Her Sports Fest hopes to reconnect women to recreational sports and activity

TORONTO – More than a year ago, Sherry Lamb woke up from a dream with a fully formed idea for a multi-sport event where women of different ages and backgrounds could get together and try them all out.

She collaborated with longtime friend Carolyn Jeffs to develop and program Her Sports Fest, a three-day event that will open Friday evening at The Hangar Sport and Events Centre in Toronto’s north end. Both Lamb and Jeffs hope it will help girls and women reconnect with or maintain their love of sports.

“I saw the event in my head. I could just see the whole thing, the entire event, and the idea wouldn’t let me go,” said Lamb. “So I called my friend Carolyn and said, ‘What are we both passionate about?’ and without missing a beat, she said, ‘women’s sports,’ and I said, ‘Well, I have a bit of an idea for you.’

“Since then, we’ve registered as a non-profit and, 15 months later, we’re here, we’re ready to go.”

Her Sports Fest will feature interactive demonstrations, athlete appearances and wellness-focused programming across a range of 15 different sports, including soccer, flag football, boxing, golf, skateboarding, athletics and sailing.

The Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League will be participating. Jeffs said one of the goals of the event is to capture the momentum of women’s professional leagues like the PWHL, the NSL, and the recent debut of the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo.

“How do you do that? You have to create sports fans,” said Jeffs. “Your journey in sport doesn’t necessarily mean you have to play at an elite level; you can simply enjoy the act of play and the community you get from that, and then you can cheer them on, you can appreciate sport, and you can become a fan.

“Or maybe you’re a fan of sport, and then you just want to try something on a recreational level as well. I think that the two sort of go hand in hand, the momentum and the sort of the wall breaking down for professional women’s sports to come into this city and across Canada.”

Lamb and Jeffs also hope to help adolescent and teenage girls stay in recreational sports.

According to the 2024 Rally Report published by Canadian Women and Sport, the rate at which girls drop out of sport increases at age 16 and accelerates through their teens. Male participation remains consistent through their late teens and into their twenties, resulting in a sizable participation gap between men and women.

The gap is smaller among children aged five to 11, with 77 per cent of boys and 73 per cent of girls reporting participation in sport. But participation diverges among youth aged 12 to 17, with 74 per cent of boys taking part in sport compared to 64 per cent of girls.

Girls access nearly all forms of sport and physical activity at lower rates than boys and, when they do participate, they drop out sooner.

“We know there’s so much research showing the physical, the mental, the social benefits of (participating in sports),” said Lamb. “We know there’s major dropout rates for girls in sports, so we’re hoping that this is a step in their sports journey to continue. 

“As Carolyn said, they don’t need to be elite level, it’s about finding the right fit for you, and you know, really creating a sports journey for life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.