In May 2019, the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club fired former coach Andy Mclnnis, as well as club president and board chair Ken Porter, following allegations of sexual misconduct. These are not isolated incidents in the sports world.
The story of Mary Cain, an up-and-coming American running phenom, who experienced a downfall in her mental health after training under Nike’s Alberto Salazar took the track world by storm in November 2019. Former varsity track athlete Megan Brown also shared her story on the negative experience of running for Dave Scott-Thomas at the University of Guelph, a few months after Cain’s story emerged.
For some, the rise in misconduct allegations are surprising, but for many women in sports, this is a story they’ve heard too many times before.
As various initiatives arise to raise awareness and create programs to protect female professional athletes, the same needs to be done for athletes at the university level.
“Varsity sports are like a bubble to the side. They’re very different from professional athletics and it’s not talked about enough … there is just enough of a problem that needs to be addressed,” said Roberta Drummond, a member of the Carleton women’s rugby team.
“It’s critical because athletes need to understand what the coaches are being trained on, and that they are being held accountable to their conduct with athletes, and vice versa,” explained Allison Forsyth, former Olympic alpine skier and Safe Sport advocate.
Forsyth attended last year’s Safe Sport Summit in Ottawa and found that there has been major developments regarding the protection of Canadian professional athletes.
“Everyone needs to be on the same page and have the same understanding of what is and is not acceptable in their sport,” she said.
Carleton University launched Champions for Change, a program on sexual consent and anti-sexual assault initiated by Carleton’s Sexual Assault Support Services (CSASS), targeting varsity athletes and coaches.
Bailey Reid, co-creator of the program, found that directly asking athletes what they need to know rather than telling them what they should know, had a greater impact on the program’s results.
“We just supported them … in coming up with their own ideas and encouraged them to lead the charge.”Reid admits that outside Champions for Change, there are no specialized sexual violence and assault services solely for female varsity athletes.
However, she and a colleague, Amal Elmni, provide services to all survivors of sexual assault and sexual violence at their office in the Carleton Technology and Training Centre (CTTC) building.
“Obviously, they would come to seek that specialized lens of survivor athletic experience. I recognize that especially varsity athletes have a lot of other commitments on the go, so it’s something I try to do,” she said.
“Every survivor of sexual violence who comes through these doors carries with them a unique identity, and therefore requires unique services.”
According to Forsyth, there is an increasing need to implement interactive training programs because in universities, there can be alack of education to athletes about the basic resources available. Adding a human aspect could increase their overall quality.
“For me, the best approach is to have someone come in first hand and talk to the athletes.This way the awareness and education is coming from an actual human being who has gone through similar situations. It puts things into perspective for the athletes,’’ she said.
“Adding the personal aspect demonstrates why these issues have to be taken seriously.”
Having conversations to make the issue recognizable to both coaches and athletes is also important, explained Reid, and the ultimate goal is to recognize how to have athletes and coaches go from those who cause harm, to those who help prevent it.
“When we are talking about sexual violence, we are talking about power. When we think about the coach-athlete relationship, the university athlete-student relationship, and even in team dynamics, there’s power there,” she said.
“When there’s power imbalances … that means that sexual violence is at risk of happening.”
Track athletes in the varsity community were affected by the stories of Cain, Brown and the Ottawa Lions Club. Pippa Norman and Alexa McGannon, first year members of Carleton’s track and field competitive club, said the stories have been an eye-opening experience.
“It just really surprised me. When you look at people who train for American schools, or sign with Nike, we give them so much praise,” McGannon said. “Then, [when] they kind of fall off the radar we’re left wondering what happened to them. Only to find out things like this.It definitely puts things into perspective.”
Norman added the stories remain at the back of her mind. Track being an individual sport may add to the risks of these encounters occurring, according to Norman.
“I feel like it’s because every athlete is different, there’s a greater risk for one-on-one trainings,” she said.“Whereas on a basketball or soccer team, it’s going to look really suspicious if a coach gives this one girl all the attention and private sessions in comparison to everyone else.”
Norman said having a coach who was a woman helped boost her confidence both on and off the track.
“I love the coach I have now, she’s awesome,” said Norman.
“Just having this really strong female figure who’s just not afraid to confront people and stand up for us has been great. So I think just making sure to have female representation actively on the board is important.”
All three Ravens athletes suggested sexual assault violence and prevention training should be introduced as another training requirement for those involved in sport at the university level, not just for varsity teams.
“They already have something similar, but it’s good to have that official training, so you know your coaches are aware and certified to tackle any issues,” said McGannon.
“It just shows that it doesn’t matter if you’re a varsity athlete or a club athlete, you still need the same training because you’re still an athlete,” said Norman.
Female athletes in both areas are worthy of the same means of protection, she added. For those with roles in the industry, such as Reid and Forsyth, the job of protecting female athletes and educating the sports community is far from over.
Through Carleton’s initiative, the hope is to bring more attention to university sports, and how needs differ between professional sports.
“My partners and I are really committed to offering it to any university or post-secondary institution that would like to bring us in to talk about athletics and sexual violence,” Reid said.
“I want athletes to know that they have every right to find out about the current policies, codes of conduct, and inquire about how … to keep their athletes safe,” said Forsyth.
Feature image from file.
