Courtney and I talk race strategy in the start area.
Lining up at the start of an IPC World Cup in the lead up to the 2010 Games I had a rather unusual experience for a female athlete. As I skied into position, I glanced across the start line and saw all my competitors were men. I should explain – the event was the semifinal of a nordic skiing sprint and I was the guide for Courtney Knight. So the ‘start line’ I was on was actually about 5 feet ahead of the official start line where Courtney was standing and ‘my competitors’ were the other guides. This wasn’t the only time this would happen – at the 2010 Paralympics, I was one of only two female guides skiing with the 14 or so competitors in the women’s visually impaired category. I call this the case of the missing girl guides.
I raise this point because, for me, it was this absence of women on the racecourse that alerted me to the broader issue of under-representation of women in the Paralympic movement. A recently published report by Dr. Maureen Smith and Dr. Alison Wrynn for the Women’s Sport Foundation analyzed the rates of participation of women at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They looked at the number of female competitors as well as the number of women involved in sport leadership roles associated with the Games. Their conclusion? Women’s participation in the Olympic movement is increasing (although there is a still a ways to go) while women’s participation in the Paralympics is trailing far behind…
The numbers are pretty bleak. Only 24 percent of the competitors at the 2010 Paralympics were women (this compares to 40 percent at the Olympic Games). The report doesn’t specify but, based on my observations at the Games, the disparity between men and women become even larger when you include coaches and team staff in those numbers. In leadership positions, women fill 18 of the 53 seats on the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) councils. None of the IPC regional committees have female presidents. Without restating all the numbers (the full report is available here), let it suffice to say women occupy approximately 20 to 30 percent of leadership positions associated with the Winter Paralympic Games. Furthermore, none of these numbers appear to have improved significantly over the past two Paralympic quadrennials.
Identifying exactly where the disparity occurs is a far more complex issue. But if we combine what we know about girls’ and women’s participation in sport with what we know about women living with disabilities, the picture comes into focus. In North America, at least, girls consistently rate lower in terms of participation in sport and physical activity compared to boys of the same age – girls are less likely than boys to be on a high school sport team (or any kind of organized sport team). They are also less likely to belong to a community sport club or to participate in outdoor sports such as snowboarding, hiking, trail running or climbing (2007 Tucker Center Research Report). Girls drop out of sport at a higher rate than boys and typically at a younger age (2007 Tucker Center Research Report). When considered alongside the additional barriers faced by women with a disability – low employment rates, few accessible programs and a lack of awareness as to what sport opportunities might be available to them (see last week’s post for a more thorough analysis) – it’s easy to see why women with disabilities are under-represented in sport.
But why does this matter? We could address the issue as a question of equality. We could even borrow a page from the women ski jumpers that argued for inclusion in the Olympics on the basis of discrimination. I, however, prefer to think of it in terms of lost opportunities; lost opportunities for women and girls who never get that chance to represent their country on an international stage and lost opportunities for all of us who never get to see what they could achieve. Women represent more than 50 percent of people living with a disability worldwide – I like to call this group, ‘potential-in-waiting.’
You see, there are incredible female Paralympians out there pushing the limits each and every day – I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of them. My personal hero is
Colette on her way to receive a medal at the 2010 Paralympics.
Colette Bourgonje – she’s a fierce competitor who refuses to give up an inch on the racecourse (as evidenced by her 10 Paralympic medals) and I’ve never met an athlete who is more generous with her time and knowledge. Then there’s Elisabeth Walker-Young, a four-time Paralympian who is now preparing to lead the Canadian delegation to London as Assistant Chef de Mission, drawing on all her experience as an athlete to make the experience a great one for the next generation. I could also name my teammates Courtney and Mary, who learned from their experiences preparing for the Paralympic Games and are now using that knowledge to develop first contact programs for people with disabilities in their home region. Or Margarita, who stood on the top of the podium at every race at last year’s Canada Games and inspired a whole new group of Canadian para-nordic athletes. Or Jody, who taught her children that a mom who likes to ski fast and carry a gun is pretty cool. Or Robbi, who used skiing to jump start a para-cycling career that is shaping up to be pretty epic. But when I see these incredible women and their contributions to the sport world, I can’t help but think ‘who else might be out there?’ It’s often said that women with a disability are invisible in society – what champion athlete, stellar coach or tireless volunteer have we overlooked? That’s the reason we need more women in sport and Paralympic sport in particular – we’re less without them.
So why do I care if, as a guide, I’m lining up next to a group of men? For the most part, I don’t. I respect an athlete’s right to choose her own guide – and if that guide happens to be a brother, a husband, a male coach or a guy from her home club, then so be it. They are still supporting the cause of women in sport by guiding a female skier and that makes me happy. But on the other hand, I am very glad that Courtney chose to ski with a ‘girl guide’ because it is one small but concrete step towards keeping another girl involved in sport (me!). There is something very fun and special about two women who can connect over a common desire to go fast.
I’m going to conclude this post with one final thought. This past November, I had the opportunity to attend a conference at the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. The conference was entitled ‘Creating Change’ and at the end of the day we were all asked to come up with one concrete way we could promote/facilitate change for girls and women in sport. I froze. I couldn’t think of a single thing. I sat in my chair and hoped no one would look at me. This was particularly shameful given that I had just spent the whole day listening to fascinating, smart people talk about how they had created change. I realize now this is what I call ‘paralysis by analysis’ – I thought about it too hard. What I should have replied with was ‘keep doing sport and inviting girls and women to join me at every opportunity.’ It is that simple.
Now, I’m putting the question to you. How will you encourage women with disabilities to participate in sport? What changes can we make so that the next report shows a different, more feminine face of Paralympic sport?
Hint: if you need some suggestions to get started here is the ‘photobooth‘ from the conference where participants posted their ideas… not all of them froze like me
Great article and couldn’t agree more! As the 1st Australian female in Paralympic history to medal at a winter Paralympics i know all too well about the lack of women in winter Paralympic sport! Participation numbers aside I myself race with a male guide which brings to light many more potential blog topics. My reasons for a male, we do not have any female alpine skiiers who could fulfill the role of my guide taking into account their ability to race significantly faster than me, the ability to commit to the training requirements and time away from home/ family and the financial implications of being away from their jobs and not receiving income from being a guide. Gender aside, there aren’t a lot of people who tick all these boxes (and more)!
You make an excellent point there! It can be very difficult to find a guide and it becomes even more challenging at the elite level when your requirements are so specific and the time commitment is so enormous. I can think of a few female athletes who have told me they would love to find a ‘girl guide’ but they just haven’t been able to make it work for all the reasons you mention. I certainly don’t want to suggest that it’s as simple as deciding you want a female guide and it’s fait accompli! But your comments remind me how important it is to encourage girls and women to participate in sport at ALL levels. If we had more girls staying in sport throughout their adolescent years and continuing to train and develop their skills into adulthood, this would give you (and other athletes) a much larger pool from which to recruit guides. In addition to being a para-nordic guide (can I still call myself that now that Courtney has retired?), I am also a varsity rower and former captain of the women’s rowing team. I know first hand how many pressures young women face when it comes to balancing sport with academics, careers, families, etc. I think they find it hard to justify spending so much time and energy on a sport when the tangible rewards are so few (even though they may feel rowing is very rewarding on a personal level and get a tremendous sense of personal satisfaction). I personally think it is a tragedy that we lose so much expertise every time one of them quits the sport – expertise and experience that would make them ideal coaches, sport leaders or even parasport guides!
This is a reply from Mary Benson that I found posted on another page but that I believe is meant to go with this conversation. Thanks Mary for joining the conversation!
I think we do need more women in Paralympic Sport. I think if we as coaches were mad aware of athletes who perhaps were just short of AB National Team status, maybe we could entice them to think about guiding, coaching or supporting athletes with a disability. I think awareness could be part of the solution. There are pros and cons to integrated programs but it could be beneficial in finding women who want to carry on competing. Take a look at Robbi Weldon, she has a cycling guide who in her own right is an elite athlete. Looking to young women in Junior programs, or National programs that may want to look at a different way to compete or support athletes with a disability.
As far as coaches, wax techs and other support staff, it could be the same ole same ole. Women still tend to shoulder a lot of family responsibility, which takes up a huge amount of time and energy. If women want a family that includes a partner and children, then it becomes very, very tricky. Most people plan when to have a family, but if you are a guide or support staff then you have to plan around sport cycles as well. Paralympics every four years, World Championships, World Cups. Not only do you have the actual family planning, but time to recover an elite body ready to train and race. Then the planning for time and yet extra expense of child care and travelling with a baby or infant. If you are a mother and make the choice to compete at an elite level whether as a guide or otherwise then you have to deal with the judgement you get from others, including teammates and coaches if you leave the child with a spouse or caregiver. It is a very complex set of issues when looking at women in sport. Yes we certainly need more women in sport but it is not an easy fix because there are layers of boundaries.
Maybe one of the reasons for elite sport to attract women, both able and disabled, is that elite sport is insane. The required sacrifices (as is pointed out in this discussion) are just ludicrous to most women. Maybe the ones who drop out are the sane ones.
The answer to participation is making it easier to participate. That would be quite possible at the lower amateur levels if effort was placed there. There would undoubtedly be a “trickle up” factor if the base was bigger, but I really think focusing attention on elite athletes is not the way to improve participation levels of any sort of sport activity, for either sex.
The efforts need to be made at much lower levels of participation. If it was easy and (most of all) fun, people would do it more. Elite female athletes must be “driven” from the very start to overcome all the “layers of boundaries” they face, and such determination is rare. So the athletes are rare.
Increasing opportunities for “playing” at sport of all kinds needs to be the focus, rather than lamenting the dearth of elite participants.
Larry – you make some really interesting points – if I remember correctly you made a similar (or related) argument on an earlier post. There is an inherent ‘disconnect’ (not exactly the word I’m looking for – maybe you can suggest something else) in many of the debates we are having on this blog. Many of the posts and subsequent discussion are arguing for equality or equal opportunities – but we’re talking about elite sport – one of the most elitist, exclusive, hierarchical institutions that exists! As one professor told me in reference to the court case of women’s ski jumping – ‘I never would have thought my feminist politics would lead me to defending the right of a few girls to compete in a sport that exists only in a handful of few wealthy countries and requires enormous financial resources…’ that’s a paraphrase… I didn’t take notes
But I see her point – and I think yours – the debates we are having concern a very select group of women and our energies may be better spent promoting sport or physical activity at a grassroots level and letting elite sport take care of itself.
You’re right about my position on most of these debates. I see our reverence for elite athletes as a hindrance to mass participation in sport of all kinds, for all people. Elite athletes suck up vast amounts of money that should be injected into the “recreational” end of sports if we want people to become active participants, and they create “ideals” that actually discourage participation, just like fashion models make us dislike ourselves – no one (or at least darn few) can measure up.
Somehow sports must become (again) something one plays for the intrinsic joy of games and movement, rather than for some cultural goal of high level competition and adulation. The purpose of games is to play, not to create “athletes” who must continually develop and expand the athleticism and techniques of their sport to the point of physical, social, and psychological injury to participants. Sports will always have “risks”, but at this point all elite athletes fight a constant battle with injury and personal sacrifice to take part at the elite levels. Some tricks now in some sports, will kill you if you mess up, yet we continue to revere (and help pay for) the willingness to take that risk.
Sport used to be games we played for fun. Sports used to be something we used to enhance our lives and bring joy. Now, the goal of sport seems to be that it should become your life. I think that’s a mistake, and it makes sports unattractive to the majority of people, so they don’t take part.
I think an outdoor hockey rink full of young and old, male and female, able and disabled – 11 on one side and 13 on the other all on the ice together – all of them having fun playing a game in which no one any longer even knows the score – some sitting on the boards because they are resting at the time – some going home because it is supper time – is far more important to our society than the women’s national hockey team.
I grew up with that. I loved it, and I think we are all less because it so seldom happens any more. I believe whether you are able bodied or not, male or female, youth or senior, making sport and games intrinsically fun for everyone is the real way to get participation levels higher. Elite athletes will likely bubble to the top of a large base of participation, and that is fine, but elitism should be one of the “unintended consequences” of our sports programs, not the main goal.
As a coach, I tried to recruit ‘girl guides’, but 60% of the time the female athlete rejected the guide after one season. I was not able to determine the true cause. At an Olympic coaching seminar, athletes were asked whether they liked female coaches and the majority said “no.” The female athletes liked AAA personalities which most female coaches are not.
From StatsCan, the number of people with a disability is higher for males than females especially in the under 25 year olds.
The number of positions for females athletes at the Paralmypic Games is always less. This will actually increase as both IPC and member countries have selection standards. If all the counties in the world had selection standard like Canada (top 10 in the world or medal contendor), there would be no competitors at the Paralympics in 12 years.
I feel I should mention that over the years Jeff coached a number of the women who competed at the 2010 Paralympics (including Colette) – and he was the one who suggested I try guiding – so I know firsthand his commitment to developing female athletes! But… Jeff – I don’t entirely agree with everything you said – or at least I’m not sure it gives the full picture. I have also heard the statistics suggesting female athletes prefer male coaches but in my opinion there are a lot of factors involved that need to be considered. For example, in my 20 years competing, I’ve worked with probably a 100 male coaches… and less than 5 women. In a few instances, the female coaches were there because the team was required to have at least one woman on the coaching staff – as a result the organization fast-tracked a woman through her coaching certification (actually – a few clubs tried to fast track me when they were in desperate need). That’s not always a great solution – sure it gets a woman on the coaching staff but whether or not they are ready or qualified for the position is questionable. Furthermore – it’s not surprising when they end up fading into the background – they are hardly going to challenge a (male) coach who has been with the program for years or has more experience. In my opinion, this further reinforces the notion that many woman are incapable of taking on the authoritative qualities needed from a coach. If they had the time to develop their skills and gain experience it is quite possible they would have a different coaching style.
In fact, there was some very interesting research presented at the Tucker Center Conference on female coaches – two different researchers presented new studies on women who coach male athletes or co-ed teams. I’m trying to find a link to their findings but from what I remember both groups found that athletes – male and female – actually responded quite well to female coaches.
With regards to the statistics – the number I saw on StatsCan was that 15.2% of Canadian women have a disability versus 13.4% of men. That being said – you are absolutely correct that in the 20 to 24 age group more men than women have a disability. And when we consider that men are more likely than women to acquire a disability while participating in sport or other thrill seeking activities I suppose it isn’t really that surprising that we have more male than female Paralympians. Still… I don’t think that explains away a 24%/76% split…
The StatsCan numbers for people with a disability often include people that would not be able to compete at a Paralympics. Interestingly, Paralympics athletes would be considered to be in the severe to moderately disabled. The stats also include those over 65 years old and more importantly over 75 years old where women predominate. The largest class in StatsCan stats is blind, yet it is one of the least recruited into sport especially for females.
I agree 100% with your comments on female coach recruitment espcially for Canada Games and National Teams. I have seen National women coach religated to van drivers. As a coach trainer, I am often trying to convince female coaches that they have the skiing skills and competance to take the next level of coaching. Mentoring coaches seems to be lost art.
I am one of the presenters from the Tucker Centre conference Andrea mentioned in an earlier post… I am a Master’s student at the University of Regina, SK with the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies. I study the careers of Canadian Interuniversity Sport and National level female coaches who work with male athletic and cross-country athletes.
A recent survey of Canadian coaches by Reade, Rodgers & Norman (2009) find: Successful female coaches tend to be young, single and without a family. Their careers are short lived as they are found to leave the coaching profession much sooner than men. Those who do coach typically hold part-time positions and are less likely to coach male athletes.
Mentors: All of the women I interviewed had male mentors. Many reflected that they would love to have a female mentor but realistically at this point in history there just aren’t many women with the experience needed to mentor them as elite coaches.
Responsibilities: Like guiding, coaching requires time & financial sacrifices. For most people, coaching is not a particularly lucrative activity. Since, women continue to be primarily responsible for family/domestic duties many of the women in my study reflected that having a spouse that supports your passion for coaching is key.
Recruiting Female Coaches: A few of the women I interviewed struggle to encourage young females to go down a path they know is difficult (e.g. sexism & gender discrimination).
Perceptions: The idea that women lack qualifications or credentials to be appointed to senior coaching positions within Canadian sport is the most common discourse used to explain the underrepresentation of women in this field. Further, since men are believed to be the ‘sport experts’, coaching has been labeled as a masculine role. As a result, women face countless questions regarding their competency as coaches because it is generally assumed they lack the necessary physical size, strength and mental toughness required of the position. Therefore, they experience difficulty meeting the masculine athletic and leadership standards to which they are compared.
Athletes Don’t Want Female Coaches: There is plenty of research that indicates both male and female athletes prefer male coaches. While my participants stated they had great relationships with both male and female athletes they told me it took time to establish these relationships…I’d say the biggest factor contributing to this perception is the lack of exposure to capable female coaches—I believe this goes back to one of Andrea’s earlier arguments something about having only 5 female coaches versus 100+ male coaches…When discussing some of my findings the other day I took a poll in class to see what the students had to say. Most said they would prefer a male coach. Interestingly, not many had actually ever been coached by a female…those who had didn’t really like them because they felt they were too inexperienced to help them…
Solution: I agree with many of you, elite sport targets a very select group of people. I like many of you & some of those students I quizzed feel that the solution requires starting at the bottom of the sport system. The new NCCP aims to expand their coach education program to target grass root & community level coaches. Perhaps if young athletes are exposed to more capable female coaches (who have undergone training) these perceptions will change?
Female guides: Having said all this, there is one key difference between a coach and a guide. In fact, the difficultly in addressing the issue of a lack of female guides in Paralympic sport really goes back to the 1 key barrier Jess highlighted back at the beginning of this blog. In one’s search for a qualified female guide, an elite athlete requires a guide who has the physical ability to ski just slightly ahead of the competitor. Unfortunately it would appear that there does not seem to be a very large pool of women to draw on to fill this role.
Thanks for sharing your research with us Laura! Very interesting.