Central Sport has announced the hiring of their new manager Candy Towers.
Towers, who grew up in Lacombe, was introduced as the new manager during a press conference Wednesday afternoon and said she can’t wait to get started.
“It’s something I’m so excited to be a part of from these early stages on being involved with games. I wish I had been in it sooner to know more things before the time I got involved. So, here I am fortunate enough to be in that position where I am one of the initial staff involved and get to be in here at a ground level and build it up,” she said.
Towers knew the position availability would be coming after she served as the coordinator for the Canada Winter Games in 2019 in Red Deer. She had conversations early on about what the position would look like but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process but is now in a position to grow the organization. Central Sport was created as a legacy of the Games and the organization wants to grow sports in the area and have central Alberta as a leader in sports.
Towers explained as the manager she will serve as the daily connection, initial point of contact, and the voice of Central Sport to local sports organizations as well as Central Sport’s committee and volunteers. Her official start date was last week and has been taking the time to get familiar with what the board has done to get the organization to where they are and has attended multiple volunteer committees.
“I’ve been in the community so I know quite a lot of people from different areas from past work experience and just my life here. Being able to make use of all those connections bringing it all together, and getting the word out there,” Towers said.
Growing up in Lacombe she said playing sports they would always compete in Red Deer and use their facilities. Towers played ringette growing up but also does many activities personally now. But as her kids grew up playing sports in Red Deer, Towers spent 10 years in the sports community coaching, serving on the executive committee in ringette while her daughters competed in rodeo and archery.
“It’s amazing to see what being a part of a team or an individual sport can do for a child, for a teenager. That sense of belonging to something they love and want to be a part of is undeniable to see that change and what value that brings. I always used to tell my teams that sport is their unofficial education because you can learn so much from sport,” she said.
Board Chair Allan Ferchuk said when they looked at the demands on the Red Deer sports community, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic but also trying to increase activity levels of young people, Central Sport wanted someone who could connect with the local sports groups and understand their issues.
“Candy, obviously with her connections in our community and also her energy for sport were prime factors,” he said.
He added although they have a very strong volunteer base, there are tasks that need to be done on a full-time basis. And so a full-time manager who’s got the experience such as Towers can really maximize Central Sport’s impact on the community through the work done by volunteers.