PURPOSE

The purpose of this resource is to increase awareness about the experiences of women and girls, and provide recommendations to address the psycho-social factors that influence female athlete development, leadership and life-long participation in sport and physical activity. The resource is a supplement to Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L), a movement to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada.

Women and girls, who account for more than 50 percent of the population of Canada, continue to be underrepresented in the sport and physical activity system. Awareness about biomechanical and physiological considerations unique to women and girls has increased, providing a foundation to improve training methods and competition programs for athletes. However, large gaps persist in knowledge and practice relating to the psycho-social factors that influence women and girls as participants, athletes, coaches, officials, leaders or administrators.

As a catalyst for change, CS4L offers an opportunity to address the recognized shortcomings of conventional sport and physical activity programming, and the Long-Term Athlete Development framework, to adequately address gender differences. It is time to create optimal conditions and systems that support women and girls to be active at all stages of participation and competition, as coaches, officials, leaders and in other roles related to sport and physical activity.

 

CALL FOR CS4L SUCCESS STORIES
To support work to enhance the Canadian Sport and Physical Activity system and build on the Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) movement and Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD), CAAWS is seeking success stories from national, provincial/territorial and community organizations that have increased opportunities for women and girls to participant and/or lead.

These could include targeted Learn to Play programs, codes of conduct to make your team more inclusive, female-only coach certification opportunities, mentorship initiatives, and more. Success stories will be featured at the 2013 CS4L Summit. Send a description of your success story to Natalie Brett, CAAWS Project Coordinator, via nbrett@caaws.ca. Deadline for Submissions: December 21, 2012.

 

    

TOWARDS GENDER EQUITY FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

The concept of “equality” often results in programs and services for one group simply being made available to another. In contrast, “equity” requires consideration of the unique needs, interests and experiences of a target group when developing and delivering services and allocating resources. Therefore, some services may be the same, while others may be completely different.

This resource provides practical tips to help to shift the focus from creating “equal” opportunities to determining how best to support women and girls so they have equitable opportunities and outcomes.


DOWNLOAD A COPY

 

Actively Engaging Women and Girls: Addressing the Psycho-Social Factors.
A Supplement to Canadian Sport for Life
Full document, 58 pages, 1.1 MB

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Supplements

Recommendations for Families and Caregivers (323 KB)

Recommendations for Community Program Leaders and Coaches (323 KB)

Recommendations for Educators and School Administrators (314 KB)

Recommendations for High Performance Coaches and Leaders (315 KB)

Recommendations for NSOs and P/TSOs (322 KB)

Recommendations to Make Sport More Welcoming to Sexual and Gender Diversity (323 KB)

Presentations

2013 CS4L National Summit – Actively Engaging Women and Girls: Promising Practices from the Canadian Sport and Physical Activity Sector

2012 CS4L National Summit – Actively Engaging Women and Girls: Addressing the Psycho-Social Factors

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION

Everyone has a role to play in actively engaging women and girls in sport and physical activity. Specific recommendations in the resource are grouped into five areas for action.

  1. Develop, promote and enforce effective policies to ensure gender equity in the Canadian sport and physical activity system.
  2. Promote and demonstrate the value of women and girls in the Canadian sport and physical activity system.
  3. Develop and strengthen the capacity of the Canadian sport and physical activity system to support the active engagement of women and girls.
  4. Strengthen partnerships and collaborative action within and across sectors to influence national, provincial/territorial, community sport and physical activity environments for women and girls.
  5. Support, conduct and disseminate gender-specific research and evaluation.
 

 

EXAMINING THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL FACTORS

A social-ecological model (see Figure 1, below) can help improve understanding of the complex and multidimensional factors that facilitate and constrain women’s and girls’ sport and physical activity decisions and behaviour (Froehlich Chow, 2010; Gyurcsik, Spink, Bray, Chad, & Kwan, 2006; Humbert et al., 2006; Nahas et al., 2003; Needham et al., 2007). This approach recognizes the impact of interpersonal, intrapersonal, environmental, and policy factors on women’s and girls’ involvement. A social-ecological model encourages a shift from a “focus on single issues, risk factors and linear causality, towards an holistic concern to develop supportive contexts in the places that people live their lives’’ (Dooris et al., 2007, p. 331). There are many layers of influence on women and girls, contributing to or detracting from their ability to reach their full potential and thrive in sport and physical activity.

 

CANADIAN SPORT FOR LIFE www.canadiansportforlife.ca

The Canadian Sport for Life website is the number one source for information about Long-Term Athlete
Development and the CS4L movement. Information and resources are regularly added. Key resources
include:

  • The Female Athlete Perspective: Key Strategies for Long-Term Success.
  • Developing Physical Literacy: A Guide for Parents of Children Ages 0 to 12.
  • Canadian Sport for Life — A Sport Parent’s Guide.
  • No Accidental Champions: Long-Term Athlete Development for Athletes with a Disability.
  • A targeted Active for Life website was launched in 2011 — www.activeforlife.ca.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

  • Sylvie Béliveau, Canadian Soccer Association, LTPD Manager
  • Vicki Harber, PhD, Faculty of Physical Education & Recreation, University of Alberta
  • Louise Humbert, PhD, Associate Dean, College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan
  • Penny Werthner, PhD, Director and Associate Dean, School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa
  • Karin Lofstrom, Executive Director, CAAWS
  • Sydney Millar, National Program Director, CAAWS
  • Lori Johnstone, Project Manager

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please contact:
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS)
N202 - 801 King Edward Avenue
Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 6N5
Phone: 613-562-5667
Fax: 613-562-5668
Email: caaws@caaws.ca