Location: Vancouver Sheraton Airport Hotel
7551 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC
Keynote Speaker: Allison Forsyth, COO of ITP Sport
Breakout Session Leaders: Candice Drouin (Manager, Performance Programs at CSI Pacific & Game Plan Advisor), Andrea Wooles (Safe Sport Manager for viaSport)
Safe Sport Reception
Friday March 24th, 2023
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel
In collaboration with Game Plan and viaSport, CSI Pacific would like to invite you to a reception to discuss Safe Sport in high performance sport in British Columbia and how we can collectively address and shift the culture in British Columbia.
Join us for a keynote presentation with Allison Forsyth OLY, as an advocate for player safety and an Olympic athlete, Allison is determined to make sport a safe and positive place for athletes of all levels.
This reception will also feature updates from viaSport and the resources they are building out to fostering high performance sport through policy development and resources.
Passionate. Purposeful. Proactive. Allison embodies these three words each day and in every Safe Sport interaction. As the COO of ITP Sport, Allison is driving her passion for changing the system and shifting a culture motivated by her own sexual abuse victimization in the Canadian sport system. A two-time Olympian, 8-time Canadian Champion and a top 15 world ranked athlete for nearly a decade, Allison is an athlete, advocate, and change maker. Her corporate background in business operations, systemic and crisis communication, and change management rounds out her experiential expertise to make ITP the leading agency for changing the Safe Sport landscape. Allison started in Safe Sport in the most authentic way, as a survivor of sexual abuse in the sport system. Years of trauma was healed by years of advocacy and National level safeguard programming implementation. Now Allison thrives in bringing the real conversation to organizations and their participants. Her top focus at ITP is awareness and education as her first – hand expertise is unparalleled in this space. She is raw and real and is shifting the sport culture for the better.
Hailing from Banff, Alberta, Candice Drouin has spent the majority of her life on the mountain either competing in skiing and snowboarding, coaching or shredding powder. She now finds herself living on Vancouver Island, supporting both summer and winter athletes in her Game Plan role.
Candice’s experience as an athlete and coach, alongside her education gives her the tools she needs to help athletes plan out their lives outside of sport. Candice holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Simon Fraser University and a Masters of Education in Coaching Studies from the University of Victoria. She is also currently completed a certificate in academic advising and career counselling form the University of Calgary. One of Candice’s goals is to be chosen to be part of the mission staff for the next Olympic or Paralympic in Paris!
Andrea has worked in sport for over 20 years both in Canada and Internationally, including three Olympic Games. She has a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology from UBC as well as a Certificate in Organizational Coaching. Her unique combination of experiences, as an athlete, a coach, a Performance Scientist, an organizational coach, a sport consultant and a Board member have led her to her current role as Safe Sport Manager for viaSport. She is excited to be working on creating safe and positive environments for everyone at all levels of sport by bridging the gap between policy and practice.
As an athlete we know how important it is to plan out our training, competitions, and career path but who is planning out the other aspects of your life? You are the one that decides who you are outside of sport and how you want to achieve those goals. In this workshop, Candice Drouin, CSIP Game Plan Advisor, will take you through what it looks like to be a balanced athlete and provide you with tools and insight to achieve your life goals while maintaining balance and fulfillment in both your personal life and athletics endeavors.
The Wheel of Life workshop focuses on the individual athletes’ life; working toward identifying priorities and achieving goals.
During the workshop, you will:
Building on what Allison spoke about, we’re all becoming more aware of issues of personal safety in sport. The way we prevent serious harm from happening to people is by recognizing when a behavior isn’t ok, and by stopping it. How can you tell if what someone says or does is ok or not? What should you do if it’s not ok? In this workshop, we’ll explore the Flag Tool from viaSport and how it can help you find the answers to those questions and more.
Operating for over ten years, the Athlete Advance is designed to educate and inspire British Columbia’s future and current Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship athletes in their quest for podium performances.
The Advance is a one-day event, free to all Canadian Sport Institute and PacificSport registered athletes. Attendees can propel their sport careers by participating in interactive workshops and seminars presented by world-leading experts in high performance sport!
“The amount of promising developmental athletes we have in Victoria is staggering; I truly believe this is where our next Olympic champion will be found. With my experience of over a decade on the National team, it is important to me to share insight which will ideally help these athletes on their path to the Olympic podium. While everyone’s journey to success is unique, there are numerous events we all must face, and I’m excited to act as a resource and share my expertise.”
There are various reasons to attend the event – sport education sessions, network with fellow athletes, win cool prizes – but for a relatively short time investment on a weekend, there will be a tangible takeaway for all attendees to support their athletic development. Inspiring keynote speakers who will motivate you to reach the next level, meeting a fellow athlete who will become your new training partner, learning how to deal with the same physical and mental challenges all elite athletes go through – these are just some examples of what makes attending the Athlete Advance and being part of a high performance, multi-sport environment great.
While the Athlete Advance can be thought of as a “conference” or “retreat”, we believe language is important and approach the event in a forward-thinking manner. As an “Advance” we operate in a way to continually propel athletes onward, wanting to support progress rather than thinking about retreating.
To best service BC’s athletes and make efficient use of limited resources, we decided to focus on our two largest regions by athlete population size. This also allows us to take advantage of the expert staff and knowledge base located at the Vancouver and Victoria Canadian Sport Institute campuses. However, while the Athlete Advance is only located in these two regions, any athletes registered with either Canadian Sport Institute or PacificSport across the province are eligible to attend the event!
Game Plan, powered by Deloitte, is Canada’s total athlete wellness program that strives to support national team athletes to live better and more holistic lives. The program helps to develop mentally stronger athletes who apply what they have learned as leaders in sport for the betterment of themselves and their communities.
Partnering with existing programs, such as the Athlete Advance, are great initiatives to reach high performance athletes and help them to grow, learn, and walk away with tools on what whole athlete development is all about.
Balanced athletes perform better, stay in sport longer, and retire healthier.
We understand that as coaches it can be difficult to schedule around events such as the Athlete Advance. But we encourage you to view this is an opportunity as opposed to a barrier. Do you want to ensure your athletes have the chance to learn from some of the most successful international athletes our country has produced? Do you want to give your athletes access to world-leading service experts in high performance sport? By sending them to the Athlete Advance, you can be confident they will leave with tangible tools and insights to help them succeed at their sport.
We like to think of the event as “for athletes, by athletes” and by restricting access to only athletes, we are able to maintain an environment where everybody in attendance is on the same page and in the same frame of mind. We believe it is important for an athlete’s development to step outside of their comfort zones, and often times the best way to do so is by giving them the independence to learn and interact on their own.
For any high performance athlete targeted within the provincial or national sport system and registered with either Canadian Sport Institute or PacificSport, there is no charge at all! Our mandate is to support BC and Canada’s best athletes, so if you have been identified, we want to remove as many barriers as possible in order to further your development. Keep in mind there is a limited number of seats available at the event though, so register as soon as you can!
Even though your sport certainly has unique aspects, we can all learn from each other. You may be surprised by how much you actually have in common with athletes from completely different sports! There is much learning to be had from each other’s approaches to the challenges and excitement sport brings. Additionally, engaging with athletes from other sports can be incredibly motivating and inspiring.
As an organization that supports athletes all along the high performance development pathway, our Athlete Advance attracts attendees at various stages. From athletes at the Canada Games level to those who have recently competed at an Olympic Games, or from mainstream sports such as basketball or soccer to niche sports such as ringette and netball, you will meet and network with elite athletes from across the spectrum.