Setting the stage: student and alumni volunteers prepare for Ontario Summer Games

UW students and alumni will join Explore Waterloo Region (EWR) in volunteering to prepare for the 2026 Ontario Summer Games in Waterloo. The event will span 4 days, with 23 different sports featured in competition.

“This is the future of sport in Ontario,” said Riley Webster, second-year sport and recreation business student. Webster will be found supporting around 4,200 athletes, aged 12-18, as they step foot into Waterloo region to compete in the multi-sport event. He began volunteering with EWR as a media and signage coordinator in September 2025 before starting his eight-month long co-op position as a fit-out and sport equipment coordinator this January. Webster now works on both committees and is keen on continuing to develop his time-management skills in order to balance his responsibilities.

As a receiver on UW’s varsity football team, Webster credits his experience as a student athlete with giving him the ability to keep up with the varying demands of his job. “I feel that [the difficulties of managing being at football for six hours a day, but also going to class and being able to manage my workload] in my first and second year in the fall set me up pretty well for being able to manage two different aspects of this job,” he explained.

A challenge Webster and his EWR team overcame involved bringing refreshments to each of the event’s venues. With the ministry’s budget and environmental limitations on serving plastic water bottles, he had to be strategic in finding the solution. “Trying to manage the logistics behind that has been pretty difficult, but overcoming it, I was able to use connections I’ve had in the past to solve these problems,” he said. Through networking, Webster found potable water tanks available for rent and made orders of ice by calling local businesses and asking some of them for donations.

Having just graduated from UW’s sport and recreation management program this spring, Logan Landriault also values making meaningful connections in the athletic workspace. His volunteer position at EWR as an opening ceremony coordinator started in November 2025. Since then, Landriault has grown particularly excited to see the community of student athletes and supportive spectators come together later this month. “It’s nice to give [young athletes] a nice send into that competition [while] feeling celebrated and feeling proud of themselves,” he shared.

Logan Landriault, UW alum. (Photo credit: Logan Landriault)

Landriault says that his courses, part-time jobs, and volunteer experience throughout his undergrad prepared him to step into his current work. They each led to him developing his critical thinking skills, which he says are crucial in the hands-on realm of athletics.

Landriault feels especially connected to the Ontario Summer Games this year because they are being held in Waterloo. “The area where they get to [compete] is pretty impactful because… they’re setting the example to their brother, sister, or friends, who are also in the crowd [and may be] younger, hoping to maybe go along that same path. It’s pretty cool to see it all,” he shared.

To spread the message about the Ontario Summer Games, Landriault reached out in February to his friend and former colleague, Diane Choi, to see if she was interested in being an opening ceremonies coordinator & stage manager/volunteer at the games. “Instantly, I [thought] this is something that I know really impacts the athletes, the families, and all those who are involved within the sport. I [thought] that’d be something that I would love to contribute to,” Choi explained.

Diane Choi, incoming 4A student volunteer. (Photo credit: Diane Choi)

Landriault and Choi previously worked together on U Sports Women’s Hockey National Championships committees around two years ago. What they expected to be a short-term collaboration turned into a long-term connection that continues to grow today. “There were long days together… which led to friendship and working with someone you can trust, [who] is also a hard worker,” she noted.

Like Landriault, Choi’s experience in the sport and recreation program has allowed her to discover what she enjoys the most about her line of work. “[The program] wants to give everyone hands-on experience. . . that’s how I learn best. That’s what really helped me kind of take these experiences in Waterloo, which is a city that’s very involved with sporting events,” she said.

With the Ontario Summer Games launching on July 30, Webster, Landriault, and Choi urge the Waterloo community to come out and support the youth athletes by spectating their tournaments. The event’s basketball and rugby tournaments are set to be held at UW. Some of the other sports are planned to take place at Laurier, Guelph Lake Park, RIM Park, and many more venues.