids who have participated in the four-day camps over the last few years have gone on to be matched with a local trainer and have continued helping out in their spare time.

In several instances, the parents of those children have also gotten involved and bought horses themselves or, at the very least, made going to the races a new family activity.

Although this may only add up to a few dozen eager new participants each year, these people are proving to be much more active and engaged on a level that can be matched through interesting promotions or special events designed to attract outsiders to our sport.

Take the case of one camper, Brianne Sloan (please see Keeping You Posted)

When everyone plays his or her part, it’s a beautiful thing to see.

It’s also a very interesting case study:

• Brianne, an 11-year-old girl, attends the OHHA youth camp last summer.
• When camp is over, she would like to remain involved so coordinator Liz Waples hooks her up with local trainer George McClure and Brianne starts coming regularly to help out in his barn.
• Brianne is very dedicated and does a great job for McClure.
• Brianne’s parents, Rob and Sandra, support her chosen activity and make sure she gets a ride to and from McClure’s barn so she can continue helping out. Both parents get groom’s licenses so they can be involved as well.
• McClure rewards Brianne’s hard work by making her a part owner of an inexpensive pacing mare he buys at a recent mixed sale.
• The mare wins a race at Brianne’s home track, Clinton Raceway, the following week leading to big smiles in the winner’s circle for the new owner’s first big win.
• Race announcer, Frank Salive, and track photographer Gerald Millar, both called special attention to Brianne’s special achievement, making a great day that much more memorable.

No fewer than seven people, and one horse, played a role in making this a very positive experience for Brianne, and they did it so effortlessly. Together, they made magic happen and created an environment where everyone came out a winner.

That’s a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but I’ll take a couple dozen hardcore newcomers with staying power over a few thousand people, superficially exposed, with lukewarm interest, any day.

Sometimes there is nothing wrong with thinking small. Even the smallest saplings, when nurtured, can have very deep roots.