Capital Lead Summit inspires girls across Ottawa
Girls at the Capital Lead Summit May 6 celebrate the day along with the Ottawa 67s mascot, Riley Raccoon.
Photo: OSEG Foundation
Capital Lead Summit inspires girls across Ottawa
By Tait Gould
On May 6 at TD Place, girls gathered from all over Ottawa to take part in the inaugural Capital Lead Summit. More than 250 girls participated in various workshops, listened to a career panel and had the opportunity to apply skills learned through sport and active living to their lives and future careers.
Fostering an inclusive environment that improves both physical and mental health is vital. After understanding the research proving that girls drop out of sports at a significantly higher rate than boys, the OSEG Foundation partnered with Fast and Female and the City of Ottawa to create the Capital Lead Summit, a place to inspire and empower self-identifying girls in Grades 7 to10.
The summit worked towards the OSEG Foundation’s mission of improving physical and mental health, leadership and skill development as well as fostering inclusion for the youth of our community.
Interactive workshops hosted by Brittney Gibbs, former NCAA athlete and current Mental Performance Coach, and Molly Hurford, writer, cyclist, and runner, allowed participants to feel empowered with knowledge and inspiration to continue their skill development both inside and outside of a sport environment.
The event also hosted a career panel featuring Brittney and Molly along with Rosey Edeh, former Olympian and current anchor of CTV Morning Live, and Dani Sinclair, head coach of the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team. Seeing these focus areas applied in real life scenarios with the panel of former professional athletes helped introduce various career paths and provide a new sense of direction.
As girls approach the age of 10 and continue making the transition between middle and high school, they are faced with environments that may lead them away from participating in sports. This event aimed to highlight the importance of keeping the passion for sport alive as it can foster a place to develop resiliency, self-confidence and problem-solving skills, all while continuing to be in an active environment.
After a successful summit, the OSEG Foundation continues to find ways to work towards inspiring and empowering more girls in the community. We look forward to the upcoming Girls on the Run 5k event as well as Sports Day the Girls Way coming this fall.
For more information on how you can get involved, please visit osegfoundation.ca.
Tait Gould is a Community Impact intern at the OSEG Foundation, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
