Kaitlyn’s Sport Stories Recap: November 13, 2023

Welcome to our first Kaitlyn’s Sport Stories Recap – a weekly feature on what’s been happening in the sport and physical activity world for girls and women in sport in Canada (and beyond)! In this edition, we learn more about Dove and Nike’s new Body Confident Sport program, celebrate ANOTHER round of sold-out Canada Women’s Soccer Games (as we tearfully celebrate the GOAT, Christine Sinclair), cheer over Team Canada’s historical victory at the Bille Jean King Cup, and learn more about the coaching misconduct allegations at the University of Western.

Dove x Nike create “Body Confident Sport” programs for young athletes

 

Dove and Nike have teamed up to gather evidence-based research to create a joint initiative called “Body Confident Sport.” The program was created for girls and young individuals of all gender identities with a mission to help them grow confidence about their body image while being involved in sports. The two brands emphasize that for girls, an athlete can mean many things. The program mentions that an athlete is “anyone who moves their body in a way that makes them feel comfortable and confident. Whatever their age, gender, body type, or ability, anyone can be an athlete”. 

The project includes two programs:

1. Body Confident Coaching is an online program meant for coaches, parents, guardians, siblings, and more who want to learn and develop skills to foster environments that support a healthy body image for young girls
2. Body Confident Athletes, which is designed to be used in-person and is coach-led to provide girls with the tools they need to feel body confident while playing sports. 

The programs and stand-alone website can be found at www.bodyconfidentsport.com/. The resources are offered in 7 different languages. Fast and Female is thrilled at the opportunity to share this resource broadly with our community and looks forward to implementing it as mandatory training for our Role Models, Staff, and other programming team members!

Canada Soccer Women’s National Team brings two games to British Columbia in December

 

Canada’s Women’s National Soccer Team brings two upcoming games to British Columbia. Canada Soccer has scheduled a game in Victoria, BC, on December 1st, 2023, at 7:30 PM PST and a game in Vancouver, BC on December 5th, 2023 at 7:00 PM PST. Both games will be played against the Australian women’s national soccer team. 

Christine Sinclair, professional soccer player, GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), and member of Canada Soccer, took to Instagram on October 20th, announcing her retirement from the sport. The upcoming games will also serve as a farewell tour for Sinclair, with her last game to be played in Vancouver, BC, on December 5th. 

Canada Soccer has announced that the December 1st match has sold out already. However, the December 5th still has tickets available. Tickets can be purchased here. Currently, tickets remain only for the upper bowl of BC Place, where the game will be hosted in Vancouver. 

Team Canada wins first-ever Billie Jean King Cup tennis championship

 

The Billie Jean King Cup, an international team competition in women’s tennis, declared Team Canada as the 2023 winners after going 2-0 against Team Italy in the finals. This marks the first time in history that Team Canada has won the championship.

Team Canada consisted of six players: Leylah Annie Fernandez, Marina Stakusic, Rebecca Marino, Genie Bouchard, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Heidi El Tabakh. Team Canada received not only the championship trophy but also Billie Blue jackets, made by fashion designer Tory Burch and $2.4 million in prize money, which is a record of its own.

Before this year, the furthest that Team Canada had gotten into the Billie Jean King Cup was a semifinal result in 1988- 35 years ago. There is no doubt that this year’s Team Canada players will have a positive impact on the present and future of the girl’s and women’s tennis landscape in Canada.

 

Trigger warning- the following story contains references to themes of sexual harassment, which some individuals may find distressing. Please continue at your discretion.

Western University’s Women’s Hockey Team given choice to “play or quit” amid coaching misconduct allegations

 

In London, Ontario, complaints were brought forward by the Western University’s Women’s Hockey Team stating that their head coach, Candice Moxley suggested players should play through injuries as well as ignoring complaints brought forward to her regarding strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watson. Reports about Moxley stated that she “didn’t care” about the players mental health, told the players that they were all replaceable, and criticized players’ social media posts, telling players they were clothing that was “too revealing”. Reports about Watson stated that he “made inappropriate statements about players’ bodies and had inappropriately touched some players.”

An investigation conducted in July found the reports on Watson to be confirmed. The university no longer employs him. However, the reports on Moxley were cleared. At the beginning of November, players were notified that Moxley would return to coaching. In light of this news, the women’s team opened up the consideration to boycott playing any future games if Moxley still serves as their head coach. 

An option was extended to the players to decide whether they wanted to continue playing on the team for the ongoing 2023/24 season. Players were given a timeframe of 24 hours to respond. If a sufficient number of players chose not to continue, the team would then have to fold. The results of this decision will not be made public. 

You can learn more about the situation by reading this CBC article.

Kaitlyn’s Sport Stories Recap are written by Kaitlyn Lehbert, a passionate and driven sport advocate for girls and women. Kaitlyn holds her Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Brock University. Learn more about Kaitlyn by clicking here!

 

Have a sport story you want to share? Contact info@fastandfemale.com and it may get featured in Kaitlyn’s next feature.