One of the things I have learned over the past few years is that there are incredible people doing incredible work all across the Northwest Territories. The funny part is … Many of us have never met.
A recreation coordinator in Fort Smith may be working on the exact same challenge as someone in Tuktoyaktuk. A teacher in Behchokǫ̀ may have created an amazing activity that would work perfectly in Inuvik. A coach in Hay River may have solved a problem that another coach in Yellowknife is just beginning to face. Yet we often work in our own little corners of the territory without realizing how much we have in common. That is one of the reasons Physical Literacy NWT continues to grow. Not because another website was needed. Because another way to connect was needed.
Over the past years, I have been building the website with one simple question in mind. How can we make it easier for people to find one another? If someone wants to contact the recreation department in Norman Wells, it should not take twenty minutes of searching. If a school is looking for a Territorial Sport Organization, it should not have to wonder where to begin. If a community organization wants to partner with an Indigenous government, municipality, or health centre, finding the right contact should be simple. The easier it is to connect, the easier it becomes to work together.
That is why you will now find community pages, schools, Territorial Sport Organizations, Indigenous governments and organizations, recreation contacts, and many other resources all in one place. It is not about building the biggest website in the Northwest Territories. It is about removing barriers. One phone call can create a partnership. One email can start a new program. One conversation can change an entire community.
I often say that Physical Literacy belongs to everyone. That means education. Health. Justice. Sport. Recreation. Municipalities. Indigenous governments and organizations. Early childhood. Seniors. Families. Volunteers. The list goes on. Nobody owns Physical Literacy. We all contribute to it. The more we know about one another, the easier it becomes to support one another.
One of my favourite sayings is, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” I truly believe that. There are brilliant ideas in every community across the Northwest Territories. Sometimes all those ideas need is a place to meet. That is what I hope the Physical Literacy NWT website becomes. Not simply a collection of webpages. A place where people discover one another. A place where partnerships begin. A place where ideas are shared. A place where communities grow stronger together.
If you have not visited the website recently, I encourage you to take a look. Explore your own community. Then explore another one. You might discover a program you never knew existed, meet someone doing incredible work, or find the partner you did not know you were looking for.
Because at the end of the day, Physical Literacy is about movement. But building Physical Literacy across the Northwest Territories starts with something much simpler. Knowing one another.
https://physicalliteracy.info