Did You Know? Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

I recently became aware of the fact that quite a number of students don’t know that their T-Card gives them access to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC), located at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC). This facility is heaven on earth, my friends. It’s a magical utopia of athletics, fitness and recreation. And it has a Booster Juice! Seriously, this is my favourite place to train. During the summer (I had a membership because I was enrolled in summer courses) I would often go three to four days in a row. Once finals are over, I fully intend to be back at it and I can’t wait.

If you live in the GTA, I highly recommend checking it out. Holidays are just around the corner and there’s no better way to spend free time and stay active FOR FREE at UTSC. It’s located just south of the 401 Morningside exit. If you’re driving, not to worry, you can enjoy two hours of complimentary parking. Just drive up to the gate and take a ticket. As long as you feed the ticket to the gate on your way out within two hours, you’re home free! Pun not intended, but thoroughly enjoyed.

Most visitors to TPASC (pronounced: Tee-pask) scan membership cards to get in. St. George T-Cards — as far as I know — still don’t scan as we aren’t in the system. When you arrive at the turnstiles, just show someone at the desk your T-Card and say you’re a St. George student. Most of them will know to let you in. If they don’t, you’ll have to explain your card doesn’t scan.

This facility is massive and expensive. It was a $205 million investment, the largest amount ever spent on amateur sport in Canadian history (according to the National Post). So what did we get for that $205 million? A LOT. TPASC offers a variety of fitness and aquatics classes and the membership is designed so that they’re all free. So is swimming, use of the track, field house and fitness centre, and the CLIMBING WALL.

Yes, TPASC has a climbing wall (41 feet!). There are introductory classes and drop-in hours you can take advantage of once the staff are comfortable letting you climb on your own — for safety reasons, of course. I actually haven’t checked this off my to-do list yet and I’m excited to take it on next summer. For now, I’ll be enjoying this new facility by using the fitness centre. The place has everything I could possibly need, including things I have no idea what to do with! Which reminds me...check this out! It’s not something we have in any of the athletic centres at St. George, and it’s super cool! May I present Jacob’s Ladder:

It’s essentially an inclined treadmill, but instead of running, you climb. It’s actually really challenging and can feel really silly, but I like to use it to change up my routine and do something a little more interesting now and then. You will feel the burn, my friends. And I’ll feel a very different burn if I don’t get back to studying soon… This is my last post before the holidays, so I’m wishing you all the best of luck on your finals and a very happy, very restful holiday! Check back in January for the 4-1-1 on new active classes, events and opportunities on campus to help you beat the winter blues.