SportsFest 2026: Fun, Games, and Friendly Competition

On Thursday, June 18th, nearly 100 CBFY staff, volunteers, and their families gathered at the Thorncliffe Greenview Community Centre for the second annual SportsFest.

SportsFest is a day of celebration, fun, and friendly competition. The day is a fantastic way for our team to promote physical wellness, teamwork, and cross-program engagement, strengthening workplace connections.

Each of this year’s four teams represented a CBFY color and was led by our executive team. Team Orange was led by CEO Frank Cattoni, Team Blue was led by Director of Finance Kenneth Ng, Team Green was led by our Director of Programs Lorraine Kinsman, and Team Yellow was led by Director of People and Culture Cristina Balamban.

The day kicked off with Team Chants, where teams created a unique chant to represent their team. While all the teams had fabulous cheer, Team Blue won with their catchy rhyme, “If you ain’t blue, you ain’t got a clue!”

Following the cheering, it was time for the sports to begin! The first activity that was played was badminton. Badminton was played as friendlies, so people from different teams could play together.

After an hour of badminton play, Tijana Kukoleca, our MC for SportsFest, announced it was time for the soccer game: Team Orange versus Team Blue.

Players, staff, volunteers, and supporters made their way down to the pitch, nestled beside the baseball diamond. From the field, the sideline was a sea of orange and blue pom-poms.

The referee, CBFY volunteer Joel, blew his whistle, and the game began! Both the orange and the blue teams were evenly matched, with a rock-solid defense and strikers ready to attack!

After a few brilliant saves by both goalkeepers, Team Blue pushed past Team Orange’s defense. Team Blue shot, and they scored! But Team Orange wasn’t so quick to give up – they quickly countered. Team Orange scored a beautiful goal to tie up the match. After halftime and another 15 minutes of play, Team Orange scored a second goal to take the lead!

With a few minutes left in the match, Team Orange found themselves in front of a wide-open net. SCORE! Right after the celebration, the ref blew the whistle, and the game was over.

Team Orange and Team Blue shook hands, and exchanged smiles and congratulations. Back inside, where Tijana presented Team Orange with their first-place medals.

After the soccer game, everyone settled into our potluck lunch. At SportsFest, having a potluck gives our team the opportunity to share their favorite cultural dishes. The buffet was full of noodle dishes, samosas, chicken legs, homemade biscuits, baklava, and more.

At 1:30, the volleyball tournament began. For the elimination and consolation matches, teams played one set, first to 15 points. For the final volleyball match, teams played up to three sets, first to 15 points in each set.

Up first, it was Team Orange versus Team Yellow. At first, the teams went back and forth, the score moving up evenly between serves and volleys. As the game went on, Team Yellow hit their stride, running away with the lead. Team Yellow scored their last point and erupted into victorious celebration and cheers.

Next up on the court was Team Blue versus Team Green. Team Green took an early lead, but Team Blue was close behind. The teams battled through perfect serves, beautiful spikes, and tough blocks. It was a close match as the scores neared 15. With some hard work and determination, Team Green took the win over Team Blue!

For the consolation round, Team Orange and Team Blue met again, this time on the volleyball court. Team Blue ultimately prevailed, winning third place in the volleyball tournament.

The final volleyball game was exciting from the start! Team Green and Team Yellow were off to a competitive start, with the score bouncing evenly between the two teams. Soon, Team Yellow started pulling ahead. They moved closer to 15 points with each serve, setup, and spike.

The teams swapped sides and played another close match. This one ended with Team Green on top! It was time to go into the final match.

The last round of the final volleyball game was intense as Team Yellow and Team Green battled for the title.

Spectators from Team Blue and Team Orange grabbed pom-poms and cheered loudly for each team. As Team Yellow neared the 15-point mark, they gained more supporters in the crowd. With one final serve, Team Yellow won the volleyball title!

After the match, members of the victorious Team Yellow were presented with their first-place volleyball medals.

Thank you to CBFY’s Social Wellness Committee who organized this year’s successful SportsFest. Thank you also to those who attended SportsFest as volunteers, working at the registration desk, food table, refereeing and MC-ing throughout the day.

We can’t wait for next year!