Happy July! With warmer weather, longer days and the Olympics around the corner, there is a lot to look forward to as summer kicks off.

With only a few weeks until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin, we are excited to see that Canada’s women athletes are projected to win most of the medals for Team Canada. After the women accumulated 16 of the 22 medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics, there is a lot to be excited about when the Games begin July 23rd.

While major sporting events and leagues have found ways to accommodate and adjust safety protocols for athletes, provincial and local sport organizations have struggled with pandemic restrictions to consistently keep players on the field. After 16 months of limited sport and recreation options for athletes and youth, what will sport participation look like as sports begin to return?

It’s not looking great. Today, in partnership with the E-Alliance and thanks to generous funding support from Sport Canada, and Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, we released Pandemic Impact on Girls in Sport. The reality of these findings? 1 in 4 girls are not committed to returning to sport. If they do not come back, that means over 350k girls will not be returning. The time is now to act so that the current lack of commitment does not materialize into fewer girls on the field.

To start, we need to understand how the COVID-19 stoppage is impacting girls and how this relates to the existing barriers women and girls face in sport. This will point us to targeted solutions. Learn more about the findings of this research and share this data with your networks to help build back sport better.

What’s happening at Canadian Women & Sport in July?

To help build back better sport, Canadian Women & Sport has launched two (2) gender equity programming initiatives to engage sport organizations to support and champion women and girls in their communities. Learn more about the upcoming opportunities and deadlines below.

Know someone or a sport organization that would be perfect for one or more of these programs? Send them the information below!

• We are pleased to extend an invitation to sport and recreation organizations across Canada to apply for the Same Game Challenge. Thanks to funding by Sport Canada, this project will support sport and physical activity organizations in actively engaging women and girls by implementing the Same Game Online Toolkit. This project will provide training and coaching to organizations working through the Same Game toolkit, which embeds gender equity within your organization – from creating your vision, to implementing initiatives, to reflecting and revising what you’ve done, and all the steps in between.
  • Apply now to the National Same Game Challenge. Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 21st, 2021.

• We are also excited to extend an invitation to Greater Toronto Area (GTA) sport and recreation organizations to apply for the GTA Same Game Challenge. Thanks to funding from Nike Canada as part of the company’s Made to Play global commitment to get kids moving, Canadian Women & Sport will support and connect 10 sport and physical activity leaders working to advance gender equity in their organization. This application is open to local community sport and recreation organizations within the Greater Toronto Area such as minor sport organizations, recreation facilities, or other organizations that offer physical activity or sport in their community. 
  • Apply now to the GTA Same Game Challenge. Deadline for submissions is Thursday, July 22nd, 2021.

• Canadian Women & Sport has partnered with E-Alliance to understand the relationship between gender equity and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in sport. Although research has not investigated the explicit relationship between gender equity and GBV in sport, research outside of sport reveals two perspectives – women as change agents and the power paradox. Learn ways to reduce gender-based violence through gender equity in our new tool.
• Canadian Women & Sport enthusiastically supports an independent mechanism to administer the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport.  While all will benefit from this, women and girls will particularly benefit, as they experience disproportionately high rates of maltreatment in sport. An independent body is necessary to ensure that athlete well-being is kept at the forefront. We celebrate the announcement of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) as the Independent Safe Sport Mechanism. 

While you’re here…

• Be sure to stay tuned for our 2020-21 Impact Report coming out soon! Learn how we have adjusted our programming throughout the pandemic, the big projects we’ve been working on, and what is in store for us going forward!

Thanks for reading!