Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre

Positive experience: Haven’t used any amenities other than the pool and it could be better maintained along with the change rooms. It always smells.

Positive experience: My only issue is that they close too early. Weight room should be until 10pm or 11pm at least.

Negative experience: I am writing to express my serious concerns regarding the safety of my son’s swimming lesson on Wednesday, November 20th, at 4:30 PM. My son is currently enrolled in the Swimmers 2 program, but the regular swim instructor was unavailable due to illness, and a substitute instructor was brought in to teach the lesson. During the lesson, the substitute instructor had the children wear life jackets however had the children take the life jackets off before moving to the opposite end of the pool. While observing, I initially thought the water in that area was shallow enough for the children to touch the bottom. However, my son, who is not a strong swimmer (hence his enrollment in lessons), was instructed to jump into the deep end. After jumping in, he struggled to stay afloat, repeatedly going under the water for long intervals and only briefly resurfacing. The instructor had her back turned to him, focusing on the other children preparing to jump, and did not notice my son struggling. Alarmed, I immediately turned to the lifeguard next to me and asked if the water was deep. Upon confirming that it was, I told them, “My son is going to drown; he can’t stay above water.” Despite my alert, there was no sense of urgency. One lifeguard slowly walked over to another male lifeguard to address the situation, leaving my son in distress. He was eventually able to grab onto a rope to hold himself above water. Even then, the lifeguard simply told the instructor that my son could not swim, and they continued to observe him with minimal concern. Eventually, the instructor brought him a board to hold onto and moved the class back to the shallow end. I have several critical questions and I’ve called and left a message with front desk for management to call me and I’ve emailed and haven’t heard anything back yet… 1. What protocols are in place when a substitute instructor takes over? The instructor appeared to be unfamiliar with the children’s swimming abilities and demonstrated a lack of awareness and attention. 2. Why did the instructor not notice my son struggling in the water? This lack of vigilance put my child at serious risk. 3. What is the policy for lifeguard intervention in emergencies? The lifeguards failed to act promptly when my son was visibly in distress, which could have had tragic consequences. Following the lesson, I approached the head supervising lifeguard to express my concerns. Unfortunately, her response was dismissive. She seemed unconcerned about the seriousness of the situation and offered no answers regarding the protocols or actions of the staff. Instead, she focused on irrelevant details, such as commenting that I was wearing outdoor shoes on the deck, which felt incredibly inappropriate given the circumstances. It is unacceptable that a parent had to intervene to bring attention to a life-threatening situation. If I had not been vigilantly observing, my child might have drowned due to negligence. The lack of urgency, awareness, and appropriate action from both the instructor and the lifeguards is deeply troubling. I am requesting a call from a manager to discuss this matter further. I would also like a detailed explanation of: • The safety protocols in place for substitute instructors. • The policies regarding lifeguard intervention during emergencies. • The steps your facility will take to ensure that such an incident does not happen again. Our children participate in swimming lessons to learn water safety and build confidence in the water. On this occasion, my child was failed in a way that could have led to a tragic outcome. I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this urgent and serious matter.

Fantastic experience: Very big facility clean and well equipped .

Fantastic experience: Nice little museum for the great one

Fantastic experience: Fun! Lots to do

Positive experience: Great exercise classes!

Fantastic experience: Wow! Nice venue

Fantastic experience: I went here for a hockey tournament. It is a big place 4 arenas, swimming pool, little hall of fame, snack place, and a source for sports store inside. There's probably other things but i didnt really have tiem to explore since i had games. Overall good place for hockey and sports

Fantastic experience: Made a quick stop in with the kids to use the pools… Nice upgrades, fair pricing including food and drink options… Very cool, check it out

Fantastic experience: Went there for a football game it was amazing and the boys won their game

Positive experience: Nice recreation sports center, but needs renovation, is too old

Fantastic experience: If you enjoy swimming and bath then i would say this is the best place for this.Lifeguards are every where for safety and they are well trained.

Fantastic experience: My kids use the pool for their sport, the pool is great, I use the walking track when they are practicing, nice and cool for walking.

Positive experience: My daughter goes to swimming lessons here I like the amount of change rooms the fact they accommodate for as much as they can the only reason I give a 4 is due to parking it is a short walk to get into the building would be nice to have a few spots closer to door for people with children.

Positive experience: Beautiful football field

Positive experience: Was there for a water polo tournament. The main pool is in an old part of the facility, there were plastic bleachers on the pool deck and there are not comfortable when sitting there all day. It was last very hot and humid in the pool area. The is ok for swimming but not for the spectators. There are a few vents in specific places but you needed to be right in front of them for any benefit. There is also no bottle filler in that pool area, but there are a couple in the newer parts of the building; they are a long walk from the mail pool area.

Fantastic experience: Really nice sports complex. Well maintained

Positive experience: Good facility... could be cleaner .. staff not always friendly ... some bullying present too

Fantastic experience: The swimming facilities are great!!!! I am recovering from an accident, this is the perfect place for rehabilitation. Walking exercises in pool, lap lanes available. The hydrotherapy pool maintained at a warm temperature in the 95 degree range with jets. Plenty of change rooms for access to different areas.

Fantastic experience: Great facility! Sports hall of fame is very interesting. Love going here to watch hockey!

Fantastic experience: Nice place. Brantford is lucky to have it

Fantastic experience: Great big gym located in a massive complex and I like that there are hardly any people mid week, mid day. Lots of machines to try to improve your health or 'beef up' and everybody seems to be so quiet and polite, nothing like the awfully loud, entitled people screaming in their languages as I used to hear in central London, in UK. Nowadays, if you want civilised people you have to move away from the massive cities. Also, they have got a great offer for 10 passes, never expiring, especially when you get regularly sick for many months, what is not to love? Saving money.

Fantastic experience: A great sports center, pool, gym, ice rink, dynamic music, sports bar, I love it, perfect place to fully enjoy the weekend!

Fantastic experience: Fantastic arena and venue. Clean and open it's perfect for tournaments.

Fantastic experience: This sports recreational facility has it all, Can't go wrong here, so bring the whole family and enjoy whatever sports you like ‍♀️ ⚾️⚽️

Fantastic experience: What a great facility for sports, make me envy their resident to have good time with their family Thank you to great one to give us such a gem They have their own hall of fame! Fantastic!!

Fantastic experience: Awesome place , always clean , lots to do !

Fantastic experience: Fantastic facility. Amazing people at information and cafes. Everyone I spoke to was friendly.

Fantastic experience: This ice arena is outstanding! I was here for a tournament in the area and most of our games were hosted here. The facility is absolutely stunning and massive. There is even a public pool in the sports complex. It’s the nicest arena I’ve ever been to and I’ve probably been to around 100. I recommend making the visit here. It’s unreal.

Fantastic experience: Rink 1 is a great venue to watch hockey.

Positive experience: The complex is very new and clean and big. However, the 3 out old the 4 hockey arena spectacular area are inadequate. They are small and the rinks are not very bright.

Negative experience: Needs better maintenance in changerooms ( no working faucet) and public bathrooms ( very messy).. and better workers behind the counter at the consession. Burning food and not having things ready on time or even available.

Fantastic experience: Love coming for a run on the inside track when the weather outside is treacherous!

Fantastic experience: Went to the Gretzky classic my grandson was playing hockey there a really great Sports Complex Wayne I think put his heart into this one

Positive experience: The facility, especially for a city the size of Brantford is amazing!! 4 ice pads, good sized lobby, bar with seating to watch main ice pad, upstairs with walking track and standing room for main ice pad, Source For Sports on site, good sized dressing rooms.....the ONLY thing holding it back from 5 stars are the benches. Most newer rinks have benches spaced to allow U8/U9 half ice to function normally, because they don't, U8/U9 half-ice boards force one team to stand beside the benches which makes it obviously difficult to coach through glass. For that age group, it's a huge deal.

Fantastic experience: This is one of the biggest and nicest sport centres I have ever seen. And they got a bar and a food spot

Negative experience: Great facility, rinks are good and bright. 2 stars because the public bathrooms are terrible. Consistently the floors in front of the urinals are wet and sticky and the sinks are just as bad. A quick mop and a wipe every couple hours would do the trick…

Fantastic experience: An amazing facility, with something for everyone! So happy to find this spot. Fills all of my fitness needs!

Fantastic experience: Stopped in to see the memorabilia in the free display. Very cool! :)

Fantastic experience: Always a great experience. Lots of happy kids playing hockey. Puts a smile on your face.

Fantastic experience: Awesome free indoor track, Hall of Fame, arenas, gym and pool. Fantastic facility.

Fantastic experience: Great place to take in a game and see the great ones museum.

Fantastic experience: Lots to see. 4 hockey rinks, workout facility, indoor track, swimming, restaurant and Gretzky hall of fame. Outdoor football fields as well. Great place to play some sports or at least watch.

Negative experience: Went for a swim this evening. Tried to check the swim times on the City’s website, which was not working. Called the front desk and got the swim times. Did laps. Went into the hot tub, was told the section was closed. Was no signage in the section to indicate this. Complained to front desk and headguard. There was zero indication anywhere that the section was closed (usually there is a “section closed” sign up) which is also a safety issue as people could enter a closed, non-lifeguarded section without knowing it’s closed. Communication at and about the pool needs to be improved. Not confident that anyone at the City will care as I understand there have been communication issues at the facility for quite some time. Change room floor also could be cleaned more thoroughly, dark grime that has clearly been there awhile under the benches.

Fantastic experience: A great place neat clean great directory 2 find yourrinks

Negative experience: This place NEEDS to make it clear when the 65m pool is closed during public swim. We called in advance to make sure it was open, drove up from Hamilton, and paid $7 for admission only to find 2/3rds of the facility was closed for an event. At LEAST give a discount when the full facility isn’t open. Safe to say we’ll stay in Hamilton next time we want to swim.

Fantastic experience: Watched a friend's son playing hockey, Comfortable lounge to have a beer and watch some football

Fantastic experience: Awesome place and lots to do. The bar had great food to

Fantastic experience: Awesome place to check out

Fantastic experience: lovely staff and delicious food! also toonie tuesdays are awesome

Negative experience: confusing method to register kids for classses: before the booking time opens, half capacities are already taken. confusing to say the least. also linked to city of brantford website which is very poorly supported IT wise.

Fantastic experience: I think its fun here, waterslide is cool and it goes outside. cool, cool. but some part are nasty low-key. I mean the obvious places like changing rooms, and washrooms,. bit messy and gross.. definitely wear some type of footwear or sm but other than that its fun so enjoy :P also Walter Gretzky would come here and greet people so thats cool too also rip :(

Fantastic experience: Big facility. Coming soon. Put those electronic devices away and read a book. You will be able to borrow a book from the Brantford Public Library located across from the Hall of Fame. Another reason to get your library card.

Positive experience: Used the indoor track it's free to use. I guess I was expecting something nicer it was just painted lines on a concrete floor.

Fantastic experience: Wayne Gretzky is a great place to take your family swimming with multiple pools jacuzzi multiple diving boards rock wall climbing and a sauna you'll be sure to have a great time with your family. The only thing I do not like about this place is that there is no family swim on the weekend. The weekend is the one time I am available to take my kids swimming

Fantastic experience: This is my favourite arena in all of SW Ontario. Love the Sports Hall of Fame, gives you something to do while waiting for kids to get dressed or undressed after a hockey game.

Fantastic experience: The Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre is the premier location for sporting activities in Brantford and surrounding areas. Also home to the Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition.

Fantastic experience: Great facility! And why wouldn't it be? Rinks are clean and new, and not too cold to spectate. Food, drink, and sports concessions...even a hall of fame (of course) Really great to play and watch here.

Fantastic experience: Huge facility, wonderful pool programs, had an amazing instructor and workout today in the warm water workout, thank you Spencer!

Positive experience: I use the pool to help with an illness. It's a great facility. Only complaint is the shower heads in the change room. They're either a mist spray or lancing stream. Decalcify or get new ones.

Negative experience: Called ahead to make sure my drive was worth while as I live no where close, i was told by the girl Id be fine. Then was turned around at the door anyway because of hitting capacity... such a waste of gas! I will never waste my money on this facility again!!!!

Positive experience: They offer lots of programming but they sell it extremely fast (especially swimming lessons). Even though this is a public place, if you try to take a photo of your child swimming to share with family, there's a lady that will run over and tell you to delete it. They have signs saying you can not take photos, but this is against your rights in Canada to not be able to do so in a public place.

Fantastic experience: Awesome facility for any activity to pass time. Just wish there were more swim lessons available! But I guess that’s a good problem to have. The indoor track is great! Open almost always and it’s free to use. There’s also outdoor trails around back that are nice to walk. We used the gym before COVID and the only issue we had was the lack of squat racks. There’s only one so we had to change or workouts a lot to choose other options for squats. There’s a fair amount of cardio equipment though if that’s what you’re after and the classes , like spin, are put together well!

Fantastic experience: They've got plenty of Life Gaurds mandatory swim tests for kids 8 and younger during scheduled Family and Public swims Tuesdays 2-4 p.m. and Saturdays 2-4 p.m. We had an incredible time and felt safe and secure

Positive experience: Pretty awesome place. Well organized great seating In some of the arenas. Bathrooms were in pretty rough shape.

Positive experience: Toonie Tuesday is insane hundreds of kids lined up to swim, I suggest a very early arrival for that day!

Negative experience: I signed my infant son up for swimming lessons here. First, when signing up they don’t split up the lessons based on age well enough. There used to be parent and tot 1, 2, and 3-now it’s all combined from 4 months to 3 years. Second, half of the lesson was spent in the big pool that was way too cold for babies. It was almost too cold for me to be in the water. The kids in the class were fussy and my son was not enjoying it. If you’re offering lessons for infants this young you should ensure you’re following the pediatric standards as 82 degrees is not an ideal temperature for comfort or safety. The pool area was also extremely busy and loud so you cannot hear the instructor. The only reason I’m giving 1 star is because I was able to cancel and get a partial refund for the lessons. I switched to another facility where the infant lessons are done in a 91 degree pool, with a smaller age group, as it should be, and we are much happier.

Positive experience: Pool area is incredible in size . Life guards all very young and can’t enforce much. Public swims are absolutely packed every Saturday. There’s always multiple used bandaids at bottom of pool .

Negative experience: I love this center and have used it a lot for swimming with my kids. This review is being written while I'm super frustrated as I just packed 2 young kids in the car for swim lessons and arrived to a closed center due to snow. That's completely fine and I understand, however, I spent all morning checking the website and calling to see if they were cancelled. No one answered, nothing on the website (which is a terrible website). I finally hit the option on the phone for "alerts" and all it said was to check the website, which had nothing indicated on it for inclement weather. When I arrived, multiple people were getting back into their car with their kids because they also arrived for swim lessons. If you want to run programs, you need to have a system in place for cancellations, weather, etc. If you have a system in place, then maybe a more suitable person should be running it. Sorry for my rant, I'm annoyed.

Fantastic experience: It's a fantastic facility. Our team played in rink 1, lots of seating and good view of the ice surface. The Gretsky display area was well organized to show his career from minor hockey to NHL Hall of Fame. It brought back a lot of great hockey memories. It's obviously well used and maintained. A centre worth visiting.

Fantastic experience: I have had nothing but a good experience whenever I go here. I use the gym and work out classes, swimming and skating. I just wish that the hydro pool is open again like it was pre-covid. The trainers are great. They are always willing to help us out with anything we need. Everyone is very friendly.

Fantastic experience: Lots of fun. Ice machined every hour. They use Electric Zambonis

Positive experience: Very nice facility, for the amount of people and kids the place should have a healthy selection of food options-even if small. Great business opportunity considering the crowd the place is already attracting yet all they serve is candy, deep fried garbage all extremely over priced which is normal.

Fantastic experience: Amazing complex. A real gem in the awesome city of Brantford. My first visit to watch a triple A U13 game. Very comfortable seating. I wish Norfolk County had a place like this.

Fantastic experience: Always clean. Walking track is free to use and perfect for cold icy winter days.

Fantastic experience: Excellent place to bring my grandmother to for some morning laps around the track. Well maintained and friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: I love working out here friendly staff I got my gym pass subsidized due to being on odsp and they do a ton to help the community I love the new pool area swims are great there's a free track here Aswell there's something here for everyone to do with any budget you're working with. The only complaint I have is a I wish the shower stalls here weren't just a curtain thrown over and they had a lockable stall.

Positive experience: First time there, grandsons birthday gym play day, and.its impressive. It's huge, I mean really big for the size of the town. Well equipped with ice pads, pool, gym, gathering rooms and.located near the highway for access.

Fantastic experience: Stopped by for the geocache nearby and was very impressed with the museum. I saw him play when he was with the Soo Greyhounds.

Fantastic experience: This place is awesome. Have never been here. They have everything for sports. Literally everything you can think of! It's huge. Very clean facilities.

Fantastic experience: I am a Chef, on my feet all day. I purchased orthotics from Foot By Foot and the service was excellent. I would highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Great place to swim, play or just relax in the hot tub! Toomey Tuesday is a great idea! Clean, friendly staff and lots of room to enjoy!

Positive experience: The icerink portion is the only area I have visited. It's big, rinks are a decent temperature for spectators and there is a restaurant within the facility. Clean bathrooms, a lot of parking and a lot of good directional signage.

Fantastic experience: Deepest Pool I’ve Ever Dove to the bottom to get Goggles from the bottom from. Not 1 but 2 Someone else’s child lost a pair. I retrieved them as well.

Fantastic experience: Just a great place to watch hockey games and after meet your friends in the bar.

Fantastic experience: This facility is amazing! All the staff are so friendly and helpful...we take a family member who uses a wheelchair swimming a couple times a week and the equipment including water wheelchairs and ramps into both pools are so helpful. There's also lifts available if you prefer. Showers are hot and facility is always very clean!

Positive experience: Nice place, friendly staff, but more geared towards classes than free swimming. This needs to improve.

Positive experience: Loving coming here since the renovations a few years back. Bring my daughter for swimming lesions and just always have a great time. The hours for the gym though really do need to improve and be extended particularly on weekends and in evenings. The city also needs to take more pride in this facility. It is a symbol of our community and how they have let the lawns and gardens become so neglected is a shame.

Fantastic experience: Just went for the indoor track. Excellent! Free parking ... free to use the track. Wonderful location and place to go to walk safely...suitable for ALL ages...even us old folks.

Fantastic experience: The Lady who answered my phone call named Kelly was extremely polite, knowledgeable & helpful. She gave me the information I called for & filled me in on a few things that will benefit my 2 boys & I. As a single mother getting the most out of every trip is essential especially with the price of gas now. Thanks Crystal

Positive experience: Amazing complex with great rinks, have been playing here weekly since it opened. Unfortunately the showers are unusable because they are scalding hot and cant change the temperature.

Negative experience: My stepson went to the pool like he usually does to enjoy himself only to be told you can't do tricks off the diving board anymore so he left the pool after 15 minutes what is happening to that place such a shame

Negative experience: Rediculas no where to get water if you do not have a water bottle all vending machines are empty except for one upstairs which ate our money and when we spoke with arena staff were told they don't own the machines they can't open them and will not refund us. What kind of fitness facility does not enable you to get water?

Fantastic experience: Great place to swim lengths or bring the kids, I used to work here as a lifeguard and instructor, now I just bring the kids to play in the water every week, not really any lineups , pool temp is great especially the 25m on the other side(unless a swim meet is coming up but that's understandable to have cooler water to race in) and in the summer they have toonie teusdays, 2 bucks per person to swim, great deal

Positive experience: Beer is a bit over priced for a captive audience, costs enough just to take kids let alone get robbed for a beer, and rink numbers should be 1 as u walk in and move up from there vs rink 2 other end where u walk in?? Seems silly to me

Fantastic experience: Went with my 4 year old son Had a great time. Awesome kids area.

Negative experience: Customer service is awful here. They have absolutely no problem overcharging for something that I was already paid! You ask to speak with someone and they claim no one is there. Shouldn't you have a manager on available all the time?

Fantastic experience: We go there every month for swim meet. Clean and well maintained. Nice change rooms. Huge stadiums for ice hockey and swimming pool

Negative experience: I have been going here since I was a baby. I own a punch card for swim. Why must I wait in a line for upwards of 30min for a public swim that lasts an hour when I just have to tap my card on a scanner is mind boggling. Like at least allow people with a pre paid pass to go in to speed things up!