The folks at Sporting Life somehow manage to perfectly balance FUNCTION and FASHION in their immense stock of beginner to amateur apparel, accessories, and equipment. Though I prefer function, sporty spice girls and guys can find their fashionable gears here too.
Sporting Life has everything one needs to suit-up and gear-up for activities ranging from a mild increase in heart rate (e.g. walking and golf) to a serious sweat (e.g. running and squash), and everything in between (e.g. cycling and snowboarding). They also have in-house repair/tune-up shop that'll take care of bikes, skates, boards, etc. even if you didn't buy it there.
As much as I love this store, there are a couple wee reasons why I can't give it a full 5-star review:
a) the parking lot is a nightmare! and it's smack in the middle of the longish distance between Eglinton and Lawrence subway stations.
b) there's so much merchandise that the layout can look a bit crowded and confused in there.
c) i have to go elsewhere for more specialized sporting goods
in all, sporting life my favourite amateur sports store.