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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.85 |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Marion Lay Interview |
Scope & Content |
Marion Lay interview, 18 October 2012. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Three videos with a total viewing time of 00:34:35. 1 of 3; 00:14Childhood: living in California, family on welfare; joined community swim club, followed her brother, her coach recognized her perseverance when she did not make the team after 3 tries; wasn't until after her swimming career that she realized her passion for sport in general, the opportunities sport gave her to participate fundamentally changed her life, the community raised the club fees, no way she would have made the Olympics without them, defines who she became in the world 03:20Your life work includes being an athlete, coach and executive, your passion for sport goes beyond the athlete: talks about competing the 1968 Olympics, her teacher at University told her to observe what the role of women at the Games - were they coaching, number of sports they were in and to do an analysis for credit; in 1968 the athlete rights/human rights issue was starting, realized where there were no women and that the Olympics were the face of males, decided then she wanted to change that although she did not realized this would be her life's work; Bruce Kidd created a group called Athletes Concern to ensure athlete's rights and he and Abby Hoffman did a lot of work with the COA to ensure that athletes did have rights, she joined the group, "I got to take that passion and say I want to create opportunities for people that don't have the opportunities now. My passion was for girls and women in sport ... I can make a difference. I can give back" 06:03On Rick Hansen: friend suggested she get involved in the Man in Motion Tour, she was inspired by him, became the VP Operations, it was a day by day training experience; still good friends 08:40On the first Women in Sport Conference: Roger Jackson had been asked to set up a team for the first amateur and fitness sport programme by the federal government, had an act but no funding; Roger wanted to set up funding packages and she came with the agenda for women's sport and was told to go ahead, at that time the Status of Women in Canada report came out and sport and physical activity was mentioned in it, so she married the two and started the first conference, started her life-long career 10:17Why it is so important to you to raise the role of women in sport: starts with her own experience of the joy of movement and staying healthy; women's roles at that time in the 1970's were changing due to the women's movement, women should have the option to make the choice of going into sport, felt so many of the programmes were locked, "just to advocate for things for myself would never have done it. But I had the option to advocate for others. So for me, someone had to speak out and mention the things."; first person in Canada to say look at the numbers, expected what we now call discrimination would change but instead there was a backlash to the paper, her reaction was "it's time to share", it was a long process to bring about change, have come a long way in certain areas and not very far in others, talks about only 17% of the coaches at the 2012 Olympics were women; talks about creating an atmosphere of excellence with programmes to create high performance and excellence in sport, have best nutritionists, sports scientists and sport psychologists but when comes to coaches half the population is excluded to join the team to be one of the best, feels won't have excellence for our athletes unless we open up the entourage around the athlete whether it's sport science, officiating, coaching, not just for the athlete but for men and women, they need both, they need to have the skill set of women and what their qualities are to help with that excellence package and they need the skill set for the men as well, "when we start to have that then we can say, Yes we really are providing an atmosphere for excellence, right now I don't think we're there." 13:31Are you going to continue the battle: it was baby steps, now much quicker since have so many women athletes who have done well, seen some tremendous changes, they have been there because of some advocates, the IOC policy to include more women, corporations funding for both genders and the media giving more attention to women; feels that women who are great athletes want to be leaders in sport and need to be invited into the system and be given the skills for being a coach, official, administrator 15:12What are your goals for 2012: to look at the sustainability of programmes from 2010 such as Legacy Now in terms of community development and funding, in terms of coaching, talks about the Canada Games being the best example of equity in this country and the best practice in the world, they have policies that include the number of women' coaches and equality at the table; look at the numbers and look at the first generation of top women coaches and athletes that had come through the programme and where they are now, many are spokespersons for corporations or the media but haven't yet moved the numbers in the coaching area or administration; talks about mentoring Anne Merklinger, Executive Director of Own the Podium from a young child on her swim team and is very proud of being her mentor 17:22Advise to young women: best thing to do is know the women in sport organizations, if you feel you are limited, if there is a problem name it, approach the organization for help or an intervention; talks about trying to get women's ski jumping into the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and having to go the legislative route, "There are time when people like myself are willing to stand up and take that stance because there are a lot of people who dislike that approach. I just think if not me then who will start to lead some of those changes" 20:05On "one woman at a time": had to do it that was because legislative changes are so hard, now they understand how to do a legal challenge, don't necessarily want to do this; talks about the 2015 Pan American Games and wanting to see more equity, they will encourage and help in any way to make it happen, if it doesn't happen you have to be held accountable and responsible, thinks that the reason the Canada Games are so successful is because they have measurable things, feels Canada has qualified women with the skill set but no opportunity to coach, how do you get a winning record unless you have the opportunity to show you can win 22:21Greatest memory/accomplishment from 2010: turning point, we can now say in Canada we do have a sport culture, not huge but it's growing and it is there and we can build on that sport culture; proud of the women athletes and the way they spoke about their lives and what sport meant to them and they want to inspire the next generation 2 of 3: 00:07Goals going forward: like to see more women in coaching and more women in administration in higher paid positions, she is volunteering to help in those areas in Canada and around the world; also need to have coaches as the face of the games, not just athletes; also we lose so many athletes to other countries, would like to work with the Universities and corporations in the team sport area to have semi-pro leagues to allow Canada to have a feeder system to the Olympic team 02:47Do you feel the 2012 soccer team has done a great service to raising the level of awareness in Canada: done a tremendous job and great ambassadors; not only have they inspired young women to get into soccer but also inspired the male population 04:52On being inducted: honoured, thinks back to everyone who helped her, hopes her story will inspire others 3 of 3Exit message |
Date |
2012/10/18 |
Year Range from |
1968 |
Year Range to |
2012 |
People |
Lay, Marion Kidd, Bruce Jackson, Roger Hansen, Rick |
Search Terms |
Interview Swimming women in sport Marion Lay Builder 1968 Olympic Games Mexico City 1967 Pan American Games Winnipeg 1966 British Empire Games Kingston 1964 Olympic Games Tokyo COC Canadian Olympic Committte Commentator Man in Motion Rick Hansen |