By Glen Herbert

With the exception of elite athletics programs, the intention of any quality athletics program is to allow all students the opportunity to try new things, to grow a range of skills, to experience teamwork and collaboration, and to build a foundation for a healthy, active life. So, while the goals are the same at all schools, the facilities can differ widely. At RLC we have traditional athletic facilities and fitness spaces. We have a sport court where students play basketball, volleyball and pickleball. There are playing fields for soccer and field hockey. There’s an outdoor climbing wall and, in winter, a snowboard park.

But when anyone asks about our facilities, the things that make us unique come first to mind: we have a lake with 4000 feet of shoreline; our campus includes 56 acres of mixed-use forest. Those things aren’t typical for schools across Canada, and they provide access to a broad range of athletic and co-curricular programming. Students have daily access to a full range of watersports, from swimming, to sailing, to canoeing and kayaking. There are yoga classes held on the main dock at the water’s edge. In warmer weather, students run and walk a trail system, which is also on campus. In winter the trails are used for skiing and snowshoeing. There’s a pond ice rink in winter.

In a sense, the entire campus is a recreational area that students enjoy and make use of on a daily basis, from Nordic skiing to sailing to everything in between. Physical activity is accessible without having to drive or, in some cases, really even plan. Students see activity as less a destination, and more just a natural part of everyday life.

"I trusted myself"

So much of student life at Rosseau Lake College is dominated by an experience of the natural world. Students are outside for some portion of every day, and, even in winter, most days the all school assembly is held outside, with students standing in a circle. The natural environment is never that far away. But there is also a culture of participation, which is important, too. The staff and faculty are active—RLC draws instructors who themselves are active and engaged in the outdoors—and lead by example. Students learn passively that activity is joyful and for everyone.

The athletics—from formal varsity teams, to paddles on the lake on a warm sunny day—are foundational to the academic program. An informal motto of RLC is a quote by Kurt Hahn (who was a direct inspiration to the founders when creating the school more than a half century ago) where he said that “there is more in us than we know if we could be made to see it.” That was true, in one example, with an RLC alumnus, Katie Tsuyuki, who became an Olympian. She reflected that “the most useful tools I learned from my time at Rosseau were independence and confidence to go out on my own. I literally qualified for the Olympics as an independent, not as part of the national team. I was comfortable with the commitment needed to accomplish a feat like becoming an Olympian and it was not easy without the help of a national team. I had to be self-motivated to train, work, and learn. There was no clear pathway for me, but I trusted in myself. The drive to get the most out of myself and hit my potential may be the most important value I have taken from Rosseau.”

For her, and so many others, RLC was where she tried new things, but also learned—through a broad range of challenges—what she was capable of. Each year the entire school takes part in the Hekkla, a 17km run. It was created as a challenge that all students could take part in. When they do, they learn something about themselves, and the ability to ask “if I can do that, what else can I do.” In Katie’s case, she became a pioneering Canadian snowboarder. The Hekkla, the annual outtrips, the paddles on the lake, etc., all contribute to that sense of “I can do this.”

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