By RYAN MCCRACKEN on August 19, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
There was a bit of something for everyone at Demo Daze on Saturday at the Family Leisure Centre.
The annual event welcomed members of the community to try out a number of different recreational activities before registering for the upcoming season, but Hat parks and recreation program coordinator Terra Petryshyn says the real beauty of the event comes in shining a light on some of the city’s niche clubs.
“There’s the mainstream ones that people are going to come and register their kids for because they know about them, but they’re going to happen upon something they might not have known about in our community,” said Petryshyn. “We’ve got some writing clubs here, we’ve got an acting studio that’s here as well. It’s really important for them to be able to get the same exposure.”
One club seizing the chance for that exposure is Medicine Hat Water Polo. While the organization has been running in the Gas City for more than a decade, coach Jason Williams says many still don’t know the sport is available locally.
“Awareness is our biggest single issue,” he said. “This is our 11th season and there are still a lot of people who don’t know that the sport is here. Like a lot of the smaller sports in the city, that’s where Demo Daze is so great for the smaller clubs that maybe have a niche market.”
Williams added the club will be holding its Free Trial Friday for mini polo on Sept. 13. Mini polo caters to younger players in an easily accessible and affordable introduction to the sport.
“With the mini polo, which is ages five-to-13, we play in a variable depth area so all kids can touch at all times. We raise the floor so it’s chin height on the smallest player,” he said, adding registration for mini polo is $64 for a 10-week program. “The second group, which is 10-to-13, they do some deep and some shallow but they can also use floater belts to help if they so need. Then we have the deep water program for kids as soon as they’re ready.”
Perhaps the most unique demonstration at Demo Daze was Badlands Knockerball, and many took interest in the quirky take on soccer that places players inside giant inflatable bubbles.
“It was fun,” said nine-year-old Lukas Grove, who quickly figured out the sport and began flipping around the pitch. “You’ve got to get down before you roll. It’s like you have to kind of move your legs so that you push yourself forward to get into the whole thing. Same with the back flip, and you’ve got to run before you go so you get some momentum for it.”
While there isn’t currently a league in Medicine Hat, Badlands Knockerball owner-partner Cam Girling says one could be formed in the future with enough interest.
“We are looking at starting a league. At this point we want to garner interest to see if there’s enough to start a regular thing,” said Girling, adding they offer a number of different variations, from soccer and football to Fortnite-themed bubble-soccer. “At this point we’re just doing regular rentals, but if someone is interested in doing a league they can definitely contact us.”
With 20 organizations showcasing their activities, Petryshyn says it was a great day of exposure for recreation across the city, as well as the Family Leisure Centre.
“We have some really cool demonstrations this time – we’ve got a slap shot competition going on, fencing just finished, we’ve got pickleball demos and of course the knockerballs are here,” she said. “I’m just really thankful for everybody to come out. We’re really excited to showcase what our facility can do. That’s why we want people to do their demonstrations here, so you can see the flexibility of what we can do here at the Leisure Centre as well.”