The crisis at Hockey Canada brings back painful memories for Catherine Laroche, an alleged victim of sexual assault. In 2015, she was allegedly assaulted by a hockey player. Today, she uses her story to raise awareness among young players with her company and project Égaux sans égo.
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Catherine Laroche had started legal proceedings. In the middle of the procedures, anguish pushed her to put everything on hold.
“Instead of going against him, I decided to educate ‘him’ to protect ‘me'”, explains the alleged victim.
The co-founder of Égaux sans égo had noticed the great presence of resources for the victims, but that these were fewer when it came time to do prevention with possible aggressors.
Several objectives are behind the project: “We want to reduce performance anxiety; decrease toxic behaviors; reduce the risk of depression after an injury; going to reduce all the risks of excessive consumption.
To increase well-being and performance,” explains Catherine Laroche. The Dragons of Laflèche College in Trois-Rivières were the first to have this experience with the specialized educator.
The trainer, Vincent Dumont, after the visit of the educator, noticed that the relations between the players were closer.
The players have become aware of situations to which they must pay attention.
After three group matches, the young player, Julien Létourneau, needed to continue his journey.
“He developed his confidence in the group. He grew up after the workshops. He had a great end to the season.
He has come a long way as an individual,” explains his coach. The Égaux sans égo company is currently in talks to give conferences and workshops in the various teams of the Quebec Major Junior League.
Catherine Laroche would also like to make a difference within the Canada junior team.