Sports in Brampton
Current day
There are many sporting venues and activities including the outdoor ice path for skating through Gage Park and the ski lift at Chinguacousy Park. In the summer amateur softball leagues abound and crowds line the beaches at Professor's Lake. Cheung's Taekwondo is based in Brampton.
Every year, since 1967, the Brampton Canadettes host the Brampton Canadettes Easter Tournament[1] women's and girls' hockey teams invade Brampton for 31⁄2 days of head-to-head competition. Teams of all ages and categories from across Canada and the United States compete in this annual tournament. Teams from England, Switzerland, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia attend this international tournament.
Thousands of players and spectators will pass through the doors during the tournament. There is no limit on the number of teams in a division.
The Intermediate AA and Midget AA divisions are highly scouted by local and American colleges and universities seeking recruits for varsity teams. Teams from as far as Alaska and Calgary, Quebec and Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as virtually all hockey centres in Ontario will compete in a minimum of 3 games each over the course of the tournament. Including championship finals, over 600 games are played in just 3½ days. For the best in hockey tournament competition, Brampton is second-to-none in the world of women's and girls' hockey.
During the weekend of August 28 to 30 2009, Brampton hosted the first ever Youth World Outdoor Ball Hockey Championship at the Brampton Ball Hockey Club. The Rock Solid Renegades from Barrie, Ontario were the inaugural champions in the Under-12 division, while the Innisfil Wave captured the first Under-15 crown and the St. Catharines Explosion prevailed in the Under-18 age group.
Teams as of 1934
In 1934, a local history buff named William Perkins Bull funded the creation of the Perkins Bull Collection of books, including From rattlesnake hunt to hockey: the history of sports in Canada and the sportsmen of Peel, 1798 to 1934. This publication list included the following Brampton organizations, of past and present:
- Brampton Amateur Athletic Association
- Brampton Badminton and Athletic Club
- Brampton Baptist Church (softball)
- Brampton Excelsiors (hockey)
- Brampton Excelsiors Intermediate Team (hockey)
- Brampton Excelsiors Junior Team (hockey)
- Brampton Excelsiors Juvenile Team (hockey)
- Brampton Beavers rugby club
- Brampton Golf Club
- Brampton Gun Club
- Brampton Knitting Mills (softball)
- Brampton Ladies' Lawn Bowling Club
- Brampton Lawn Bowling Club
- Brampton Presbyterian Church (softball)
- Brampton Rifle Club
- Brampton snowshoeing club
- Brownies (hockey)
- Malboros (hockey)
In areas now part of Brampton:
- Chinguacousy Intermediate Box Lacrosse League
- Churchville Tigers
- Claireville Rustics
Also listed is the membership for the Brampton Golf and Country Club.