February 23, 2007 – Here is the latest from the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS): CAAWS announces 12 WISE Fund recipients for 2008; CAAWS 2008/2009 On the Move Workshops; Call for Nominations: CAC Board of Directors; Call for applications – ACTIVATE 2008 National Youth Leadership Conference; Around the Country; Research – Sport Participation in Canada, 2005; Celebration Noticeboard

CAAWS announces 12 WISE Fund recipients for 2008
The WISE (Women in Sport Encouragement) Fund was developed in response to the ongoing financial need within the sport community. The Fund is made available on an annual basis to assist active girls and women and/or organizations offering sport programs targeted to girls and women. The 2008 Fund is the fifth time CAAWS has offered the grant program. Since the program’s inception in 2004, CAAWS has supported 56 individuals and organizations through this fund, dispersing over $48,000 to members of the sport community.

Details regarding the next opportunity to apply for the Fund will be posted on CAAWS’ website in the fall of 2008. Recipients of 2008 WISE Fund $900 grants are:

– Kitchener-Waterloo Synchronized Swim Club – Kitchener, Ontario Organization category, synchronized Swimming, supported by Synchro Canada
– Fast and Female – Canmore, Alberta Organization category, cross country skiing, supported by Cross Country Canada
– GTA Diving – Toronto, Ontario Organization category, diving, supported by Diving Canada
– Lakeshore Sport Alliance – Eriksdale, Manitoba Organization category, multi sport, supported by Athletics Canada
– Softball Ontario – North York, Ontario Organization category, softball, supported by Softball Canada
– Canadian Women’s Sledge Hockey Team – Elmira, Ontario Organization category, sledge hockey, supported by Hockey Canada
– Sidney Thebeau (age 12) – Dieppe, New Brunswick Athlete category, rhythmic gymnastics, supported by Gymnastics Canada
– Michelle Stilwell (age 33) – Nanoose Bay, British Columbia Athlete category, athletics, supported by Athletics Canada
– Maria Halavrezos (age 16) – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Athlete category, canoe, supported by CanoeKayak Canada
– Minna Mettitinen-Kekalainen (age 41) – Sudbury, Ontario Athlete category, multi-sport, supported by Rowing Canada
– Diane Guignard (age 42) – Bathurst, New Brunswick Coach/Official/Sport Administrator category, swimming, supported by Swimming Natation Canada
– Laura Bond (age 23) – Ottawa, Ontario Coach/Official/Sport Administrator category, basketball, supported by Canada Basketball

For detailed bios of the successful grant recipients visit here.

CAAWS 2008/2009 On the Move Workshops
The 2008/2009 schedule for On the Move Workshops is now being finalized. Upcoming workshops in March and early April 2008 have been planned for:

– Dauphin, MB
– Moncton, NB
– Smithers, BC
– St. Catharines, ON
– Vancouver, BC

More communities and dates will be added in the coming months, visit the CAAWS website for all the latest details here.

Call for Nominations: CAC Board of Directors The Coaching Association of Canada is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mandate to improve the effectiveness of coaching across all sports and at all levels of the sport system. The Coaching Association of Canada is seeking to fill two positions on its Board of Directors, National Sport Organization Member and Community Coach Member. Nominees are encouraged to submit applications as soon as possible. The Nominating Committee will begin considering applications on March 17, 2008.

Applications to be submitted by e-mail to the CAC Nominating Committee: nominatingcommittee@coach.ca
Visit here for more information.

Call for applications – ACTIVATE 2008 National Youth Leadership Conference
Canadian youth, between the ages of 16-22, are invited to apply for Motivate Canada’s 4th annual ACTIVATE National Youth Leadership Conference on Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity! ACTIVATE 2008 will be held at Carleton University in Ottawa from May 7-11, 2008 and will bring up to 50 young people (age 16 to 22) together from across Canada to activate their communities and effect positive change through sport, recreation and physical activity. Applicants should have: an opinion about sport, physical activity and youth development; an interest and dedication to their community; a desire to use sport and physical activity for social change; and be willing to share their ideas and work with other youth to come up with creative solutions to getting youth more active across the country through ACTIVATE In Action projects.

Application Deadline: Friday, February 29, 2008

To apply, click here.

Around the Country
BC’s Girls Only Incentive Program Recipients Announced

ProMOTION Plus and the BC Recreation and Parks Association are pleased to announce that the following organizations have been selected to receive funds of up to $2,500 through the Girls Only Incentive Program:

– Strathcona Basketball Out-Reach for Girls (Strathcona Community Centre, Vancouver)
– Girls Sport Night (Town of Smithers Recreation, Parks and Culture, Smithers)
– Girls on the Go (Coquitlam School Board, Coquitlam)
– Girls on the Move (Cowichan Valley Regional District, Duncan)
– Girls in the Groove & Girls Can Curl (Eagle Valley Sports & Leisure Association, Sicamous)
– Down Hill Girls (Canim Lake Band, 100 Mile House)
– Girls Badminton Clubs (Vancouver School Board, Vancouver)
– Elders Winter Keep Fit (Chawathil First Nation, Hope)

The Girls Only Incentive Program is a partnership between ProMOTION Plus and BCRPA and is supported by 2010 Legacies Now and the Federal Government. The funding is awarded to increase the number of non-active girls and women in BC participating in sport. The Incentive Funding will support sport programs designed for woman and girls of all ages.

For more information on the program, contact: Beverley Siver, Executive Director – ProMOTION Plus Tel: 604 737 3075 Email: bev@promotionplus.org

RDS to celebrate International Women’s Day with all-female broadcast team

On Friday, March 7th, in honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, an all-female broadcast team will be in place for the NHL hockey game. When the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the New Jersey Devils, Claudine Douville and Danielle Sauvageau will call the game, while Hélène Pelletier and France St-Louis will handle the intermission coverage. This is the first NHL game to be broadcast by an entirely female broadcast team.

Research – Sport Participation in Canada, 2005 This report is an update of the 1998 report Sport Participation in Canada prepared by Statistics Canada for Sport Canada. It takes into account certain socio-economic variables such as age, sex, income, education and family composition that may influence the level of involvement and uses historical data from the General Social Survey (GSS) to show the level and rate of participation over time. The report also looks at the kinds of sports Canadians like to play, the influence of parental involvement on their children’s participation, the rationale for participation or non participation in sport, and the barriers to sport participation.

The main objective of the paper is to increase knowledge of sport participation in Canada by examining participation in sport by socio-demographic factors such as age, mother tongue, gender, household type, education, household income, occupation, and type of employment.

The full report is available here.

Celebration Noticeboard
CAAWS Staff Changes – Ali Riel is now on Maternity Leave for a year, and Stéphanie Legault will be replacing her as CAAWS’ Marketing and Project Manager. Stephanie joins CAAWS from the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association and you can reach her by email at: slegault@caaws.ca

Julie Cormier, our Administrative Assistant, has left CAAWS to take a contract with the Federal Government. We wish her well in her new position.

Christa Costas-Bradstreet has joined ParticipACTION as Relationship Manager, responsible for building ParticipACTION’s partnership network. Diana Dampier is now ParticipACTION’s Manager of Projects, responsible for overall project management, including the planning and implementation of corporate-sponsored initiatives. Flora Dell, from Moncton, New Brunswick,who was named last June to the Order of Canada, will receive the honour on Friday, February 22nd at Rideau Hall. She was one of the members of the CAAWS Women (55-70) and Physical Activity Advisory Committee.

The Université de Montréal has re-launched its women’s hockey team and is the only francophone institution in Quebec to offer a program to young women hockey players. Danièle Sauvageau is the driving force behind this initiative. She will be assisted by France St-Louis, and Isabelle Leclaire.

In the Loop celebrates women’s accomplishments in the sport and physical activity communities. Send career notices, changes, awards and recognitions to In the Loop c/o bmacdonald@caaws.ca to be included in the next issue.