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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.119 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Abby Hoffman Interview |
Scope & Content |
Abby Hoffman interview, 5 March 2009. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:53:53. 1 of 2; 00:04Childhood: mother an active athlete, father interested in sport, brother also in sport; became interested in hockey because her brother played and the tennis courts across the street became a natural ice rink in winter; was also a competitive swimmer, eventually gravitated into running and found success through the Toronto playground programmes, at the community club and later the provincial level 01:54On the hockey escapade: the hockey issue at the end, as a 9 year old, thought it was overblown, as a young kid who wanted to play hockey she couldn't understand why there weren't opportunities for girls to play in organized leagues, found a way to play on a boy's team, discovered when she presented her birth certificate in order to play in an all-star tournament she had been selected for, got a lot of media attention, her hockey career ended, symptomatic of what was going on at that time, clearly certain sports were for boys and fewer were appropriate for girls and not much tolerance for crossing those lines 05:58Did that 'piss' you off: did want to play, had a conversation with the leagues to start a girls game but it did not go anywhere, not happy about the fact was not going to be girls hockey but no avenue to pursue it, 15 year later human rights commissions in various provinces looking at this type of discrimination 07:28How did you find yourself in track and field: Toronto in the 1950's had a very active playground programme that included all kinds of formal and informal sports for kids, had field days with all activities, participated and went to track meets, just liked physically these activities, her older brother Paul was a distance runner, she eventually joined the same club and Paul Post, who became her coach throughout her entire career, was open to girls and women in the club (there were not many) and to promoting distance running; there were limitations on distances for girls and women, the farthest was the 800m which became her event of specialization, wanted to run longer distances and with others agitated and got changes and eventually got full programme of events for women in Canada and internationally 10:04What was the basis for limiting women's running: some of the limitations on what girls and women were permitted to do was just based on stereotyping of what the 2 sexes were allowed to do, some of the rationales were based on physical capacity and the appropriateness of seeing girls and women showing strength, endurance, stress from extreme physical effort, concerns about ability to work with the standard training, some of it dates back to the Olympic Games of the mid-1930's when that was the last time the 800m event was held until it was reinstated in 1960; that was the environment operating at that time 12:18Did you really strive for this [mid-distance]: not a great sprinter, did like distance running, like the feel physically, the 800 required speed, tactical insight, the pace appealed to her, had success, this was an event that was attractive on the indoor circuit in North America, there was a robust circuit, she did very well in North America, different story in Europe, not on par with them, gave her something to shoot for 15:10Highlights of career: most gratifying performance when she made the finals at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games, at her peak for the Munich Games, the event had evolved and the quality of the competition was very high, she and others broke the previous Olympic record in all 3 round of the event because that was how much improvement there had been, had the fastest time of her career, hoped to go on for another 4 years 17:00On being the flag bearer for 1976: very special thing to carry the flag in her home country, reason selected because involved in the agitation relating to support for high performance athlete development and individual funding, had success in funding leading up to the Games and set the framework for funding, being selected was an acknowledgement it was the right issue to agitate for, emotional moment, remembers it as if it happened yesterday, talks about Opening Ceremony 20:03On the Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games: in 1966 she was the unheralded champion, it marked her arrival on the international scene as a really first-class competitor, the Pan Ams were a small pond, got medals over 4 Pan Ams, proud of the longevity of her career, not usual at that time 22:24Tokyo 1964: had some international exposure, first experience in a really big Olympic village, realized the intensity and quality of training the competitors were doing, important experience what every athlete has to go there to confront the reality of what goes on and what the international standards are and what real quality is, daunting 24:08On travelling: grew up in a family where being independence, being self-sufficient and self reliant were encourage, never fearful of travel, focused on training and competition, good camaraderie with other athletes from other countries, influenced by knowing there is a lot beyond Canada that we need to pay attention to, being comfortable in different parts of the world 26;48Discusses the 800m race: pace most important, talks about sprinters vs. long distance, talks about tactics, on the starting line deciding on the pace you can handle, talks about strategy and fighting physically to the finish line 33:57Are you comfortable with the activist label: doesn't mind the title, proud of it, the era where she competed was one where officials of sport bodies in Canada made decisions and athletes just competed, they did not play an active role in the management of the sport or who influenced policies or anything of that nature; in her career confronted these things such as girls can't play hockey or can't run more than 800m, as career evolved lots of policies and practises on how sport was managed that just really didn't make sense, what is the process for selecting athletes for the national teams, number of occasions where she and other athletes felt lack of clarity transparency, integrity in the process; catalyzed involvement, demanding athletes be exposed to policies that were more transparently fair and appropriate and wanting to have a hand in setting policies and representation, what she was involved with was better policies , more athlete representation in decision making aspect of sport, more opportunities for girls and women, focus on funding and support for high performance athletes, initially a small group that grew to include more athletes in active participation 37:20Remained involved in track & field decision making structure, first as an athlete and then in the Canadian Association and then on the executive board for the IAAF, international governing body for track & field 38:14Were the sports bodies political: these things, selection and governance, were very political, there was a widely accepted tolerance for the way decisions were taken, eventually times change and societies change and that kind of paternalistic dynamic broke down as a model, different structure today 39:20Position as Director General of Sports Canada: after her competitive career was over she was interested in being active in various governance structures of sport, interested in what was going on in high performance sport, distressed at the 1980 boycott which triggered a low point in the development of sport and high performance athletes, the position came open and she was appointed in 1981, responsible for the domestic and international development of athletes and sport, big job, role of government more than what it is today, big budget supporting 60+ sports, the coaching association & COA, accountable for high performance athletes, Calgary won the rights to the 1988 OWG and this got sport back in the spotlight, money started to flow and able to do a lot in the 1980's, got Canada back in the game internationally; was a big part of her career and she enjoyed it 2 of 2; 00:06With Sports Canada for 10 years, the low point was the boycott, then the lead up to Calgary got money for winter sport which she parlayed into additional funding for summer sports, long way to go, Canada not ranked highly in sports, takes a long time to put athlete development regime in place and get results, by 1992 Canada starting to show back on track, difficulties with doping in sport coming into prominence, negative issue of Seoul, established foundation for what is going on today 01:55long career of trying to break down barriers of women competing in sport, opening up better athletic facilities for women, talks about events not open to women until the 1970's and 1980's, now same events for men and women with the exception of the longer distance race walk for men, issues around social aspects of women in sport, issues on athletes on governance structures, funding a big issue, talks about athletes now being recognized as full-time athletes 04:40What would you like people to remember about your career: longevity, effort in the end paying off, international excellence is the only standard worth aspiring to, mind set of aspiring to the top standard, takes a lot of hard work and intelligence and effort of your own and of the people who helped you to get there, level that was expressed through involvement 5:40What would you like people to remember about your contribution to sport: whatever the issues are of any time period, it is going to take some agitation to create change and you have to pick your battles, it is important to create change, not enough to be a competitor, there are issues worth talking about and trying to advance once you are out of competition 06:34On being inducted: exciting, not an Olympic medallist, being an agitator on the administrative side, gratifying to be recognized for contribution to sport as an athlete but also for being an activist 08:16Final thoughts: still has involvement in international track, continues being active physically and watches Canadian sport, talks about the attention to winter sports and how tough it is in summer sports which need more support 11:11Introduction to Hall |
Date |
2009/03/05 |
People |
Hoffman, Abby |
Search Terms |
Inclusion Advocate Interview Abby Hoffman Athletics women in sport 1963 Pan American Games Sao Paulo 1971 Pan American Games Cali 1966 Commonwealth Games Kingston 1964 Olympic Games Tokyo 1968 Olympic Games Mexico City 1972 Olympic Games Munich 1976 Olympic Games Montreal Sport Canada flag bearer 1976 |