GIRLS AND WOMEN IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SPORT

What's inside this issue...

Are Facilities Open to Everyone?

Community recreation facilities are available for everyone in the community to use and enjoy. They are built using taxpayers money to provide facilities for all community members to participate in sport, recreation, and leisure activities. The question becomes - are all community members accessing these facilities?

Women and girls have traditionally faced a number of barriers, often completely unnoticed by recreation providers, including inequitable allocation or design of facilities for female sports and recreation programs. Equitable access to municipally-funded sport and recreation facilities is a critical issue when determining if all community members are receiving equitable opportunities.

Because facilities include the community or recreation centre as well as the fields and arenas that are operated by the community, it becomes important to take a comprehensive look at all aspects of a community centre rather than just one area. Few municipalities have policies in place to ensure that facilities are allocated on an equitable basis and gender is rarely used as a criterion. Without policies to guide staff when booking the facilities, it becomes difficult to do more than allocate based on tradition, demand, or on a first come first serve basis.

Why should equitable access be a concern? There are many advantages to taking a proactive approach to facility allocation. First of all, it will encourage more girls and women to participate in physical activity programs, which translates into more people using the facilities, more revenue brought in resulting in a more viable recreation centre. This will also improve the health and well-being of more community members and build a stronger healthier community.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities adopted a gender equity policy in 1989, the Canadian Parks/Recreation Association adopted a policy in 1995, the BC Recreation and Parks Association adopted one in 1997, and the BC Provincial government jointly with Promotion Plus created a gender equity policy for girls and women in physical activity and sport in 1992. All of these policies clearly define the rights of girls and women to access sport, recreation and leisure experiences. By taking a proactive approach, communities can avoid lawsuits or Human Rights cases which not only damage reputations, but can be quite costly to defend; money which would be better spent in creating more opportunities for girls and women.

Facility operators and recreation professionals need to take this proactive approach and examine their allocation practices. The first step is to collect data so that you have a clear picture of who is using your facilities. An allocation policy should then be put in place with gender as a criterion and all staff should be educated on this issue and why these steps are necessary.

Community members and community groups should raise the question on allocation practices and policies at their local community centre. When the demand is created, municipalities will start to listen and take steps towards making some changes. Recognize and congratulate the staff at your local centre if they are taking steps towards including more girls and women in their facilities and programs.

An unfortunate result of changing traditional policies may be that some groups may not receive the same amount of time that they once enjoyed. The goal of gender equity is not to take anything away from anyone, but to allocate resources equitably. An example in this case is reallocating prime ice time which may take time away from boys minor hockey associations, but this may be a necessity in order to ensure that all groups have the same opportunity to access prime ice time. Girls and women only want what is fair and what is their right to share. As tax payers and community members, females can demand the same advantages that boys and men have had for years. The ultimate goal is to share the facilities in an equitable manner so that all community members can enjoy the health benefits from being physically active.

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Promotion Plus Update

WISRAN (Women in Sport and Recreation Administration Network) meets on the last Wednesday of every month (except Dec.), from Sept. to May. Meetings run from 7:30am until 9:00am. Cost: $9 prepaid and $12 at the door. For information and registration call 737-3075 .

Thank you to our March speaker Fay Baker who spoke about linking personal health and work and our April speaker Lorraine June for her talk on financial planning.

May 27 - "Abreast in a Boat", breast cancer survivors dragon boat team members will lead a discussion and slide show, location TBA.

This is the final WISRAN meeting until September.

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Promtion Plus Leadership Awards -

The Promotion Plus Leadership Award recipients were announced at a reception at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver on Thursday, March 5th

INDIVIDUAL

Dorothy Jean Paul, Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Assoc. of BC - was the Team BC Operations Manager for the North American Indigenous Games; participated in the 5000m and two soccer games and is a level 3 NCCP coach. Her work has opened the door for many young aboriginal girls in BC who never had the opportunity to participate in sport.

Rachel Corkum, Thunderbird Community Centre Youth Leader runs programs for girls taking extra steps to ensure the girls safety and providing encouragement in group and individual settings. She also runs pro-grams for children and parents at the centre in a low income area which provides many challenges.

Jenny John, BC Women's Field Hockey Provincial Coordinator; Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, has dedicated 20 years to the development of field hockey for young women and girls throughout BC. She has conducted numerous player, coach, and umpire clinics and is an excellent role model as an ex-national player and coach.

ORGANIZATION

YOUNG WOMAN (under 19)

TEAM

"Abreast in a Boat", Breast Cancer Survivors Dragon Boat Team - these women originally came together as part of a study to test the physical effects of exercise on breast cancer survivors. They have now become athletes in their own right and have just returned from competition in New Zealand, where they also spoke to support groups, the cancer society, and oncology physicians about their experiences as breast cancer survivors and the effects of exercise in their recovery.

Steve Ewen, Sports Reporter/Writer for the Province - has overcome traditional and historical barriers to tell the stories of girls and women in sport. He writes "School Zone" on high school sports and "Campus Corner" on university athletics, where he ensures a gender balance in his stories. His work encourages girls and women in sport by sharing their stories, stories that are worthy of public interest and admiration.

Promotion Plus would also like to acknowledge our food and beverage sponsors:

Thank you to all of our sponsors for their generous donations to the Promotion Plus Leadership Awards:

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& Answer

Cost is the eternal argument against change. If fairness and justice are held hostage to financial considerations, they are never achieved. Full equity programs do require financial resources, however, many gender equity initiatives can be undertaken with little expenditure of funds; ie. establishing a gender equity committee or writing a policy on sexual harassment.

You should consider the cost of inequity. Sport organizations will increasingly be required to demonstrate gender equity practices to receive full government funding. Failure to encourage women in sport and increase participation of girls and women in your sport may limit your revenue base. Failure to promote women's sport events ignores a large, untapped market.

There is another cost to not being equitable. Discrimination is against the law, and defending legal actions will cost your organization time, money, and its good reputation.

(taken from Towards Gender Equity for Women in Sport, CAAWS, 1993)

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Promotion Plus has been working together with Sport BC to increase awareness and education of harassment

issues in provincial sport and recreation organizations. Here are some guidelines on what we can all do:

If you are comfortable speaking in your own defence, or in the defence of someone else - DO IT.
Educate those who are behaving inappropriately and seek to stop it.

Remember: The ultimate goal is to change behaviour, not punish individuals.

Don't ignore harassment - support others who are being harassed.

Don't encourage harassing behaviour - no matter how "mild" it appears to you.

Could your behaviour affect others in a way you had not intended?

Initiate a change in the system so harassment STOPS.

Other Ways to Promote a Harassment-Free Sport Environment:

For more information on what you can do to prevent harassment or for information on an awareness workshop contact Promotion Plus at 737-3075 or Sport BC at 737-3026 or brenda_kent@sport.bc.ca

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Outdoor Adventures for Women by Gaia Adventures

Nature hiking, mountain biking, introduction to outdoor rock climbing, backpacking & cross country skiing for women adventurers. Upcoming events:

May 1998

For more information and costs call GAIA Adventures at 875-0066.

Centre Ice Female Hockey School

A female owned and operated hockey school - CIFHS' philosophy is to provide the best possible instruction while maintaining a fun and challenging learning environment. CIFHS offers high performance programs, adult programs, fitness acceleration and goalie programs as well as opportunities for personal development through off-ice activities such as mental training and fitness training. Room and board available.

Call 1-800-665-2669 or (604) 574-9843 for information, cost, and registration or email: info@centre-ice.com.

Girls Summer Basketball Camp

For any interested young female basketball players, the "RICHMOND HOOPSTARS SUMMER BASKET-BALL CAMP 1998" will be held at Hugh Boyd Secondary in Richmond this summer. It will be a great opportunity for girls to develop and improve their basic basketball skills, provide competitive opportunities, and most importantly have some fun.

Girls only ages 11-15 (gr. 6,7, 8, 9)
Date: June 29 - July 3, 1998
Time: 10am - 3pm each day
Cost: $100.00 per athlete (includes a t-shirt and water bottle)

For information or registration info contact Lisa Metheral at Hugh Boyd tel. 668-6615 or fax 668-6569.

Calendar of Events

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