Beyond the Game: Engaging & Retaining Youth in Urban Recreation
Posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
Youth of Ottawa have significant opportunities to participate in recreation, which helps them grow both physically and mentally. Through secondary research, we defined our objective: to understand the various factors that influence youth engagement and retention in recreational programs.
By collecting data from recreation program coordinators, we identified key themes related to our objective, including informal feedback collection, the need for friendly coaches, barriers to accessing program information, a lack of youth-preferred communication channels, and opportunities and limitations in collaboration. Addressing these gaps can help engage youth more effectively and encourage long-term participation in recreation programs.
This project aligns with the City of Ottawa’s goal of creating integrated and accessible systems, ensuring that youth programs are engaging and welcoming. Our research supports long-term solutions that promote participation, strengthen connections between youth and their communities, and make recreation more meaningful for all.