By Sheila Robertson

The Globe and Mail newspaper’s annual list of Canada’s Top 50 in sport is an eagerly anticipated annual news happening. With nominations by its correspondents from across Canada, the newspaper considers the events of the year “to identify individuals with the power, and the will, to influence sport in Canada”... and “who, by their actions... are generally poised to make an impact on the country’s sporting scene in the coming year.” Nominations are restricted to athletes, coaches, officials, general managers, executives, and owners.

On the list this year was women-in-sport activist Guylaine Demers whose citation read: “University of Laval professor and president of Égale Action*, she pushes for more female coaches at the elite level of sport in Canada.”

Demers, who is currently overseas on sabbatical, was caught unawares by the honour. Her first inkling was an email from Canada offering congratulations. Having no idea what her friend was talking about, Demers quickly visited the Globe and Mail website and what she read left her “totally in shock. It was a huge pat on the back.” Huge, too, was the flood of emails she received in the days following the announcement. “It was overwhelming and came from all across Canada, and from people I worked with years ago. It means a great deal that someone is aware of my work and thinks that it is important for sport in Canada. It also means a lot to my university because this is the first time a faculty member has made the list.”

The director of Laval’s undergraduate program in sport intervention, Demers is a member of the Coaching Association of Canada’s (CAC) Coaching Research Committee and the editorial board of the Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching and was a key contributor to the development and implementation of CAC’s competency-based National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). She also serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS).

On and off the playing field, leadership and advocacy come naturally to Demers. “For as far back as I can remember I defended people who were not being treated well.” In her own family of two brothers and a sister, gender was never a barrier. “My mother always told me that it doesn’t matter whether you are a boy or girl—do whatever you want to do. She was very sensitive about that.”

Young female coaches are a prime focus of Demers’ work, reflecting a commitment going back to her own early experiences in sport. A native of Laval, Que., and an avid basketball player in high school, when she graduated she agreed to be head coach of her school’s bantam team and assistant with the midget team. Quickly attracted to the role, she began working to achieve her NCCP levels while a CEGEP** student and is now a Level 3 certified coach. Moving on to Laval University, she continued to coach high school teams and eventually added a CEGEP team. Her coaching career spanned 15 years and included leading Quebec’s junior team. She also spent a year as technical director of the Quebec Basketball Association.

Keenly aware of her responsibility as a role model and mentor, she says that the teen years are critical. “Young women athletes have so many questions. Building relationships and team bonding can only happen in the right environment, one that enables them to have very good discussions about tactics and strategies and in which they feel comfortable contributing their ideas. I was very open with my athletes and still get emails, 20 years later, telling me they had a wonderful experience, that I had a positive impact, built confidence, and, in some cases, changed their lives by giving them the belief that they can achieve whatever they want, including in the sport environment.”

Demers’ concern for female coaches, particularly at the grassroots level, who are generally isolated, get little or no recognition, and are poorly paid, if at all, has led her to action on a number of fronts, notably through her research at the university and her volunteer work with Égale Action, which last year launched a promising Demers-designed mentorship/leadership initiative called “Mentore active”.

Her academic study aims at developing a better understanding of female coaches in the first years of their career, a largely unexplored research area. As well as developing entry-level profiles of women who choose to go into coaching, the study is identifying the issues and successes experienced during their early years in the profession. “We know they want to do a good job, but they have no support, although the situation is somewhat better in a club structure where they might have access to a mentor. With no one to observe them, offer feedback, or test their knowledge, they have to find their way alone. They struggle for a couple of years and most, because they have more attractive options, quit coaching. We need to understand this and find ways to reverse it.”

The Égale Action program engages Demers’ university students as trainers in building the leadership skills of high school girls, with girls in grades 11 and 12 in 10 schools participating in the program in 2009. “So far it’s amazing. We train the girls to lead and to organize activities for younger students. It creates a very nice dynamic within the school and is empowering for everyone, trainers included. We are very proud of the success of Mentore active.”

Demers is a leader of the anti-homophobia movement and played a key role in designing CAAWS’ Addressing Homophobia in Sport: Leading the Way Workshop. Because few studies have examined homophobia in sport in Canada, there is no clear picture of the reality and no numbers. Planning to shortly begin a research project to provide some answers, she says that “homophobia is a very sensitive topic and not easy to study because people are so fearful and so reluctant to speak out, but we need to learn what gay and lesbian athletes and coaches experience in order to make sport a safer environment.”

Another project takes Demers to Qatar, which had purchased the rights to the NCCP material after it was translated into Arabic by CAC. When awarded the 2006 Asian Games, Qatar recognized that female participation was a concern. CAC offered to share its expertise in women in sport by sending Demers to conduct a needs assessment and then design a three-year project, led by her, to train female coaches and sport administrators. In the summer of 2010, four athletics and basketball coaches will travel to Quebec City to work close at hand with Demers, who will groom them to become mentor coaches when they return home. “It’s a totally new experience and a very interesting challenge. The women I work with have to fight for everything because sport for girls is not part of Qatar’s culture. I’m helping them to become more strategic and more organized and I am learning a lot, too.”

Demers believes the Globe and Mail’s recognition positions her to advance the cause of women in sport. “Being in the Top 50 adds to my credibility within my faculty, my university, my province, and my country and will, hopefully, strengthen the impact of my work.”

*Égale Action is Quebec’s association for the advancement of women in sport and physical activity.

**Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel - College of General and Vocational Education

Sheila Robertson is an Ottawa-based writer and editor who specializes in coaching and women in sport issues.