Amateur sport in Toronto has a vibrant and distinguished history, with a breadth of sports featuring significant participation in youth leagues, collegiate sports, and other organised and ad hoc events.

Basketball

Toronto youth basketball has the greatest participation amongst high school programs in the Greater Toronto Area, and is often considered the fastest growing sport at the Toronto high school level.

Soccer

There are many parks throughout Toronto where pickup soccer games are played, including Trinity Bellwoods, Christie Pits and the Cherry Beach Sports Fields. There are also private organized leagues and the OpenSports app, which many individual
organize pickup soccer games on

Ice hockey

Toronto youth ice hockey teams participate in the world's largest organised ice hockey league, the

Greater Toronto Hockey League The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), formerly known as the Metro Toronto Hockey League, is a minor level ice hockey organization based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. The league was founded in 1911 as the Beaches Hockey League by ...

, founded in 1911 in

The Beaches The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is so named because of its four beaches situated on Lake Ontario. It is located east of downtown within the "Old" City of Toronto. The approximate boundar ...

neighbourhood. Toronto's elementary and secondary schools also play for a Toronto title.

Football

Toronto was for many years the host of the annual

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier ...

football championship, and also hosted (and won) many of the early Grey Cup competitions that were contested by amateur football teams. Both championship games were once again held in Toronto in 2007, along with the annual Metro Bowl high school championship. Toronto was also host to a series of

NCAA football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...

bowl games In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I Fo ...

called the

International Bowl The International Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) collegiate American football bowl game played in Toronto from 2007 through 2010. During its run, it was the only post-season bowl game played outside the United States ...

between 2007-2010.

Water sports

Toronto's

Argonaut Rowing Club The Argonaut Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club was founded in 1872. The current junior head coach is Connor Elsdon. In the past, the club fielded teams in ice hockey and football, and the football team ...

, founded in 1872, is one of Canada and North America's oldest rowing clubs. The rowing club also sponsored the football club that became today's

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

Roller Derby

Women's Flat track roller derby has been gaining popularity across the region in recent years, with two full-contact leagues operating within the city of Toronto. Toronto Roller Derby (ToRD), one of the larger leagues in Canada in terms of membership, operates out of The Bunker at

Downsview Park Downsview Park is a large urban park located in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park's name is officially bilingual due to it being federally owned and managed, and was first home to de Havilland Canada, an aircraf ...

, hosting games from most of the year. Hogtown Roller Derby is a smaller league which operates out of Ted Reeve Arena in the east end of the city. Both leagues are full members of the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

, the largest governing body for women's roller derby in the world, with ToRD gaining membership in 2011, and GTAR in 2013.

Rugby League

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

in Canada was relaunched in 2010. The governing body of the sport

Canada Rugby League Canada Rugby League (CRL) (french: Rugby à XIII du Canada) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Canada. Founded in 2010, the CRL organizes the Canada national rugby league team and supports the development of the game t ...

has taken major steps to develop the sport at the domestic and international level. The province of Ontario now has 4 teams who compete in the domestic season. The Canada national rugby league team also known as 'The Wolverines', has come off a very successful season in 2011, recording victories against Jamaica and the United States, the qualifying nation of the 2013 RLWC. The match against the United States aired live on CBC as part of Spots Day in Canada, proving the rapidly growing fan base erupting in the commonwealth nation of Canada.

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

is also showing signs of developments with a domestic and university bodies developing in the Western part of Canada.

Ultimate (disc)

The Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC) is a not-for-profit organization that officially began in 1980 and incorporated in 1995. TUC has 3300 members and 250 teams playing every season on most days of the week, on various fields (indoor and outdoor) throughout the year. The Club consists of three full-time managers, a strong Board of Directors who represent the membership, and over 100 volunteers who make the TUC successful.

Collegiate sports

Universities

Ontario Tech Ridgebacks The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks are the athletic teams that represent Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The Ridgebacks have been competing in Ontario University Athletics since 2006 and have been a member of U Sports since 2008. T ...

Ryerson Rams TMU Bold (known as the Ryerson Rams prior to August 2022) are the varsity athletic teams that represent Toronto Metropolitan University (previously known as Ryerson University) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Metropolitan University operates ...

* Varsity Blues *

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable ...

Community colleges

* Seneca Sting * Humber Hawks * George Brown Huskies * Centennial Colts

Events

There have been some proponents for the city to host the Summer Olympics. With city council's endorsement, bids were submitted to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

to host the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, eventually awarded to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and the 2008 Olympics, awarded to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. With Canada's selection as host for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Toronto was established as the venue for the final and third-place matches, hosting twelve games in total. Every January from 2007 to 2010, the city hosted the

, an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

. The inaugural match was contested between the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

and

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. The city also features ad hoc events like the Toronto Donut Ride, an informal weekly road

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

tour that also covers parts of

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

. On November 9, 2009, Toronto was announced as the host city for the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

References

External links

Toronto Sports Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amateur Sport In Toronto *