In Quebec, coaching a team and refereeing a match are still predominantly men’s affairs, shows the most recent report on girls and women in sport. There is still a marked difference between “guys” sports and “girls” sports: on one side, hockey and baseball, on the other, gymnastics and figure skating.
Professor in the physical education department at Laval University, Guylaine Demers has been researching women in sport for 30 years. Its latest report shows that among several Quebec sports federations, it is “mostly guys who play their sports, men who coach and who are officials”.
Thus, among athletes, lacrosse, hockey and shooting “have difficulty” attracting 10% of female members. Baseball, snowboarding, golf, archery, judo, softball and football (among others) have less than 30% female participants.
As for cheerleading, ringette, gymnastics, artistic skating and swimming, they have male participation rates that range from only 2 to 25%.
This therefore means that there are still “guys” sports and “girls” sports, we read in the most recent report from the Research Laboratory for the Advancement of Women in Sports in Quebec (Lab PROFEMS ), headed by Guylaine Demers.
“It’s certainly not to say that girls aren’t good enough to do a sport, or to say that guys wouldn’t be good enough to do gymnastics. We are still gendered in our sports in Quebec,” explains the director of the PROFEMS Lab. Just look at the numbers, she says.
“Standing around” among the trainers
Nearly three-quarters of referees in Quebec are men. The report cites research that indicates that women in this role “often experience gender-based attacks and must navigate a host of stereotypes, which not only harms their entry into the profession, but also to their retention”.
Women are also a minority among coaches: in 2019-2020, three quarters of these positions were occupied by men.
“This is what still depresses me,” says Guylaine Demers, who cites her first research project on the subject, in 1996, which demonstrated similar percentages.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GUYLAINE DEMERS
Guylaine Demers, professor in the physical education department of Laval University and director of the Research Laboratory for the Advancement of Women+ in Sports in Quebec (Lab PROFEMS).
There is a bar at 25% [de femmes entraîneuses] which cannot be crossed. We’re standing still.
Guylaine Demers
But if there are more male athletes, is it not in the order of things that more of them also become coaches?
No, says Guylaine Demers. “Our female athletes perform as well as male athletes. At the last Olympic Games, for an equivalent number of athletes, women brought home many more medals than men,” she continues. The pool from which to recruit is vast.
Several initiatives have been put in place over the years to promote the accession of women to coaching positions, including training and mentoring. But training is not enough.
There is resistance in the coaching world that is difficult to combat. This is not overt discrimination.
Guylaine Demers, professor in the physical education department at Laval University
Not a sports club will openly say that it does not want women, she illustrates.
“We are always in the situation: “I posted the position and there are no women””, illustrates Mme Demers, who observes that a vision of the “very authoritarian coach” still persists.
“It is not because leadership is different that it is inferior,” continues the professor, who nevertheless senses a wind of change in sports federations.
Optimism
“There is a new generation who are sincerely committed to having more women and girls in sports. This was not the case 20 years ago. When we went to the federations to offer our services, we were the stone in the shoe: “what do good women want?” », remembers the professor from Laval University.
The federations are now turning to organizations that promote the participation of women in sport, such as Égale Action, to help them understand unfair situations.
“I have the impression that in five years, the numbers will have changed significantly in the positions of coaches and officials,” predicts the researcher.
The 2023 report on girls and women in sport from Lab PROFEMS reports “encouraging” data on the place of women in positions of power within Quebec sports federations.
“More and more federations are approaching the parity zone, this famous 40-60” in general management positions, says Guylaine Demers.
“There is movement in relation to these important positions, but we are not there yet. The last percentages are the most difficult to find. We came so far. In 1999, there were perhaps 10% of women general directors,” recalls the professor.
The arrival on the scene of the new Montreal women’s hockey team also brings new life into the world of sport, notes Guylaine Demers.
“The strength of professional sport is its visibility,” says the professor. Women on the ice, women who coach, women general managers, not to mention the women who commentate on the games.
“This league is a major turning point for women’s sport,” she believes.