By Matt Prokopchuk
The old schoolyard taunt ‘you play like a girl,’ has never sounded more ridiculous.
Not that the playground is the best place to go digging for societal truths, but the fact is the number of women and girls participating and excelling in sports is definitely on the rise in Canada.
The most visible proof of this came at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy where 16 of Canada’s 24 medals were won by female athletes or teams. Speed skater Cindy Klassen alone won five medals, becoming Canada’s most decorated Olympian in the process.
However, the massive growth that women’s sports have seen isn’t only reflected in international competition — it’s just as noticeable at the local level, too.
Girls N’ Women and Sport is an Ottawa organization that runs all-female recreational sports leagues and skills camps in a variety of sports within the city’s year-round recreational calendar.
The goal is simple: get more girls and women involved in sports . And it’s working.
Leslie Coburn, portfolio manager for Citywide Sports says that within the past nine years total enrollment has increased to approximately 7,000, — up from 1,500.
“We have seen some pretty wonderful opportunities for women and girls,” she says, partly attributing the growth to the organization’s commitment to having an ‘everybody plays’ policy, meaning no tryouts.
The organization was launched over 20 years ago to provide a wider array of sporting opportunities for girls and women. Coburn says that up until then, most recreational opportunities for girls were in sports like gymnastics and figure skating.
There was a need for sports like basketball, softball and volleyball. Coburn says that the constant inclusion of new sports continues to fuel interest.
“It seems to be whatever we offer, it flies,” she says. “There are always new requests for sports.”
The organization now offers sports that range from volleyball (on the beach and indoors) to field hockey to lacrosse, and uses school gymnasiums and community facilities around the city — including Centretown’s McNabb Community Centre.
After leading her all-female recreation league volleyball team “Spiked Punch” in an evening game at a local public school, captain Tina Nagle says she’s noticed a huge increase in sporting opportunities for women locally.
“I’ve been here since ’93, and when I started the only league I could find was a co-ed league,” she says. “Then one of the girls introduced us to this league and we’ve been here ever since.”
“The number of participants in this just keeps going up. Every year there’s more and more people, more and more teams.”
Janina Chandler, playing against Nagle’s team, is one of the newer participants. For her, it was a chance to continue playing a sport she enjoys.
“I played volleyball a long time ago in high school, and I had a friend who was playing and she invited me along,” she says, adding that it’s good for exercise and for getting out of the house.
Not only adult women benefit from the organization’s commitment to providing opportunities in recreational sports. Girls N’ Women and Sport also runs many camps and leagues for girls as well, often as after-school programs or in partnership with organizations such as Girl Guides. Coburn says that first and foremost, these programs are designed to be fun.
“The motto is ‘girls just want to have fun,’” she says, adding that the instructors have a large role in this. “I think we have exceptional staff, really.”
“They have to be fun, enthusiastic, and each girl has to learn something from every class.”
Lee Taylor, youth project coordinator for Volleyball Canada, and longtime coach with Girls N’ Women and Sport says that the need for sports and recreational activities for girls is finally starting to be met.
“There’s not much happening with the school system in phys. ed., as we know,” she says. “The community has to help.”
Taylor says the biggest challenge is to keep the girls participating once they hit their teenage years – a time when some start to lose interest.
“I’d love it if every kid kept playing. It’s healthy physically, and healthy psychologically.”
While the triumphs of the Canadian women in Torino may seem far removed from an after-school recreation program in Ottawa, Taylor says their influence is still strong, and can be used to teach lessons and to inspire.
“You’ve got the cross-country skier (Chandra Crawford) who won but came in as a dark horse. That’s passion,” she says. “The kids understand that.”