In the Loop – CAAWS eNetwork September

• Gender Equality Week is September 23-28. Stay tuned for our CAAWS news post to learn more about how #EveryoneBenefits when we all work towards making a more gender-inclusive sport system!
• CAAWS and the Coaching Association of Canada are launching a new project to help sport organizations recruit, retain, and advance women coaches. Learn more about the project here!
• Applications for our 2020 WISE Fund Grants will open on October 11! We’ve changed our grant criteria this year, so check out our website to catch up on the changes and start prepping your application.
• The call for members for our Impact Research Committee is open until September 23. If you’re a researcher with an interest in equity and inclusion and/or women and girls in sport, learn more about this opportunity.
• We’re looking for an academic researcher to support the development of a gender equity audit service. Our request for proposals is open until September 20^th!
• Many sport organizations are turning their attention towards gender equity, but what are key promising practices to help create lasting change? Join CAAWS and guest presenters from Brock University for a webinar about how to build a foundation for change through data collection and planning. Register for Embedding Gender Equity in Your Organization here!

Features
What’s catching our eye this month?

Nuts’a’mat Shqwaluwun is a Cowichan phrase meaning one mind and one voice – the ethos that guide’s Coach Dano Thorne’s approach to gathering young Indigenous women from across Canada to play on the Native Indian Football Association’s (NIFA) U19 women’s team.

A documentary of the same name follows the journey of the NIFA U19 Women’s Team as they travel to Cuba to play two exhibition matches against the Cuban U-19 Women’s Team.

NIFA’s U19 Women’s Team won gold at the World Indigenous Games in 2015 and 2017.

*Content warning: discussions of residential school, suicide

Spotlight
Celebrating organizations that #ChampionChange

The Storm Selects Lacrosse Society is a non-profit founded in British Columbia with the mission to promote the game of lacrosse in a way that respects Indigenous culture, language, history and worldviews.

In B.C., 8% of box lacrosse athletes are Indigenous girls. In 2017, the North American Indigenous Games added a U19 Female Box Lacrosse category – the first time young Indigenous women were able to compete at that level in their sport.  

The Storm Selects Lacrosse society was founded in 2017 as a way for the athletes from those games to continue to stay connected as a community, develop their skills, and showcase the value of women in the sport of lacrosse. Bringing women together from different first nations and different skill sets across Canada started a trend that helped to grow the sport and the society.

This year, eight of their original 20 athletes started coaching. Storm Selects believes that when players become coaches, it reinforces and makes the sport stronger. The society works to collaborate and support athletes through development camps and by providing additional equipment.

While their main mandate is to promote girls and women and support them in the sport of lacrosse, Storm Selects also strives to solidify cultural teachings through lacrosse, empowering athletes to challenge themselves while connecting with their culture and community.

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