Chargers receive national innovation award

Story courtesy of the Camosun Chargers

Camosun College is excited that the Camosun Chargers have been recognized as the recipient of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Innovation Award. The award recognizes a member institution that has developed an initiative that demonstrates unique marketing, communication or technological advances in its athletic program and was presented at the CCAA Annual General Meeting (AGM) last evening.

This season, the Chargers Athletics Department faced the sizable challenge of responsibly parting with more than 35 years’ worth of basketball, volleyball, and golf team jerseys. Picture this: four teams, each with 40 jerseys (home and away), across 11 different sets—that’s nearly 2,000 jerseys in total, not even counting the shorts and warm-up shirts.

What started as a clean-out, quickly revealed the scale of the task—over 30 bins, stacked across three pallets, filled with decades of team history, all sitting in a storage unit that needed to be cleared out mid-season.

Each jersey represented more than just fabric—it carried memories of athletes, seasons, and moments that helped shape the Chargers program. Simply throwing them away wasn’t an option.

We looked at the volume and immediately thought, ‘What are we going to do with all of these jerseys?” There has to be a better solution than sending them to the dump.”

That question sparked a shift in thinking—from disposal to opportunity. Instead of discarding the jerseys, we began exploring ways to recycle, repurpose, and give them new life, turning what seemed like a logistical burden into a chance to support sustainability and community impact.

We hosted a Chargers Garage Sale, which gave current student-athletes the opportunity to browse and bring home jerseys for themselves, as well as for family and friends—a hugely successful event that saw the gear quickly find new homes.

From there, we hosted two Retro Nights where athletes wore old jerseys for warm-ups and we sold the remaining jerseys by donation. This was also very positive, especially seeing friends, family, and fans in Chargers gear that has never been available.

Finally, some of the remaining jerseys were donated to the college’s MakerSpace. Makerspace brings together technology and creativity to build skills, confidence, and community through hands-on design. With access to innovative tools, emerging technologies, and support from knowledgeable staff, students and staff can turn ideas into real projects. We transformed jerseys into reusable bags and fitted t-shirts.

This initiative helped Camosun further grow its brand and give a second life to old jerseys for family, friends, and supporters of Chargers athletics.

More than 25 bins and over 1,000 jerseys were successfully diverted from landfill through reuse and recycling, delivering a meaningful environmental impact.

Approximately 70 athletes picked up jerseys at the garage sale, and more than 50 were sold during the Retro Nights. Demand continued to grow, with athletes and Chargers supporters asking for additional opportunities to purchase jerseys—so we made them available at the remaining home games. Given its popularity, Retro Night is set to return next season; this time with fewer jerseys to sell!

Beyond the numbers, the initiative helped strengthen school pride and deepen connections within the Chargers community.

The Second Life: Chargers Jersey Recycle Program turned old uniforms into something meaningful for our athletes and supporters.

For the college, the program freed up valuable space in the automotive bay (where the jerseys were stored), creating new opportunities for hands-on learning. Students in the Women in Technology program now have a dedicated area where they’re introduced to civil and mechanical engineering, electronics, and computer science.

For the Chargers administrators, the initiative showed leadership in sustainability and community engagement, which reflects well on the college community and broader institutional goals.

For the student-athletes, the impact was the most personal and emotional as many of them got the chance to keep a piece of their experience as a Charger and share it with their friends and family. Also being involved in a sustainability initiative can build awareness and pride, knowing that they contributed to something bigger than their season.

For alumni, this was a trip down memory lane, reminiscing of their Chargers days, the memories they made and the legacy of the program, essentially linking past to present.

Across all groups, the program strengthened our Chargers community. The garage sale for athletes, Retro Nights, the jersey sale by donation, and the items created by MakerSpace brought everyone together and shared stories of their own journey and alumni before them (who wore this jersey, this was the national championship jersey, and many others!). Instead of these jerseys sitting in storage, they became visible symbols of team pride, history and connection.

The best part was seeing all the athletes and supporters wearing their “new” jerseys at games, both at home and on the road!

Competing in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the Camosun Chargers have competed in more than 100 provincial and national championships, earning over 55 medal finishes in basketball and volleyball. Most recently, the men’s basketball team captured bronze at the 2026 CCAA National Championship, the best finish in program history.