What Is Greater Montreal Athletics Association?

The Greater Montreal Athletics Association or the GMAA is a sports organization devoted to promoting student participation in athletics and sports in schools of the Greater Montreal Area. The organization started over 50 years ago as the Greater Montreal Interscholastic Athletic, and its main agenda remains consistent.  

GMAA achieves its goal by organizing inter-school sporting events that bring member schools in the region together to compete in different sports leagues. In 2020, the GMAA introduced the ‘Let’s Move Virtually’ initiative to encourage sports participation while maintaining health & safety measures because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More of its events shifted online, and students can get training and compete online.

School Members

Schools that are members of the Greater Montreal Athletics Association and actively participate in its competitions include:

B-J

  • Beaconsfield High School BHS
  • Beurling Academy BA
  • Bialik High School BIAL
  • Centennial Academy CENT
  • College Prep International CPI
  • Miss Edgars & Miss Cramps School ECS
  • Emmanuel Christian School EMCS
  • Face High School FACE
  • Greaves Adventist Academy GAA
  • Hebrew Academy HA
  • Herzliah High School HZHS
  • Howard S. Billings High School HSBHS
  • James Lyng High School JLHS
  • John F. Kennedy High School JFKHS
  • John Paul 1 High School JP1
  • John Rennie High School JRHS

K-M

  • Kahnawake Survival School KSS
  • Kells Academy KELLS
  • Kuper Academy KUPER
  • Lakeside Academy LA
  • Lasalle Community High School LCCHS
  • LaurenHill Academy LAURN
  • Laurier Macdonald High School LMAC
  • Lester B. Pearson High School LBPHS
  • Lindsay Place High School LPHS
  • Lower Canada College LCC
  • Loyola High School LOY
  • Macdonald High School MACD
  • Ecole Sec. Maimonide MAI
  • Marymount Academy MMA

P-W

  • Pierrefonds Community High School PCHS
  • Rosemount High School RHS
  • Royal Vale High School RVALE
  • Royal West Academy ROYAL
  • Sacred Heart School of Montreal SHSM
  • Selwyn House School SELW
  • St. Georges High School STG
  • St. Thomas High School STT
  • The Study STUDY
  • Trafalgar School for Girls TRAF
  • Villa Maria High School VILLA
  • Vincent Massey Collegiate VMC
  • Westmount High School WHS
  • West Island College WIC
  • Westwood High School WWHS

Where Is It Located?

The Greater Montreal Athletics Association organizes its activities in Montreal, which is in the province of Quebec. Schools within the Montreal Area are allowed to participate in the competition events available. According to their website, you can find the GMAA offices at 5925 Monkland Ave, Montreal, Quebec H4A 1G7, Canada.

GMAA Sports Events

Throughout the year, the GMAA’s events calendar is buzzing with activities. Sports events are categorized according to weather seasons, so sports are played at different times. There’s, however, one category that isn’t based on any season but is instead dedicated to promoting sports participation in elementary schools.

Here is a breakdown of the sports events based on the various categories.

Fall Sports Events

In Montreal, the period of fall is between September – November, and the sports events available include:

  • Cross country
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Volleyball
  • Golf
  • Boys Flag football

Winter Sports Events

The winter season in Montreal at times lasts longer but mostly goes from December – February. The sports events for the winter season include:

  • New virtual cross country skiing
  • Virtual chess
  • Rocket league
  • Basketball
  • Hockey
  • Curling
  • Wrestling
  • Futsal
  • Indoor track and field
  • Swimming

Spring Sports Events

Spring in Montreal starts from March-May, and the temperatures begin to increase slightly. Sports events taking place during spring are:

  • Girls flag football
  • Rugby 10s and 15s
  • Rugby 7s
  • Badminton
  • Tennis
  • Field lacrosse
  • HALO
  • Outdoor track and field

Elementary Sports Events

As we mentioned earlier, elementary sports events don’t follow any season and are solely dedicated to increasing students’ sports participation in elementary schools. For this category, the events are a balance between sports activities and programs.

The events and programs in this category include:

  • New! Clash of the classes
  • Elementary handbook
  • Mini cross country
  • PR1MO
  • Defi Moi J’Croque
  • Rentree Sportive
  • RSEQ En Forme program

Where To Find The Latest News About Upcoming Events

Follow leading online resources to stay up-to-date on all upcoming association events:

GMAA Hockey Championships

The GMAA has made it easy for players, coaches, schools or interested parties to stay updated on the sports events available by simply checking out their website. Each sport has four sections on the website— Important Documents, Schedule & Standings, Team & Player Registration and Age Categories.

For our various GMAA sports reviews below, we will focus on the last two. Our first sport on the list is GMAA hockey championships.

Team & Player Registration

All team and player registrations for GMAA hockey must be done using the S1 online system before the stated deadline. For players, the registration must be made before the team’s first game, and GMAA hockey requires players to submit an acceptance of risk form.

The GMAA hockey registration form will require you to fill in the following classification:

  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile
  • Division: Division 3 (D3) or Division 4 (D4)

Age Categories

  • Bantam Hockey: Born October 1st, 2007 or later.
  • Midget Hockey: Born October 1st, 2005 or later.
  • JuvenileHockey: Born July 1st, 2002 or later.

GMAA Basketball Tournaments

GMAA basketball tournaments are winter sports events that teams and players must register via the S1 system to participate.

The GMAA basketball team registration classification includes:

  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile
  • Division: Division 3 (D3), Division 4 – Level 1 (D4.1) or Division 4 – Level 2 (D4.2)

Note: Bantam Boys & Girls Division 4.2 is allowed to play with players below 14yrs as of October 1st of that school year.

Age Categories

  • Bantam: Born October 1st, 2007 or later.
  • Midget: Born October 1st, 2005 to September 30th, 2007.
  • Juvenile: Born January 1st, 2002 to September 30th, 2005.

GMAA Soccer Championships

The GMAA soccer championship is a popular event held in the fall. Teams and players need to get ready beforehand by registering before the deadline and have their paperwork ready.

How To Register

All GMAA soccer registrations are done online using the S1 portal, and it depends on whether you’re registering for a team or player.

For team registrations, the classifications to fill in are:

  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile
  • Division: Division 3 (D3), Division 4 – Level 1 (D4.1) or Division 4 – Level 2 (D4.2)

Players have to make sure that they are registered before the team’s first game. Also, ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ players are allowed to participate in GMAA soccer events but under certain conditions.

Age Categories

  • Bantam: Born October 1st, 2006 or later.
  • Midget: Born October 1st, 2004 to September 30th, 2006.
  • Juvenile: Born in 2002, 2003 or 2004.

GMAA Badminton

Badminton is a spring sports event, and by now, you’ve noticed that every sports registration must be done online via the S1 system. However, each sport has its unique conditions that teams and players must meet to be registered.

For GMAA badminton, a school must have a team to participate, and there are no individual stats. Its registration form is a bit different, as you will see below,

  • Team: 2 Singles Players (2 players) & 2 Doubles Teams ( 4 players)
  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile
  • Division: Division 3 or Division 4.

Note:  GMAA badminton allows any student from a member school to participate as there are no eligibility requirements.

Age Categories

  • Bantam: Born October 1st, 2006 or later.
  • Midget: Born October 1st, 2004 to September 30th, 2006.
  • Juvenile: Born in 2002, 2003 or 2004.

GMAA Rugby Competitions

The Greater Montreal Athletics Association offers rugby sports events in two categories—Rugby 10s & 15s and Rugby 7s. Both events happen during spring, and most of their important documents are similar. For instance, the handbook manual that details some of the general rules and registration process is the same.

Schools must make sure that they submit their teams’ entries to the S1 system before the deadline, and players must send their acceptance of risk forms and include their weight in the registration form.

The classification for GMAA rugby competitions is as follows:

  • Event: Rugby 7s, Rugby 10s or Rugby 15s
  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile
  • Division: Division 3 (D3), Division 4 – Level 1 (D4.1) or Division 4 – Level 2 (D4.2)

Age Categories

  • Bantam: Born October 1st, 2007 or later.
  • Midget: Born October 1st, 2005 to September 30th, 2007.
  • Juvenile: Born in 2003, 2004 or 2005.

GMAA Track and Field Championships

Track and field championships have many activities that the GMAA split them into two—indoor and outdoor track and field sports events. The indoor events take place in winter, while the outdoor events happen during spring.

Their rules and registration process are quite easy and what the GMAA mostly requires is that teams make their S1 system submissions before the deadline. The GMAA is also keen to ensure that substitute athletes’ details are entered before the first event.

There are only two classifications which are:

  • Gender: Boys or Girls
  • Category: Bantam, Midget or Juvenile

Age Categories

  • Bantam: Born October 1st, 2006 or later.
  • Midget: Born October 1st, 2004 to September 30th, 2006.
  • Juvenile: Born in 2002, 2003 or 2004.

GMAA Sportsmanship Program

The program is an initiative of the GMAA to award schools, coaches, students & spectators who show good sportsmanship. Winning schools are given plaques to show their spirit of good sportsmanship and remind students what the GMAA expects of them.

Certificates

Awarding certificates is also part of the sportsmanship program, and teams that complete the season without any incidents are awarded.

School Sportsmanship Award

Every year, the GMAA holds the Annual Awards Banquet, and the school sportsmanship awards are presented at the event. For a school to win the award, it must have participated in a minimum of 10 sports events or have less than six demerit points in all its teams at the end of the season.

The Most Sportsmanlike School

At the Annual Awards Banquet, schools also have the chance to win the ‘Most Sportsmanlike School’ banner. To win the banner, schools must complete the year with a minimum of 10 sports or have their teams finish the season with zero demerit points.

On their website, the GMAA states that the Most Sportsmanlike School is one which:

Players: Try their best.

  1. Maintain a positive attitude.
  2. Are courteous to others.
  3. Remain composed under trying circumstances.

Coaches: Are good role models.

  1. Build on players’ skills in sports, citizenship and leadership.

Spectators: Are friendly & welcome visitors.

  1. Applaud and encourage both teams.
  2. Use polite and respectful language.

Most Sportsmanlike Athlete

The Most Sportsmanlike Athlete of each school is chosen by the school’s staff and other athletes because of their exemplary participation in the tournaments. The award is presented at the Annual Awards Banquet, and the results of each season are updated in the archives.

If you want to know the Most Sportsmanlike Athlete or the Most Sportsmanlike School of a particular season, you can always check the archives on the website for that season, and you will find all the info. 

Advantages and Disadvantages

What Are The Pros?

  1. Better physical health & wellness.
  2. Positive mentorship from the coaches and leaders on the teams.
  3. Learn valuable leadership skills.
  4. Build more and close social relationships through bonding together over a common goal.
  5. Embrace teamwork and cooperation.
  6. Better academic performance and more interest in school work.
  7. Encourage personal development by developing personal and interpersonal skills & talents.
  8. Improved individual qualities such as self-esteem, confidence and self-respect.

What Are The Cons?

  1. Exposure to peer-pressure and the anxiety to be highly competitive and win.
  2. Injuries resulting from extreme physical pressure in games such as rugby or wrestling.
  3. Expenses such as hotels, transportation, food, tournament fees and playing equipment/kits may come up.

Final thoughts on GMAA

Physical activity is an integral part of a child’s growth, and the initiative by the GMAA to encourage schools and students to participate more in sports is commendable. All major sports and less popular sports events are offered, giving everyone the chance to participate in one sport or another.

The benefits of participating in sports go beyond high school life and instill skills and qualities that will shape the student as he/she grows up. Students develop leadership skills, embrace teamwork and build on their self-esteem by participating in the competitions.

Logo of RSEQ

Seeing that the GMAA has operated for more than 50 years and has partnered with organizations such as the Quebec Association of Independent Schools and the RSEQ means they are getting it right. Sports are a fundamental element in schools, and their importance can’t be understated.