Habs rinks: A measurable impact

MONTREAL - It's been 10 years since the Canadiens Children's Foundation launched the BLEU BLANC BOUGE Rinks program, and with 10 outdoor, refrigerated skating facilities now dotted across Montreal and elsewhere throughout Quebec, it's clear the initiative has had quite an impact in the community.

But just what kind of an impact is that, exactly?
Jean-Francois Laflamme, a former Masters student in physical activity sciences at Université de Montréal, decided to hit the books - and the ice - to find out.
Under the supervision of Professor Suzanne Laberge of the kinesiology department, Laflamme did an examination of the accompanying BLEU BLANC BOUGE in Action program presented by Canadian Tire, which gives children the opportunity to take part in ice skating clinics on the various BBB rinks, and he reported some impressive results from his findings.
First of all, and perhaps most encouragingly, the program was reaching children who didn't previously have much or any experience with skating - and might never have if not for BLEU BLANC BOUGE. Of the participants surveyed at six community rinks - Saint-Michel, Montreal North, LaSalle, NDG, Longueuil, and Verdun - 74.4% of them had little to no prior skating abilities, including a staggering 85.7% in Montreal North.
"It shows us the program is reaching youth who do not know how to skate. It's a bit of a gamble, because some years, the program might fall on a school where more of the kids know how to skate," explained Laflamme. "But it was still nice to see that the reach was as high as it was."

Laflamme and Laberge also gathered observational data from two groups at two different rinks (Montreal North and Verdun) on four occasions for each group and were able to compile data which they could use to compare BBBiA to a similar physical-activity program in the United States to see how the Foundation's initiative stacked up. Here, too, BBBiA excelled, as they found it was structured to allow for 15% more physical activity than the American CATCH program, which Laflamme quantified as "very positive results" for the program.
The program was clearly tailor-made for success. When physically involved in the activities, the children who had little-to-no prior skating ability were able to complete their exercises 78.2% of the time overall, which includes a whopping 84.5% success rate in Verdun.
Over in LaSalle, youngster Aforlabi Agbon Tafara was able to take up hockey thanks in large part to the BLEU BLANC BOUGE program, and went from being a hockey newbie to captain of his Atom B LaSalle Cougars in short order.
His former teacher, Annie Gravel, credits the Foundation and its programs for Agbon Tafara's success.
"They've been helping him out. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the money to do all those sports. Hockey is an expensive sport," Gravel told canadiens.com back in December. "But the Foundation is behind him; they've been providing him with gear and registration fees] the last three years, which has helped his parents a lot.
"His family would not have been able to do it and keep going with it. He's very lucky to have the Foundation behind him."
*[RELATED: [From the sidelines to the starting lineup]
For Genevieve Paquette, the Foundation's general manager and Canadiens vice-president of community engagement, Laflamme and Laberge's findings provide validation for years of planning and hard work.
"It's a nice pat on the back for the whole team at the Foundation. It means that the program is meeting its goals, in certain cases maybe even exceeding them," glowed Paquette, who noted she felt the Foundation was privileged to benefit from the caliber of research Laflamme and Laberge can offer. "Our people work very hard on a daily basis, not only to raise the money to make these programs, but also to figure out the best way to get youth to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine."
And with 48.4% of participants reporting they spent more time on the ice on their own after taking part in the program, and 94.4% of respondents rating the program either "fun" or "very fun", it's quite clear that BLEU BLANC BOUGE in Action is the perfect conduit for the Foundation's mission of encouraging physical activity and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle among underprivileged youth.
To get tickets for the Red vs. White scrimmage on September 16 in support of the Canadian Tire BLEU BLANC BOUGE in Action program, click here.*