In September, the Ontario government announced one of the largest investments in CNIB Lake Joe’s history: $3 million to build a new, multi-purpose recreation facility at Lake Joe for children and athletes who are blind or have low vision.
The new multi-purpose facility will feature a goalball court, equipped with specialized flooring and acoustic sound. The centre will serve local, regional and national goalball teams, providing a permanent home for training and competition. Once complete, the facility will offer a wide range of programs designed for recreational and competitive goalball players, as well as other adaptive sports and community activities.
If you’re not familiar with goalball, it’s a fast-paced Paralympic sport designed for athletes who are blind or have low vision. Players track the ball by sound. There are bells inside, and they dive across the court to block and score goals. It’s fierce, it’s competitive, and it’s really inspiring. And for the first time in Canada, we’re going to have a dedicated home for this sport at Lake Joe!
Jade Ondrik, former Lake Joe counsellor and member of the Women’s Ontario Goalball Team, is certain that this investment will change goalball across Canada and potentially North America.
“Sport doesn’t stop because you are born without vision or if you lose vision,” said Jade. “You can still be active, you can still play, and you can still get together with the community. This goalball court is going to be a game-changer.”
Canada’s first purpose-built goalball court will be housed in the future “Hogarth Hall,” named in recognition of generous longtime supporter Tim Hogarth and his family. This multi-purpose space will also include a fully accessible fitness centre and a teaching kitchen.
With the Ontario government's support of the new multi-purpose facility, we’ll be able to open our doors to more people than ever before, not just in the summer months, but year-round.
“This has been a dream of ours for several years,” said Monique Pilkington, Executive Director, CNIB Lake Joe. “Now we will have the possibility to introduce people of all ages, with a wide range of disabilities, not only to goalball, but a wide variety of other sports and activities, year-round.”
Although there is still no set deadline for the project, Monique said she hopes the building will open in the spring of 2027.