I’m still amazed at how many great events there are going Thunder Bay, and a lot of them I don’t even know about. Case in point, I was asked to photograph Jumpstart this past Friday, which is an event put on by Canadian Tire. Jumpstart’s core purpose is to raise funds, lift spirits and support dreams. If you want to learn more about this great organization, I encourage you to head on over to the website.
The Jump Start event I was asked to photograph took place at the Lakehead University. It comprised of over 300 girls between the ages of 8 to 14. The purpose of the event was to also bring attention to the continuing trend of girls dropping out of sports as they get closer to their teen years. A couple Canadian Olympians did their part in saying a few words to all the girls in attendance. Boxer Mandy Bujold and freestyle skier Deidra Dionne spoke to the girls and offered them some inspiring words. A great write up of the day was done by TB Newswatch, so if you want to read more head on over to their website.
As a photographer, I was simply there to cover all the excitement and good times had by all the girls. I didn’t really know what to expect but as soon as I heard that over 300 girls were going to be in attendance, playing various games, I knew I had my work cut out for me. They arrived by the busload, and once all the girls were there, and changed into their Jumpstart t-shirts, it was off to the races.
There were different stations set up throughout the Hangar, and after some time at each one, groups of girls rotated throughout them. My biggest challenge for the day was choosing what to photograph. Let’s just say there was no shortage of fantastic moments. I would often try and get some group shots of some of the girls and before I knew it, the original group called over 10 more friends!
From soccer, to curling to dancing, there was a wide variety of activities. As you can see from the photos below, I think every single girl had a very fun time. At the end of the day, Jumpstart brought together over 300 young girls and showed them just how important team sports are and encouraged them to continue playing them as they get older.
