Thirty-five years of dedication

Winnipeg Free Press

07-05-2025

Sinclair Park
Tracy Ball says that if you do a job well enough, they won't let you go.
The phrase just about describes her whole career so far: 35 years of dedicated service to the North End community, with 14 of them at her current position of president at Sinclair Park Community Centre — a career which is being recognized on a national level.
Ball was one of the local recipients of the annual King Charles III medal, a national award program overseen by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. Awards are given to 30,000 Canadians each year.
Supplied photo
Tracy Ball was one of the local recipients of the annual King Charles III medal, a national award program overseen by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. Awards are given to 30,000 Canadians each year.
To qualify, eligible candidates must 'have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada,' according to the official government website.
Ball said that the moment left her breathless: 'Wait — me?'
'That was a big moment,' she said. 'I never saw myself that way. You get stuck in the little everyday work, and you don't take a look at the bigger picture.'
'Every time I win an award, or someone says 'good job,' I feel humbled, but I'm still left with that imposter syndrome,' she said, adding that hearing what other recipients were accomplishing added to that. However, Ball said she was able to feel fulfilled in knowing that she had accomplished things on a similar level.
After being told she would never have children, Ball decided to dedicate her life to youth anyway, in the form of working in childcare and teaching.
'I'd always work with kids,' Ball said, adding that if she weren't involved somehow, she'd find another way to do it. 'When they're challenged, kids are much more likely to reach those goals if there's someone with them and walking with them … if we don't help them learn there are people who care about them, they won't care about anyone, not even themselves.'
To her surprise, Ball was able to have two kids — only 18 months apart — but stayed on the same route by volunteering throughout their childhoods, she said. She started putting in the hours at Tiny Tots, where her kids attended daycare. Then, after they moved on to elementary school, she inherited the Inkster School lunch program and the role of parent council president. Ball is proud of the work she was able to do at the school, and the lunch program is still active today, having served what's now hundreds of kids not only healthy food, but games and fun during the noon hour.
She's been in the mix at Sinclair Park C.C. for 27 years. She's coached mini-soccer and baseball, she's organized events, held down the canteen, and served as secretary and treasurer before earning the role of president.
In her role, which 'starts at 7 a.m. and ends at midnight,' Ball is often caught up in an endless cycle of meetings and paperwork.
'There is no aspect of a community centre that the president isn't ultimately responsible for,' she said, from applying to grants to tracking down volunteers. 'Nobody tells you how responsible you are in keeping the doors open at your community centre.'
It can become frustrating, she explained, especially when it comes to working with the City of Winnipeg and keeping things moving on limited funds.
'Doing more for less,' Ball said.
Over a decade into the position, though, her frustrations come from a place of care.
'My community needs this community centre,' Ball said, adding that she believes it should be exactly that — the centre of a community. A place where someone of any age and from any culture, especially in a city as multicultural as Winnipeg, 'feels welcome coming through the doors.'
'There are 60 kids in day camp this year, and I'm not thinking about how I did that, I'm thinking, 'look what we can do for the kids,' because these aren't families that necessarily have daycare,' she said.
Although Ball isn't going to get teary-eyed at a full field during Canada Day or an especially heated mini-soccer game, she said, she understands that that's what a community centre is for. 'That's our impact,' she said. 'That's why we do it.'
To learn more about Sinclair Park C.C. or how to volunteer, visit www.sinclairparkcc.com
Emma Honeybun
Emma Honeybun is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. She graduated RRC Polytech's creative communications program, with a specialization in journalism, in 2023. Email her at [e-mail]
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