CAAWS – CAAWS and the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) are excited to announce the launch of a new project to address the gender gap that persists in coaching in Canada.

Women are still under-represented in coaching in Canada. As recently as 2016, women made up only 16% of head coaches and 18% of assistant coaches across 54 Canadian national teams (both men & women).

CAAWS and the CAC will work directly with National Sport Organizations (NSOs) through a new Equity in Coaching project to increase their capacity to recruit, retain, and advance women in coaching.

In order to achieve this goal, CAAWS and the CAC will:

• Collect data via a system-wide LANDSCAPE SURVEY that will assess current organizational awareness of best practices to recruit, retrain, and advance women in coaching;
• Support 15 NSOs through TRAINING and ongoing CONSULTATION to increase their capacity to achieve coaching equity within their organization;
• Turn the most relevant insights and best practices from the survey and training program into a PRACTICAL RESOURCE for the Canadian sport system.

The survey is open now until October 4 for responses from any sport leader, administrator, or staff member whose organization works with or employs coaches in Canada. The training program will kick off in January 2020 and the new resource will be available in 2021.

“Sport organizations have told us they’re looking for guidance on how to achieve gender equity in coaching,” said Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of CAAWS. “This project represents a valuable opportunity to design equity solutions with and for the Canadian sport system.”

“There are many incredible women coaching in Canada, but we recognize that organizations need support to be successful in achieving gender equity for everyone,” said Lorraine Lafrenière, CEO of the CAC. “We’re proud to be building on the legacy of the successful Female Coach Mentorship model with this new project.”

Check back here and on the CAAWS News page for updates!

CAAWS is grateful to the Coaching Association of Canada and to Sport Canada for their support and collaboration on this project.

About CAAWS: 

CAAWS is dedicated to creating an equitable and inclusive Canadian sport and physical activity system that empowers girls and women—as active participants and leaders—within and through sport. With a focus on systemic change, we partner with governments, organizations and leaders to challenge the status quo and to advance solutions that result in measurable change. 

About the Coaching Association of Canada:

The Coaching Association of Canada unites stakeholders and partners in its commitment to raising the skills and stature of coaches, and ultimately expanding their reach and influence. Through its programs, the CAC empowers coaches with knowledge and skills, promotes ethics, fosters positive attitudes, builds competence, and increases the credibility and recognition of coaches. For more information, visit www.coach.ca.

 

For further information, please contact: 

 
Greer Gemin 
Communications and Administration Coordinator 
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity 
416-901-0484 
greer@caaws.ca