Sport in the Halifax Regional Municipality
Encyclopedia
The Halifax Regional Municipality
, or HRM, having the largest urban population in Atlantic Canada
, is a major sport centre.
and several universities make use of their gymnasiums and sports fields for community use outside of school programs. Ranging from walking trails and provincial parks to tennis courts, swimming pools, shooting ranges and artificial turf soccer fields, HRM residents have access to virtually every type of sport facility required with organized leagues available throughout the area.
. Lake Banook and all the clubs on the lake hosted World Senior Canoe Kayak Championships in 1997 and 2009.
, Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
, Dartmouth Yacht Club and Bedford Yacht Club provide organized sailing competitions on a daily or weekly basis throughout the summer sailing season. St. Margarets Bay in the western part of the municipality, along with areas of the Eastern Shore
, provide additional support to sailing sport enthusiasts.
, St. Mary's University
and Mount St. Vincent University all field varsity and intramural teams for various sports, enjoyed by members of the public and university communities.
The Saint Mary's Huskies
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
football team is a very popular draw, and play their games at Huskies Stadium
. Both Dalhousie and St. Mary's field ice hockey
and soccer teams and have a fierce rivalry.
is home to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
's Halifax Mooseheads
, who usually lead the league in attendance. The Dartmouth Sportsplex hosts the Metro Marauders Junior-A team.
On August 24 2006 it was announced Halifax would receive an American Basketball Association
teamhttp://www.abalive.com/news/releases/?newsid=2006082406001. The team is known as the Rainmen. After one year in the ABA, the Rainmen left the league and have joined the Premier Basketball League
.
Rumours of a Canadian Football League
team have been around for decades, with one team, the Atlantic Schooners
, existing only on paper. The Halifax Regional Municipality has considered lobbying to have a CFL team located in the area, though the proposal has never been formally endorsed by the municipal or provincial governments. Huskies Stadium hosted Touchdown Atlantic
, a CFL exhibition game, in 2005, and planned to host another in 2006, but the suspension of one of the scheduled teams forced the cancellation of the game.
The Nova Scotia Keltics
play in the Rugby Canada Super League.
As for the major professional sports leagues, many Haligonians identify as supporters of the Boston
teams, especially the NHL Bruins
. This historic loyalty is often traced back to the relief Boston provided after the Halifax Explosion
. http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/Bruins+expect+strong+show+support+from+Maritimers/4900033/story.html The Bruins have played several preseason games at Halifax Metro Centre
in recent years.
HRM was selected to host the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
in May, 2007. National teams from Australia
, Canada
, the Czech Republic
, the Iroquois
Nation, Scotland
, and the United States
participated. Canada defeated the Iroquois Nation in the final by a score of 21-4.
The inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championship were held in Hamilton, Kitchener, Mississauga, and Oshawa, Ontario
, Canada
in May, 2003. The World Indoor Lacrosse Championship is an International Lacrosse Federation-sanctioned event.
Halifax also co-hosted the 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
with Quebec City
.
and Dartmouth
hosted the 1969 Canada Summer Games
In February 2011, the municipality hosted the 2011
Canada Winter Games.
bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games
, beating other Canadian municipalities such as Hamilton, Ontario
, York Regional Municipality, Ontario, and Ottawa, Ontario.
The estimated costs for the games in Halifax were initially projected at $800 million (CAD), to which the federal government committed $400 million in the fall of 2006. Leaked information projected these costs would escalate to $1.7 billion (CAD) as the bid committee prepared for submitting the final bid information in May 2007 to the Commonwealth Games Federation.
A major cost was projected to be the construction of a 50,000 seat stadium http://www.herald.ns.ca/Search/543157.html and sports complex, including an athlete's village, on former Department of National Defence
property at Shannon Park
on the Dartmouth waterfront. Officials had estimated these facilities would cost $163 million http://www.herald.ns.ca/Search/543157.html alone. Shannon Park was chosen as the most suitable location since it is situated on the Halifax Harbour
where proposed high speed ferries could connect to other parts of Bedford Basin
and the downtown central business district, as well as being situated astride several major highways and a rail line.
On March 8, 2007 the provincial and municipal governments issued a joint statement withdrawing Halifax from the bidding process for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, citing the projected costs to public finances and lack of available funding.
Halifax's withdrawal left 2 remaining bids under consideration: Abuja, Nigeria and Glasgow, United Kingdom. The Commonwealth Games Federation announced at a meeting in Sri Lanka
on November 9, 2007 that Glasgow would host the 2014 Games.
----
Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Regional Municipality had a 2006 census population of 372,679, while the metropolitan area had a 2010 estimated population of 403,188, and the urban area of Halifax had a population of 282,924...
, or HRM, having the largest urban population in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
, is a major sport centre.
Community sport
The HRM and provincial government maintain an extensive network of public parks, sports fields, skating arenas, and other facilities throughout urban and rural areas of the municipality. Additionally, many schools in the Halifax Regional School BoardHalifax Regional School Board
The Halifax Regional School Board is the public school board responsible for 137 elementary, junior high, and high schools located within the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. The current Superintendent of the HRSB is Carole Olsen, who has held the position since 2002...
and several universities make use of their gymnasiums and sports fields for community use outside of school programs. Ranging from walking trails and provincial parks to tennis courts, swimming pools, shooting ranges and artificial turf soccer fields, HRM residents have access to virtually every type of sport facility required with organized leagues available throughout the area.
Paddling
HRM's plentiful sheltered lakes in the urban core of Dartmouth and Halifax provide several private paddling clubs with some of the best race courses in Canada, in particular Lake BanookLake Banook
Lake Banook is a freshwater lake located in Dartmouth within the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is home to three sprint canoe and kayak clubs, two rowing clubs, and has a claim to be the birthplace of ice hockey.-Location:...
. Lake Banook and all the clubs on the lake hosted World Senior Canoe Kayak Championships in 1997 and 2009.
- Mic Mac AACMic Mac AACMic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club is located on Lake Banook in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Activities provided include recreational and high performance paddling and rowing as well as swimming lessons. The club is part of Canoe Kayak Canada. Mic Mac shares Lake Banook with paddling clubs Banook Canoe Club...
- Lake Banook - Banook Canoe Club - Lake Banook
- Senobe Canoe Club - Lake Banook
- Abanaki Aquatic Club - Bell Lake
- Cheema Aquatic Club- Lake Charles
- Maskwa Aquatic Club- Kearney Lake
- Orenda Canoe Club - Lake Echo
- Kinap Athletic Club - Porters Lake
Sailing
The Armdale Yacht ClubArmdale Yacht Club
The Armdale Yacht Club is a yacht club located on Melville Island at the head of Halifax Harbour's Northwest Arm in Nova Scotia Canada. Although only 60 years old itself, the club's property has a history dating to 1732.-Melville Island:...
, Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron is a yacht club located on the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Primarily a sailing club, the RNSYS also offers instructional programs and on water activities for all ages....
, Dartmouth Yacht Club and Bedford Yacht Club provide organized sailing competitions on a daily or weekly basis throughout the summer sailing season. St. Margarets Bay in the western part of the municipality, along with areas of the Eastern Shore
Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia)
The Eastern Shore is a region of Nova Scotia Canada. It is the Atlantic coast running northeast from Halifax Harbour to the eastern end of the peninsula at the Strait of Canso....
, provide additional support to sailing sport enthusiasts.
University sport
Dalhousie UniversityDalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
, St. Mary's University
Saint Mary's University (Halifax)
Saint Mary's University is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The school is best known for having nationally lead programs in Business, Astronomy and International Development Studies as well, one of the best football and Men's hockey programs in Canada .The campus is situated in Halifax's...
and Mount St. Vincent University all field varsity and intramural teams for various sports, enjoyed by members of the public and university communities.
The Saint Mary's Huskies
Saint Mary's Huskies
The Saint Mary's Huskies are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Their primary home turf is Huskies Stadium located in the centre of the University's campus....
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
football team is a very popular draw, and play their games at Huskies Stadium
Huskies Stadium
The Huskies Stadium is a Canadian football stadium in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that is host to Saint Mary's Huskies. It has a promoted capacity of 9,000 to 11,000 that is achieveable via temporary seating, but the actual permanent seating is only 4000. It was built in 1970...
. Both Dalhousie and St. Mary's field ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
and soccer teams and have a fierce rivalry.
Professional and semi-professional teams
Hockey teams are the most popular sports draw in HRM. The Halifax Metro CentreHalifax Metro Centre
The Halifax Metro Centre was built in 1978, in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The building is next to the World Trade and Convention Centre, at the foot of Citadel Hill. It is the largest arena in Halifax. It originally featured a full ring of bright orange seats around the playing surface,...
is home to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League...
's Halifax Mooseheads
Halifax Mooseheads
The Halifax Mooseheads are a CHL ice hockey club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The team was founded in 1994 and began play in the Dilio division of the QMJHL for the 1994-1995 season. While the franchise has never won a league championship, they have...
, who usually lead the league in attendance. The Dartmouth Sportsplex hosts the Metro Marauders Junior-A team.
On August 24 2006 it was announced Halifax would receive an American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association (21st century)
The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976...
teamhttp://www.abalive.com/news/releases/?newsid=2006082406001. The team is known as the Rainmen. After one year in the ABA, the Rainmen left the league and have joined the Premier Basketball League
Premier Basketball League
The Premier Basketball League, often abbreviated to the PBL, is a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States that began play in January 2008. The league had ten teams for the 2008 season and thirteen teams for the 2009 season. Nine teams from Canada and the United States...
.
Rumours of a Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
team have been around for decades, with one team, the Atlantic Schooners
Atlantic Schooners
The Atlantic Schooners were a conditional Canadian Football League expansion team that was to begin play in 1984 out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.On May 13, 1982, Maritime Professional Football Club Ltd. was granted a conditional expansion franchise...
, existing only on paper. The Halifax Regional Municipality has considered lobbying to have a CFL team located in the area, though the proposal has never been formally endorsed by the municipal or provincial governments. Huskies Stadium hosted Touchdown Atlantic
Touchdown Atlantic
Touchdown Atlantic is a series of Canadian Football League games played in the maritime provinces .In 2003, the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tenth team, with the leading candidate cities being Quebec City and Halifax. An exhibition game between Ottawa and...
, a CFL exhibition game, in 2005, and planned to host another in 2006, but the suspension of one of the scheduled teams forced the cancellation of the game.
The Nova Scotia Keltics
Nova Scotia Keltics
The Nova Scotia Keltics are a rugby team in Halifax, Nova Scotia that compete in the Rugby Canada Super League.They play their home games alternatively at the Wanderers Grounds and Graves Oakley....
play in the Rugby Canada Super League.
As for the major professional sports leagues, many Haligonians identify as supporters of the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
teams, especially the NHL Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
. This historic loyalty is often traced back to the relief Boston provided after the Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"...
. http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/Bruins+expect+strong+show+support+from+Maritimers/4900033/story.html The Bruins have played several preseason games at Halifax Metro Centre
Halifax Metro Centre
The Halifax Metro Centre was built in 1978, in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The building is next to the World Trade and Convention Centre, at the foot of Citadel Hill. It is the largest arena in Halifax. It originally featured a full ring of bright orange seats around the playing surface,...
in recent years.
Major tournaments
HRM has hosted the World Junior Hockey Championships, as well as the Brier and Tournament of Hearts curling championships.HRM was selected to host the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
The World Indoor Lacrosse Championship is an international box lacrosse tournament that is held every four years an is sponsored by the Federation of International Lacrosse . First held in 2003, the tournament was sponsored by the International Lacrosse Federation until 2008, when the ILF became...
in May, 2007. National teams from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Nation, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
participated. Canada defeated the Iroquois Nation in the final by a score of 21-4.
The inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championship were held in Hamilton, Kitchener, Mississauga, and Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in May, 2003. The World Indoor Lacrosse Championship is an International Lacrosse Federation-sanctioned event.
Halifax also co-hosted the 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
The 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships was the 72nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams representing 48 countries will participate in four levels of competition. The competition will also serve as qualifications for the 2009 competition...
with Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
.
Canada Games
In 1969 , then cities of HalifaxCity of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
and Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...
hosted the 1969 Canada Summer Games
In February 2011, the municipality hosted the 2011
2011 Canada Winter Games
The 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Friday 11 February 2011 to Sunday 27 February 2011. -Bids:4 bids were made for the games, eventually Halifax was selected to stage the games.*Halifax*Annapolis Valley*Truro, Wentworth and Brookfield with other...
Canada Winter Games.
2014 Commonwealth Games bid
Halifax Regional Municipality was selected as the CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games
2014 Commonwealth Games
The 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run over 11 days of competition from 24 July to 3 August 2014...
, beating other Canadian municipalities such as Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, York Regional Municipality, Ontario, and Ottawa, Ontario.
The estimated costs for the games in Halifax were initially projected at $800 million (CAD), to which the federal government committed $400 million in the fall of 2006. Leaked information projected these costs would escalate to $1.7 billion (CAD) as the bid committee prepared for submitting the final bid information in May 2007 to the Commonwealth Games Federation.
A major cost was projected to be the construction of a 50,000 seat stadium http://www.herald.ns.ca/Search/543157.html and sports complex, including an athlete's village, on former Department of National Defence
Department of National Defence (Canada)
The Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...
property at Shannon Park
Shannon Park, Nova Scotia
Shannon Park is a former military community on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is immediately south of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge in the city of Dartmouth...
on the Dartmouth waterfront. Officials had estimated these facilities would cost $163 million http://www.herald.ns.ca/Search/543157.html alone. Shannon Park was chosen as the most suitable location since it is situated on the Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...
where proposed high speed ferries could connect to other parts of Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin is a large enclosed bay, forming the northwestern end of Halifax Harbour on Canada's Atlantic coast.-Geography:Geographically, the basin is situated entirely within the Halifax Regional Municipality and is oriented northwest-southeast, measuring approximately 8 kilometres long and 5...
and the downtown central business district, as well as being situated astride several major highways and a rail line.
On March 8, 2007 the provincial and municipal governments issued a joint statement withdrawing Halifax from the bidding process for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, citing the projected costs to public finances and lack of available funding.
Halifax's withdrawal left 2 remaining bids under consideration: Abuja, Nigeria and Glasgow, United Kingdom. The Commonwealth Games Federation announced at a meeting in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
on November 9, 2007 that Glasgow would host the 2014 Games.
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