Growth in women's sports might be loud and messy at times, but it's part of the journey

Shireen Ahmed · CBC Sports

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 1:55 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

There is nary uncertainty that Canada is connected an upward trajectory of the improvement of leagues and enlargement teams, instauration of jobs successful women's sports and mostly much attraction to women's information successful the planetary ecosystem.

The PWHL is successful its 2nd twelvemonth with plans to expand connected the horizon, the NSL is acceptable to motorboat next month successful Vancouver, and the WNBA's Toronto Tempo volition extremity disconnected successful April 2026. 

Building those leagues and creating caller spaces isn't ever casual oregon glamorous. In fact, what we are seeing present has been gathering for years and successful ways that mightiness not beryllium truthful evident to everyone. Some of the existent occurrence we spot has been laid connected the foundations of learnings of yesterday. 

Whether it has been the illness of different leagues, the aggravated probe and selling it took to person radical to accidental it's time to invest, it is inactive not an casual path. There person been bumps, determination volition beryllium bumps and thing volition beryllium seamless. It ne'er is. I person been reasoning astir however overmuch grace volition beryllium afforded to caller ventures successful women's sports.

Earlier this month, I sat down successful the CBC integer workplace with 1 of the astir storied Canadian Olympians, Senator Marnie McBean, to speech astir the maturation of sports and well, women. I wanted to cognize what she thinks astir barriers and limitations that mightiness proceed to exist.

McBean was Canada's cook de ngo for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has been an avid mentor for galore athletes. She has witnessed this country's ebbs and flows, and has a unsocial position connected what she sees astir her. The self-deprecating and humble Olympian insisted I telephone her Marnie as we shared recipes astir her celebrated ribs and talked astir ideas she has for nutrient shows. Then we got down to business.

The three-time Olympic golden medallist talked astir the maturation of women's sports and however she and her wife, lawyer Deanah Shelly, are thrilled their nine-year aged girl is successful soccer, skiing, hoops and adjacent Girl Scouts. She told maine that her girl feels determination are nary limits to wherever she tin go. That is thing that is remarkably caller for girls successful Canada. I person a 23-year aged girl and she knows this state without a women's home league successful shot oregon hockey. 

WATCH | Olympian Marnie McBean connected maturation of women's sports:

Beyond the leagues and beyond the teams, determination are journeys that women embark on. It's not the aforesaid for everyone but determination are definite similarities that women acquisition and McBean reflected connected that.

She highlighted an contented that is arsenic important: the intelligence barriers that sometimes get successful the mode of women's advancement. McBean admitted that her ain travel was not casual but she didn't endure from harassment oregon terrible systemic barriers that racialized oregon marginalized counterparts whitethorn face. She came retired arsenic cheery arsenic an adult.

"I had the vantage of being a 34-year-old pistillate who had this spot successful my ain character, truthful erstwhile I realized who I was . . . I conscionable started telling people," she said successful a 2014 interview.

During our conversation, McBean reframed occurrence and nonaccomplishment successful a mode that near maine mind-blown. McBean spoke astir the fears and doubts that we brushwood connected a journey, beryllium it gathering something, creating thing arsenic we conflict an innate fearfulness of failure.

"Fears and doubts are portion of a champion's journey," she said simply. 

After our conversation, I kept replaying those words successful my head. As a pistillate successful a predominantly antheral industry, I consciousness similar I don't springiness myself the grace to fail. In a caller speech with my show coach, Bob Babinski, helium told maine astir his ain misses connected an duty and however helium has channeled those experiences into learnings. But are women fixed the grace to neglect successful the aforesaid way? Do we really enactment women and girls successful caller initiatives oregon adjacent successful older projects? Would Canadian nine forgive mistakes successful caller leagues? Or from caller teams? 

McBean reiterated the value of surviving beyond those fears. 

"The champion mode I tin assistance you and assistance different women is to normalize the fears and the doubts we person and the questions that we person successful our head," she said. "Am I bully enough? Am I acceptable for this? Is it my turn? Those fears and doubts are a mean portion of a champion's path."

It is mean to uncertainty and to question. Maybe I question excessively — a trait that is communal to my profession. We request to negociate those fears and doubts. 

"In the process of the travel it's a batch astir measurement control. We question ourselves rather a bit," McBean said. "We're waiting to beryllium each the mode ready. Sometimes you gotta spell guardant erstwhile you're not each the mode ready. You are acceptable arsenic you request to beryllium to instrumentality a measurement forward. Turn the measurement down connected fearfulness and the doubt. And crook the measurement up connected the 'I person been training', 'I person skills', 'That idiosyncratic is an idiot and has been doing it truthful I will'."

Sometimes successful the gathering of women's sports, we tin suffer position connected the indispensable intelligence micro pieces due to the fact that we're truthful focused connected the macro. McBean's reframing of however uncertainty serves america is important. We respond oregon deliberation astir thing successful a definite mode due to the fact that determination is meaning attached to it but we request to person grace with our ain interior dialogue.

Tennis fable and women's sports advocator Billie Jean King famously said unit is simply a privilege. Couple that with McBean's words and we person a superb look for the intelligence show required to create, support, and turn women's sports successful Canada. 

We privation to spot women's sports turn successful Canada. We privation to spot opportunities for each young girls. We request to admit the interior sound and crook down the measurement if request be. Growth mightiness beryllium large and messy but it's portion of the travel and we'll instrumentality it.