Women with leadership roles in sport are being offered an open forum to discuss conflict in the work and volunteer space at an upcoming workshop in Cochrane.
“It’s something that everybody has to deal with,” said Lea Wiens, facilitator with the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS). “Often, (we’re) expected to deal with situations … and we may not have the best information at hand.”
Sport 4 Life Cochrane and CAAWS are co-hosting the two-hour brunch session, which costs $25 and begins Saturday at 10 a.m. at Half Hitch Brewing Company.
Wiens said she hopes to bring together coaches, teachers, referees, board members, parent council leaders, managers and more for an honest and effective conversation about how tensions arise, when to acknowledge there are problems and how to effectively deal with them.
Adele Fedorak, a leadership coach who helps parents of athletic children navigate the world of competitive sport, will also be on hand as a special guest.
“Looking at the data, there’s not a lot of women in leadership roles in sport. The ones that are there don’t have a lot of access to training,” said Wiens. “I think in some ways its just the culture of sport or a generational piece … Women need to be supported.”
Wiens said traditionally, it hasn’t been easy to find females at the administrative ranks in sport - however, Cochrane is leading the charge in an evolving landscape of women in leadership positions.
“I think in Cochrane we have a lot of strong female leaders in our organizations of sport. We have a ton of female managers that really run the show behind the scenes,” said Wiens, pointing out a few of many such examples, like Jacqueline Hurlbert of the Cochrane Generals, and Melissa Engdahl and Allison Temple of Cochrane Minor Soccer. “They’re kind of the unsung heroes of sport in Cochrane.”
People interested in taking part in the workshop can register at sport4lifecochrane.com.
