Community sport volunteers filled the RBC Foundry Room at Bayview Yards on Saturday for the 11th annual Ottawa Sport Summit.
Hosted by the Ottawa Sport Council, the five-hour workshop challenged participants to sharpen their leadership skills in an evolving sport landscape.
OSC executive director Frances Mercer said the event offers a unique way to address the needs of Ottawa’s volunteer-driven sport community.
“There’s very few opportunities nowadays to get together,” she said.
“The more we educate our volunteers, that’s going to build stronger sports culture and systems. We need everyone to have these tools to make a strong sports community.”
The Future of Sport in Canada Commission released its preliminary report in August, highlighting a flawed national system and its impact on safe sport across the country.
The report found there is often a stronger emphasis on high-performance and elite-level sport at the expense of community and grassroots programming.
“Many noted that high-performance sport will ultimately benefit from community growth and an increased pool of participants, but that National Sport Organizations have often paid little attention to developing and governing their sport at the community level,” it said.
Mercer said the report inspired this year’s summit theme, focusing on leadership and risk management in community sport.
The OSC invited leadership and culture coach Brian Edey and Daniel O. Livvarcin, CEO of the consulting firm Vectors Group, to speak at the summit.
Both Edey and Livvarcin are based in the House of Sport with their respective organizations. Located in the RA Centre, it provides a collaborative workspace for those dedicated to bettering Canadian sport.
At the summit, Edey presented the Cultural Flywheel and the Trust Triangle, two frameworks designed to help strengthen team culture in local sports.
The Cultural Flywheel consists of five components: leading with vulnerability, building and rebuilding trust, fostering psychological safety, reframing accountability and embracing awkward conversations.
He said that while vulnerability is the key “to unlocking the rest of the flywheel,” it only works if leaders in sport embrace the idea in their communities.
“It’s not these grand gestures that require it,” he said. “It’s really this intentional focus on some of the small things that we can be doing moment by moment.”
Edey added that a cohesive team culture depends on clearly communicating both short and long-term responsibilities.
“When that lack of clarity comes, it’s hard to hold people accountable. That’s when behaviours start to get a little wonky.”
Julia Ryan, president of the Ontario Weightlifting Association and a participant in the workshop, agreed with Edey. She said that while trust and vulnerability already exist in local sport, there is always room to expand their impact.
“One of the take-home messages for me is about how to continue to [build trust] in what can be a high-pressure environment with limited time and resources,” Ryan said.
She added she was drawn to the summit in hopes of connecting with others in the Ottawa sports community and learning new strategies to apply in her organization.
“This is not just about what I can do as a leader at the top, but also about how all of our leaders can build trust,” she said. “I think that’s going to be fundamental to the well-being of our community and the continued growth of our sport.”
As a former weightlifter, Ryan said trust is necessary for athletes to overcome challenges together.
Edey said that with the summit bringing together leaders like Ryan, who are passionate about making positive change, the sports landscape only stands to benefit.
“I think any opportunity that we have to get together as a community and learn and grow together is awesome,” he said.
Mercer added that having people with unique athletic experiences enhances the summit.
“Even though we may all be in a different sport, it’s pretty impactful to hear everybody talk about how similar their experiences can be,” she said.
“I can learn something really wonderful for my organization from a totally different sports organization.”
Feature image by Mya Pasparakis/the Charlatan
