April 1, 2009 – Here is the latest news from CAAWS – Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity – including a call to action to support women’s ski jumping, International Women’s Day, advances in women’s canoeing competition, preliminary announcement and a call for papers for the ICCE Global Coach Conference, upcoming conferences, Capturing our History: Feminisms in Canada and Quebec, 1960-2010, and the celebration noticeboard.

CAAWS Urges Call to Action to support Women’s Ski Jumping
CAAWS added its name to the growing number of organizations calling on the International Olympic Committee to include Women’s Ski Jumping in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. CAAWS sent a letter endorsing the resolution approved by the City of Vancouver to Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In the letter, CAAWS Chair Nicole Smith requested that the IOC revisit its decision to exclude women’s ski jumping from the 2010 Games. The IOC held a meeting in Denver, Colorado March 25th -27th, 2009.

CAAWS also urges all individuals and organizations follow suit, to sign the petition at www.wsj2010.com and send a similar letter to the IOC before April 20th, 2009.

More details available here

CAAWS observed International Women’s Day on March 8th
CAAWS joined many organizations around the world to celebrate International Women’s Day this year on Sunday, March 8, 2009. CAAWS looks ahead to a significant year of involvement by women in sport. “These next twelve months will be a celebration of sport in Canada, and Canadian woman will be at the forefront of many activities,” noted Karin Lofstrom, Executive Director of CAAWS. “With Vancouver getting set to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, we can see the direct impact of many of the women from our Influential Women in Sport and Physical Activity list. They are demonstrating significant leadership in VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) from planning events to coaching and preparing athletes for this tremendous event.”

In 2009, CAAWS is looking forward to seeing the revised Women in Sport Policy from Sport Canada, which will help to update a policy that is now 23 years old. CAAWS will also hold a variety of workshops throughout the next twelve months, all designed to work with sport and physical activity practitioners to create opportunities for girls and women to participate and lead in a wide range of sport and physical activities.

Canadians champion Advances in Women’s Canoeing Competition
The International Canoe Federation (ICF) Board of Directors made a strong statement in March by approving the inclusion of Women’s C1 categories in the World Championships for 2010 for both Canoe Slalom and Canoe Sprint. Exhibition events will be held in both disciplines in 2009 and the ICF will promote and monitor the performances of these events to ensure that an adequate level of competition occurs in 2010. It was a deliberate decision of the ICF to improve its gender equity in canoeing competitions.

The ICF Board also placed emphasis on the broader development of Canoeing, in particular initiatives for canoeists with disabilities and the push for inclusion of Canoeing into the Paralympic Games, by approving additional funds to this area.

CanoeKayak Canada was a strong champion of both of these efforts, and congratulations to its Director General (and former CAAWS Board member) Anne Merklinger, who has led the charge for these inclusions.

Preliminary Announcement and Call for Papers for the ICCE Global Coach Conference
In 2009 the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif conference will integrate the International Council for Coach Education (ICCE) Global Coach Conference and the Coaching Association of Canada’s (CAC) Coaching Research. An international call for papers has been made and more than 35 countries are expected to attend. The Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif conference will be held at the Sheraton Wall Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia from November 12 to 15, 2009. More information about the conference is available here.

Theme: Developing Coaching Excellence

Invitation to Submit Abstracts: Papers are invited in two categories related to coaching and coach education:
1. Research
2. Good Practice

Researchers and coach education practitioners are invited to submit abstracts for oral and/or poster presentations in French or English that address issues related to coaching and coach education. Abstracts will be blind, peer reviewed by an adjudication committee and selected participants will be invited to present in either an oral or poster format. Simultaneous translation in English and French will be provided.

Preference will be given to topics that focus on coaching or coach education. Studies relating to athletes and athlete development will be considered only if applications to coaches and coach education are drawn clearly. Critical reviews of the literature as well as data-driven research will be considered.

Upcoming Conferences
a) Body Image and Self Esteem: Shades of Grey
– May 11 – 12, 2009
– Toronto, Ontario

The National Eating Disorder Information Centre’s 2009 Conference topics include:

Boys and men; Youth engagement; Physical activity; New media and self-representation; and Obesity.

For more information and to register go to www.nedic.ca

Presented by NEDIC and the Dove Self Esteem Fund in partnership with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the University of Toronto; Faculty of Physical Education and Health.

b) Play, Think, Change – 5th World Conference on Women and Sport
– May 20-23, 2010
– Sydney, Australia

A call for abstracts will be undertaken in the coming months. For information on Conference sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Secretariat here bmacdonald@caaws.ca.

Capturing our History: Feminisms in Canada and Quebec, 1960-2010
This project will result in a published multi-volume collection of books that tries to depict accurately the richness and diversity of feminist activity in Canada and Quebec between 1960 and 2010. The books will be written by many different authors, and presented in many different formats: autobiographies, biographies, single- and multi-themed volumes, edited collections, plays, novels, etc. The unifying feature is that the books will be centrally-edited and marketed as part of a comprehensive series. The diversity of feminism, including the complexities of gender, race, class, geography, culture, dis/ability, language, sexual identity, and age are central to the project. Feminism in sports is one of the topics scheduled to be included.

To comment on how the project should be developed or to propose writing a book, or part of one, contact: M. Elizabeth Atcheson meatcheson@sympatico.ca or M. Constance Backhouse backhous@uottawa.ca

Celebration Noticeboard
Jamie Salé, (Edmonton, AB), who won 2002 Olympic Gold with her skating partner David Pelletier, and the 2002 Women’s Gold Medal Hockey Team were inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame on March 26th in Vancouver.

Charmaine Crooks (Vancouver, BC) became the first woman to be named BC’s Sports Personality of the Year. She was presented with the 14th annual Jack Diamond award, bestowed on pillars of the community in the area of sport in February.

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 Barb MacDonald to be included in the next issue.

Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity
N202 – 801 King Edward Avenue,
Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 6N5
(613) 562-5667
caaws@caaws.ca
www.caaws.ca