where are all the women? - Canadian Sport for Life

WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Part 1: An examination of the needs of
female athletes through the LTAD stages
Part 2: What you can do to encourage,
develop and retain more women in the
coaching ranks
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Panel members:
Sheilagh Croxon – Coaching Association of Canada - Women in
Coaching Consultant, LTAD for Synchro Canada, Olympic Coach
Sylvie Beliveau – Canadian Soccer Association, LTPD Manager
Isabelle Cayer - Coaching Association of Canada - Coaching
Consultant, Women in Coaching, LTAD for Skate Canada
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Objectives of the workshop:
1. Provide practical knowledge and insight based on our
experiences into the female athlete at various stages.
2. Ignite you to action – get more women in the
coaching ranks
3. Encourage self reflection – personal/organizational
reflection of the systemic barriers that may exist in your
sport to engaging and retaining more women in
coaching.
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Stats:
1. If a girl does not participate in sport by the age of 10, there is
only a 10% chance she will be physically active when she is 25.
2. Beginning at the age of 12, girls’ involvement in physical activity
declines steadily until only 11% are still active by age 16-17.
3. Between and ages of 12 and 19, girls are significantly less
active than boys, with 64% of girls compared to 52% of boys
considered physically inactive.
4. By age 18, more than 50% of young women perceive
themselves as too fat, despite having normal body weight
5. 14% of National Team coaches are women
Pope John Paul II "Sports are not merely the exercise of muscles, but the school of moral
values and of training in courage, in perseverance, and in overcoming
laziness and carelessness. There is no doubt that these values are of
greatest interest for the formation of a personality which considers
sports not an end in itself but as a means to total and harmonious
physical, moral and social development."
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Physical Literacy
Active Start/FUNdamentals/ Learn to Train
On the Move : a national initiative designed by CAAWS to
increase the opportunities for inactive girls and young women
(ages 9-18) to participate and lead in sport and physical activity
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Strategies to develop confidence and self-esteem in children:
• Give them a warm and personal welcome when they arrive
• Use their names when you speak to them.
• Encourage cooperation and fair play.
• Make sure everyone has a turn to shine.
• Do not tolerate behaviour that makes other children feel bad.
• Acknowledge and encourage their efforts
• Tell them what their positive qualities are, and what they do well
• Give frequent and sincere praise
• Show that you are happy with them (high five, pat on the
shoulder)
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Train to Train – 11-15
Oh no, Oh well, Oh Yes!
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
The Comfort Zone
We all have a comfort zone where everything feels
safe and familiar.
We tend to not want to venture beyond it, however
if we allow ourselves to stay there we will not be
challenged, experience personal growth, or learn
new and exciting things.
In other words, we would stagnate.
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
“DO IT AFRAID”
Ninety to ninety-five percent of people will
withdraw to the comfort zone when what
they try doesn't work. Only that small
percentage, 5 or 10 percent, will continually
improve themselves; they will continually
push themselves out into the zone of
discomfort, and these are always the highest
performers in every field.
Cari Din -­‐ Olympic Silver Medallist 1996 As a young girl, the water and the music and the Senior swimmers
captured my imagination. We used to swim as a club every Friday
night and 30 years later I can still remember the feeling of sharing a
lane with the older swimmers and basking in the light they gave off!
As a pre-teen and adolescent my membership on a team - every team kept me sane. The complex web of social rights and injustices that I
had to navigate at school was washed away by my pool life. I was an
extremely shy kid and being part of a team year over year cultivated a
confidence that I don't think I would have developed outside of
synchro. Not to say that there was no social apparatus to negotiate
amongst every group I swam with (!); however, that world was defined
by membership and grounded in a sense of striving because we were
reaching for something as a unit.
Being on a team not only helped me but drove me through positive
rivalry. My teammates over time became my best competitors - and I
learned to savour that rather than avoid it.
Being on a synchro team, for me, was a gift.
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Train to Compete/Train to Win/Active for Life – 15+
Coaching Girls: Effectively Enabling the transition
from talented age group to performance senior
By Kerry Wood and Alan Lynn – Scottish swimming
coaches
Case study:
Apply change to the coaching behaviours & training
program to increase enjoyment, improve motivation,
competitiveness and retention
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Train to Compete/Train to Win/Active for Life – 15+
• Change coaching behaviours
• Develop and change the social environment
• Develop competitiveness
• Work with swimmers to set goals
• Achieve a psychological advantage by changing
the training plan
• Recognize that female swimmers are different
from male swimmers – linked to continued
participation and performance
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTIVE FOR LIFE? WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Recruitment & Retention
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
“What’s in the way is the way”
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Top 3 Barriers – High Performance
1. Isolation of leaders – “its lonely up there - there
is no critical mass anywhere in the system from
grass roots to international making support difficult
to find”
2. Lack of understanding of the Role of the Coach
by society (value)
3. Financial security – lack of professional working
conditions
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
CSA has their man
New soccer coach to be named soon
Mar 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Randy Starkman
SPORTS REPORTER
Canadian Soccer Association president Colin
Linford believes a soccer nation's true worth is
judged by the success of its men's team.
Note to file: At the time, the Canadian Mens’ Soccer
Team was ranked 103rd in the world; the women’s
team had just won bronze
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Laryssa Biesenthal and 5 month
old Avery at the World Cup
(2007)
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Cheryl Sandberg : Why we have
too few women leaders www.ted.com
Girls on the Edge – Leonard Sax
Boys Adrift
Why Gender Matters
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
CAC/Women in Coaching Resources
www.coach.ca
SLIDE TITLE – ARIAL BOLD
CAC Women in Coaching Programs
•  National Team Apprenticeship Program (NTAP) - 6
•  P/T Canada Games Apprenticeship Program
(CGAP) - 20
•  NCI Scholarships - 15
•  Professional Development Grants - 8
•  NSO Project Grants - 5
•  National Coach Workshop 20-30
•  Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching –
1000’s & Global reach
•  We Are Coaches Campaign – 100’s
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
For more information on CAC’s Women in Coaching
Program, contact us:
Isabelle Cayer –
icayer@coach.ca
Sheilagh Croxon –
scroxon@rogers.com
WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?
Questions?