Climbing wall for Calgary immigrant and refugee youth created to increase access to sport

Climbing instructor Coralia Sevilla says she would have loved a facility like the new colourful climbing wall at the Centre for Newcomers when she was a kid with immigrant parents.

"It takes me back to when I was a kid and that first generation experience of helping our parents through paperwork, going to office buildings, and there was never really a space for kids," said Sevilla.

The new climbing wall is about opening doors and providing some relief and much-needed fun for newcomer kids.

"This would have brought a weight off my shoulders and let me be a kid in the moment when something was so serious for my parents," she said.

The project is also about increasing access to the sport of climbing and promoting diversity within the sport and climbing community.

Sevilla says coming to a new country with new customs and so much to learn, being exposed to a new sport can offer so many rewards that might not seem obvious at first.

"It could be the touchstone to feeling OK in the mountains and bridging that gap of playing here and playing out there," she said.

She added she hopes it helps newcomers fall in love with Alberta's natural beauty and find their place in it.

However, Sevilla says climbing might not seem very inclusive for many newcomers, for many reasons.

"There are barriers, financially speaking, and there are cultural barriers. There's a lot of language involved in climbing, and when I first walked into a climbing gym, I didn't see people like me," she said.

Sevilla says exposing more kids from different backgrounds to the sport can add diversity to the climbing community and make it more welcoming for future generations.

She says the benefits of getting that first taste of climbing are many, from improving mental health to overcoming fears, building confidence and leadership skills.

"As soon as you get a bit off the ground, everything falls away. You have to focus on your feet, your hands and your breath. There's that release and it allows me to be more present."

Kate McDougall, a youth facilitator at the centre and a climber herself, says the new wall is about giving youth a first try at climbing in a safe, comfortable space that celebrates diversity.

"We're trying to create a space for youth to get involved with the sport that I love so much," she said. 

"It was a great way to build connections, friends. Climbing has been an amazing community," she said. "It was really important for me to expose that community to the newcomer youth that we work with."

McDougall says climbing takes kids beyond their schools, cultural groups and faith groups.

"There's a really amazing community that accepts people no matter what you look like, what language you speak or what gender identity you have. And to expose people to a sport that's really not common for newcomer youth to participate in was the factor," she said.

Kids can use the wall when their parents sign up for programming at the centre.

McDougall says the climbing wall is open for kids and young adults, ages six to 19.

She says it will be open for some of the centre's partner organizations.