Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 18th, 2016

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

We do have remote delivery of the national coaching certification program. In fact, it's almost mail order, which is an option.

Ontario has a very good strategy of online blended learning, which brings in our remote counterparts. We are working on blended strategies of learning in a classroom, online, and with mentors to actually reach out to some of those remote communities. Part of the challenge we have with those individuals is that the coaching education is one component, and then there is the facility component, and then there's the support network component. Therefore, it becomes part of a broader problem, which I think municipalities play a leading role in supporting.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Do you see any way that we can make recommendations on how to expand that, on how we can get more participation and get that education level out there so that we continue this for years and years to come?

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

I think it's part of a broader societal thing that is a bit of a challenge. It's probably not an easy answer, but it is absolutely something that fundamentally makes a difference.

We have an apprenticeship program for aboriginal communities as an example, and what we find is we can get in and we can have apprentice coaches in aboriginal communities, but then sustaining them and keeping them beyond Canada Games, for instance, which is where the apprenticeship happens every four years, is difficult. Part of it is that in providing coaching education, you're only providing one component of the environment that makes a community successful. The initiative would be about engaging all levels of community into a sustainable commitment for change to impact the communities, of which coaching education would be one component.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I will go to Ms. Pattenden, who is also a coach. I can see her bouncing up and down on the chair there.

[Wendy Pattenden]

I wanted to give an example that I think actually hits both points that have been raised.

My youngest child joined a club. So at the community level...and I know my background is high performance, but actually I'm also chair of the Canadian Sport for Life Organization, so I certainly have that passion as well. We joined a club. It's a very small community club called Crescent Beach. What they do—it's very successful and I think it could be emulated across the country—is they have programming for kids so that they can swim, bike, do triathlons, play tennis, go sailing, just using the natural resources around the Lower Mainland where we live. What they do for the programming for the kids, so say if they start at age 4 to 10, is they're coached by teenagers. It's a very interesting model. It is getting youth involved in coaching right from the start. These kids grow up together as a social group. They're dropped off at the community centre early in the morning, and at 7:30 they're in the pool. I never saw my kid until five o'clock. They went from swimming to volleyball to tennis. They had lunch together, but they were with teenagers, who were role models for them. They were very much gender balanced in terms of the role models. There were always young women. My daughter ended up going through this programming as a kid, and then at age 14, she was a teen leader, and it was leadership training.

I really think we should look at an employment program for teen leaders in coaching. She did that, coaching, from 14 to 18 years of age, and absolutely loved being with the youngsters and to this day—she is in her third year at university—she's still coaching water polo because she loves it and she loves being with the youngsters. And kids love being with kids—I call them kids, but they're teenagers—as opposed to having a 25-year-old coach them.

I really think we can look at a model that encourages teens to get into coaching at the grassroots level right from an early age.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

That's so true. That's part of what we see when we talk about young girls in sport. Oftentimes their comments are they get involved because it socializes them and they're with a group of people, and they often don't come back when they see that. Unfortunately, sometimes they get comments made to them by other people—as we heard about joining rugby and you're a butch if you play rugby—but the reality is sometimes that comes from within and from girls saying that to girls. How do we make that culture change? It's difficult. I don't know how we do that. Oftentimes we judge success and we monitor how we are successful in a program on how we turn out high-performance athletes. Sometimes I think that's the wrong way to look at it because the bottom line is success should be we're getting people to participate, end of story. The medals don't matter, but it does matter that we get people out and participating at a young age and keeping them that way.

In Saskatchewan, I am a Rough Rider fan and before the Rough Riders come out, we start cheering, “bring 'em out, bring 'em out, bring 'em out”. So my question really is how do we bring them back? How do we bring these girls back into...because as Mr. McConnell mentioned, they leave. They're out there on the side. How do we get them back?

[Geordie McConnell]

If I may, imagery is the thing I would particularly like to highlight. My triathlon club started 12 years ago and if you pick any 400 people off the street, that is my triathlon club. They're not all iron men, lean, athletic people. Everybody is part of it. The number one factor that has aided in our growth is the imagery that we're putting out there in social media, and that is a picture of a normal person doing a triathlon. In fact, three normal people who've just done a triathlon smiling is the picture we want. I want everyone to see that, to see themselves as a triathlete. If the Government of Canada was able to facilitate the imagery of the 36-year-old woman playing recreational soccer or the 55-year-old woman running a half-marathon—well, there's lots of imagery of runners out there, so let's say to sport.... The imagery is really the key.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Nantel and Ms. Trudel will split their seven minutes.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Excellent. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

First of all, thank you for being here, Ms. Pattenden.

I would also like to thank Ms. Dabrusin for suggesting the topic. Quite clearly, if music can lift one's spirits, so too can sport. Ms. Kitchen's remarks were also spot on.

My daughter Marilou could definitely attest to what Mr. McConnell said about competitive sports limiting involvement in sport. My daughter runs regularly but since she is not competitive, and neither is her sister, I might not be very aware as regards sports.

I think my colleague, Ms. Trudel, is also very athletic. So I will give her the floor, she knows much more about this even though she has two boys.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you.

I would also like to thank the witnesses for their presentations. This is the second meeting of this committee that I have attended.

In my youth, I was involved in sports, and your testimony really hit home with me.

I am thinking of a marathon runner who is also a former work colleague. I talked about her at the last meeting. Her sport cost her her job. Last week, I learned that she had to make a choice. She chose to continue with her sport and to become an example. She is a young woman in her thirties. From a young age, funding had often been a problem for her. She represented Canada and had to sell tickets to raise money. She did it because she believed in it. What can we do in cases like that? I did not know how to help her. We could not give her money directly.

We have talked a great deal about Olympic teams, but the fun of sport should not be overlooked. I completely agree about the importance of fun in sport because that is what I do with my boys. The are not involved in a specific sport, but we go mountain biking together and it is fun. We also go snowshoeing. What is important to me is that they are active and have fun. I do those activities with them for fun.

At a higher level of performance, as in the case of my former colleague, competition becomes a challenge. The goal is to get to the Olympics. I wish her success in that.

My question is for all of you. With regard to high-level sport, what specifically can we do to help these young women continue in their sport?

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

Thank you for that question.

To begin, I would say that, since we have sports-study programs, we also need sports-employer programs.

This pertains not only to employers but also to university students.

Some universities show compassion and try to manage athletes' lives to help them achieve a balance between their studies, their future profession and their contribution to international Olympic or paralympic teams.

In my opinion, raising employers' awareness should be a priority. They could establish a best practice. In Quebec, we have the sports-study program that is very successful. The same model should be used with employers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Go ahead, Karine. You have time.

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Certain infrastructures are not suited to recreational sports, or to young people in sport-study programs. This is a problem in my community, which includes skating rinks and the swimming pool.

Without excluding a category of athletes, how could we make facilities both pleasant and practical so they are open to everyone and do not discourage certain enthusiasts? You said there are many people who want to do a sport but quit because they are not a member of a club. They cannot do the sport they like.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Who would like to take that?

[Geordie McConnell]

I think it's a mentality thing. There are many places here in Ottawa where adults could swim or run, but if they don't feel welcome, if the attitude is too competitive, they will not feel at home. It comes down to this huge overall change in mentality. It's like that girl who didn't make the team and didn't show up to play on the lesser team. We need to promote non-competitive options. It frustrates me. I teach a learn to run program, as well, twice a year. When I look at the group—and it's 90% female—my number one priority is that it's inclusive, that no one is left behind. It frustrates me to no end that in the community this is an exception. Too often it's the least experienced coach who is the one teaching the new adult. It's a mentality change. We have to prioritize participation and decrease the whole goal-oriented, ladder-based mentality, but it's complicated.

[Elio Antunes]

May I add to that?

The other thing that we encourage is collaboration between the various sectors. We need to have the education system working with the recreation system, working with the sports system. Although we're all part of the same family, we all have individual priorities and objectives. If we work more collaboratively at the local level, I think there are opportunities to be consistent with the messaging, but also opportunities to leverage other assets, whether it's instruction, facility access, programs, etc.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I would like to say something because I am interested in the non-competitive and more recreational aspects of sport.

On the other hand, with regard to the Olympic committee, for instance—you spoke about this earlier, Ms. Pattenden—, have we not reached the point where athletes' options for after their athletic career should be broadened? We did very well at the Olympics. Instead of dropping these athletes, why not keep them so they can become coaches who will inspire our young women?

[Wendy Pattenden]

Absolutely, and I spoke to that. I would also say that this should not be an either-or. This should not be a battle between recreation and high performance. We need both in this country. The high-performance athletes are unique role models for all of Canada. I'm a little uncomfortable when it starts going toward either-or because we need both. I was recruited to be a coach as soon as I retired from playing professionally. Lorraine, you'll be happy that it was a coaching program, one of the original apprentice programs. I could have taken a PR job working for Nestlé. That was my other option. It was that or coaching. I went into coaching, and I'm really glad I did. Yes, certainly, it's natural. There are a ton of athletes who are coaches, and not necessarily the Olympic athletes. Actually, I find the best coaches are not the best athletes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We'll go to Mr. Vandal for the Liberals for seven minutes.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you very much.

Thank you for all of your presentations.

My first question has to do with the lack of participation or representation of girls and women in the whole sports continuum. Where is that lack of participation most acute? Is it at the young girl level, the entry into sport level? Is it at the recreational level? Is it at the coaching level? Is it at the senior administrator level?

I'll go to the Canadian Sport Institute first.

I would like to hear from Ms. Lafrenière next.

[Wendy Pattenden]

Some of the stats I cited show that it's low everywhere. It's around that 25% or less. I think it has to start at the top with the board. There are a lot of statistics out there that boards make better decisions when they have both genders at the table, so I would start at the board level.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Okay, thank you.

Ms. Lafrenière, what are your thoughts?

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

Mr. Antunes talked about the dramatic drop in sport participation at the onset of physical changes in young girls. I think that is a significant cause for concern because of the isolation they feel at that time. What I would say is that the system understands how to build a sports system for young boys, and it doesn't know how to build a system for young girls. That goes for everything from the equipment to the hours of practice, to the social networks, to the coaching communication style, to the expectations. We all know young teenage girls like harmony, and if they're not in a harmonic situation, they're not as interested. That was my own experience. I didn't come back to sport until my early twenties. I really do think all of the dynamics of the conversation that have happened at this table talk about a sport system that is created for boys versus one that needs to be adapted and created uniquely for young girls.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you.

Ms. Thibeault, would you like to say something?