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Workshop for Yukon sports community set for Oct. 26-28

Event will focus on increasing the capacity of sports leaders in the territory
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Sport Yukon executive director Tracey Bilsky says an upcoming workshop for the sports organizations was conceived as part of a commitment to support the sports community on safety in sports, managing risks and leadership. (Courtesy/Tracey Bilsky)

Sport Yukon is organizing a workshop for the sports community in the territory.

The workshop, which seeks to support the sports community and increase the capacity of sports leaders, is scheduled from Oct. 26 to 28 in Whitehorse.

Sport Yukon is partnering with Sport Law and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) for the workshop. Sport Law provides legal leadership, financial management and planning support to sport leaders.

Through its Hope on the Horizon Tour, the organization has been hosting workshops across the country for sports organizations to increase the capacity of sport leaders.

Sport Yukon executive director Tracey Bilsky said the workshop was conceived as part of a commitment to meaningfully support the sports community on safety in sports, managing risks and value-based leadership.

“Our mission statement is to build a vibrant and healthy engaged sports community that is continuously growing and improving,” she said. “So, we have an obligation to help them grow and help them improve. So, it’s important that we step up and provide opportunities for growth.”

Promoting healthy sports

Sport Law partner and integral coach Dina Bell-Laroche said Sport Law will host a wine and cheese event on Oct. 25 ahead of the workshop. Officials will take questions there about trends affecting the delivery of holistic and healthy sports, and risks that need to be dealt with in a more proactive way.

“We will also be asking what are some of the practices that we need to really start implementing so that sport at the community level is really a safe experience, a welcoming experience and inclusive experience,” she said. “We will also be asking how can we ensure that the volunteers who helped to make sport possible in the communities have what they need to be really good leaders, coaches, officials, volunteers and directors.”

Bell-Laroche said Sport Law is partnering with True Sport, a national movement in response to the Canadian government’s decision to be proactive in promoting a healthy approach to sport. True Sport is Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) initiative designed to give communities and organizations the means to leverage benefits of sport.

“It’s a philosophy of trying to really make sure that sport is living up to its full potential,” she said. “And because of some of the challenges, it’s really hard to make sure that you have integrity from the playground to the podium. But that’s what we’re trying to promote and foster, as we move across the country and have these really deliberate and soulful conversations with people who really care about sport.”

Explaining to the News how the idea for the workshop tour came about, Bell-Laroche said that last year, in response to some of the concerns that were being shared about the safety of sports, officials decided to travel across the country being hosted by a number of partners like Sport Yukon.

“So we started by reaching out to Sport Yukon, Sport PEI, Sport Manitoba and before you knew it, everybody was saying ‘yes, come come and talk to our leaders because they are so exhausted, they are so tired, they are so frustrated, they are so overwhelmed that they need to have hope’,” she said. “That’s where the idea came forward and so we started reaching out to people and then in April of this year, we started travelling.”

This is the team’s first tour in the Yukon. But Bell-Laroche says she has been to the territory previously for a conference organized by Sport Yukon.

Discussing diversity

Bell-Laroche said one major talking point during the workshop is inclusivity in sports.

“One of the big issues that we’re trying to address is the lack of diversity especially at the leadership level where support still tends to be more pale,” she said. “So, white bodies and more masculine. More men than women at all levels. And so as we start to kind of, importantly, address the inequities that are built into the Canadian sports system, and I would say sport at large, it’s really important for us to acknowledge this.”

She said one way to check the issue of diversity is by asking if the people in control or positions of power reflect the people who are playing the sport.

“If they’re not, then we should be actively trying to address that gap,” she said.

She agreed this may not be an easy task, but added,“We really have to start with the intention and recognizing that, for the vast majority of the last 100 years or so when sports started to formalize, it was really privileged people who got to play at the highest level, especially when you think of elite sport in the more modern day Olympic movement.”

She said that Sport Law is pushing for sport for all, noting that sport at its best is diverse.

“But it can’t just be the diversity of athletes. We need to have a diversity of leaders who are shaping the agenda. That’s a principle of good governance is diversity of opinions, including not just gender, but also lived experience and ethnicity and age. These are all examples of diversity.”

Takeaways for participants

Bell-Laroche told the News that at the end of the workshop, she hopes people walk away more informed, more inspired to do one thing, start doing something and then feel more connected to the other people in their community.

“What’s happening is that a lot of people are leaving, the volunteer turnover is low and a lot of leaders are tired. So, we need to reconnect as a community of sports leaders. We’re trying to elevate the literacy of these leaders so that they know what’s expected of them and to change some of the systems that have been keeping sports stuck, I would say for at least 25 years.”

While in the Yukon, Bell-Laroche said she is also hosting a grief and loss workshop in collaboration with Hospice Yukon for professional caregivers to learn more about what grief is, different coping styles and how to ensure they aren’t burning out.

“What’s interesting is that I also support athletes and coaches as they learn how to process grief in a more holistic manner,” she said. “So I’ve been using my knowledge as a bereavement educator, and I’ve been applying it in sport and it’s really helpful, like the athletes find that super interesting.”

Bilsky said Sport Yukon organizes workshops for the sports community in the territory.

“We heard a lot about the challenges that our organizations are facing: Facilities shortage, funding barriers and keeping girls in sport are some of those national initiatives,” she said. “So, you know, it’s really great to hear from Yukon Aboriginal Sports Circles to make sure that we are being inclusive when it comes to our Filipino community or Indigenous people. So, every fall, we like to put something together for our organizations to be able to gather together so we can hear what their issues are and then they can learn from one another as well.”

Bilsky said at the end of the workshop, the team will be creating a final report.

“We want to see whether we are in line with what the other provinces and territories are experiencing or whether we have some outliers that we do need to address. So, that final report will be a really great way to measure ourselves against the other provinces and territories in the areas of sport.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to Sport Law as a not-for-profit management firm. In fact, it is a for-profit firm. The News regrets the error.

Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com



Patrick Egwu

About the Author: Patrick Egwu

I’m one of the newest additions at Yukon News where I have been writing about a range of issues — politics, sports, health, environment and other developments in the territory.
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