Cyr on women collegiate coaches
Doctor of Social Sciences student and Master of Arts in Professional Communication alum Danielle Cyr spoke to the Halifax Chronicle Herald about her Royal Roads research and her work as head coach of the Mount Saint Vincent University women's soccer program.
Here’s an excerpt:
Cyr – who’s currently completing her Doctorate in Social Sciences at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. – is doing her part to help young female coaches “feel more competent and confident to lead in sport while understanding and identifying the barriers women face in sport.”
Enter the Leadership Development Program, a pilot program developed and being facilitated by Cyr. In it, 19 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association apprentice female coaches are being mentored by CCAA coaches across the country.
“With my masters research that I did at Royal Roads, we looked at how we can intentionally use a university sport program to develop transformational leadership skills for female student-athletes, and for coaches as well,” Cyr, 28, said in a recent interview.
“The basic question was how do we use sport experience for leadership development. From that we got some cool insight. Basically, the program provides this other level of support and knowledge and experience for our female apprentice coaches. In the past, they kind of worked in their own silos with their mentor coaches and athletic director at their university.
“We recognized a strong network of female coaches especially early on in their career is huge. That was a big part of our program, connecting the female apprentice coaches with each other from B.C. all the way to Quebec through Zoom sessions. The feedback has been really positive.”