Elle & Sport Conference | allow yourself to dare

“We have to knock on the doors of the world of sport, because if we wait for them to open for us, nothing will happen,” said sports marketing expert Geneviève Harbec at the Elle & Sport conference. , last Thursday evening, in Laval.

The watchword for this fourth presentation of the event: dare. Two panels – one female and one male – discussed issues and possible solutions to help bring women to the fore in the worlds of business and sport.

But above all, from the outset, the organizer of the event, Alexandre Kénol, explains that “it is an event that should no longer exist”. He specifies that he takes the greatest pleasure in orchestrating it, but that he knows that he will have succeeded the day when the event will no longer be necessary.

In the meantime, five women appeared on the stage of the Montmorency college the day after International Women’s Rights Day. Although their backgrounds are distinct, they all had in common this notion of a glass ceiling that had to be broken to achieve their respective goals.

It’s not just Geneviève Harbec, who has worked for CF Montreal, the Montreal Alouettes and the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada, among others, who had an impressive track record on the panel.

Sharing the boards with her was French national soccer team second scorer Marinette Pichon, emergency medicine resident and Canadian soccer player Harmine Christina Léo, coach of the Quebec women’s soccer team Julie Casselman and TVA Sports host Justine St-Martin.

Although many barriers have been broken down in recent years, there are still some, according to the participants.

All in the spotlight

An analogy that was continually used throughout the evening was that of sharing the light. To quote Justine St-Martin, “there is enough light for us all to shine”.

However, there are, at times, too many obstacles in the way to achieve this.

St-Martin speaks of certain women who sometimes refuse to share the said light. Pichon, instead, addresses the importance of relatives who can come and try to germinate a doubt about a woman’s ability to accomplish a goal. For her part, Casselman believes that women must be daring and not listen to their own insecurities that could undermine the achievement of their goal.

Two solutions emerge.

Harbec allows himself to complete the panelist’s answer by adding that to arrive at such a scenario, the sinews of war remains money. According to her, funds must be devoted to women’s sports so that they are shared and recognized.

The “they” panel

For the first time during the event, there was a male panel in the first part. “Because men must be allies, to be part of the solution”, according to Kénol.

Mathieu Chamberland, former general manager at Soccer Québec and now chief operating officer at Canada Soccer, Éric Brunelle, director of the Pôle des sports at HEC Montréal, Duane John, assistant director of the sports component at Collège Montmorency, and Alexandre Da Rocha, coach -leader of the Citadins de l’UQAM women’s soccer team, all took part in the exercise.

Brunelle allowed himself to explain his definition of “the ally man” and that it is a daily mission to help the cause: “He is the one who makes the difference. He is the one who will break the glass ceilings and who will help women take all the place they deserve for too long. »

Ultimately, Chamberland sees only one remedy for a rise in the place of women in sports: “We need more diversity. More diversity in the boards of directors, more diversity in the field and more diversity among the leaders of the federations. »

A diversity that timidly shows up. But what are we waiting for? Again.