Amy Prokop, Sask Sports Board Chair | Good Sports EP6

Welcome to Good Sports! Sit down with Ryan Flaherty as he discusses this week in Saskatoon's exciting sports scene! Our feature interview for episode four is Amy Prokop, who is currently serving as the board chair for Sask Sports, is a UofS Women's Soccer Assistant Coach, as well as a Saskatchewan Rattlers Colour Analyst!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Whatever makes you happy, what gets you out of man,
whatever kicks the cop webs, you'll join in. Instead of
victorious day dream, that's glory of Fame's by we all

(00:26):
on the same team. That fo is the name of
the game.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
That's all can only mean one thing. It's time for
a fresh cup of good sports right in your Internet face. Yes,
Ryan Flair to here with you episode six of Good
Sports and very excited about this week's episode. It is
the last week of Pride month, and so our guest
this week is centered around that topic. It is Amy

(00:55):
Procop fellow broadcaster, also a assistant coach with the Husky
women's soccer team, a former Husky athlete in basketball, and
she's also the chair of Sask Sport, the board of
Sask Sports. So a lot of great reasons to have
her on, to share her story and to just talk
about a whole bunch of different topics that come up

(01:16):
when you talk about pride and sport. So stick around
for that. Very excited to have that conversation. Of course,
you can follow the show on Instagram at Good Sports
three to zero six. You can follow me at Ryan
f Sports Guy, and of course you can catch all
of our episodes on demand anytime on the dufferent Avenue

(01:37):
Media Network YouTube channel. Please like, subscribe and share with
your friend's family and even near Barista. Just let them
know they're missing out if they're not catching up on
their good sports on a weekly basis. It's through one
stop shop for all your local sports information and wider
ranging conversations such as the one we're going to have

(01:58):
with Amy Proutkop here today. So glad to have you
alongside for this episode. But before we get to our
featured guest, let us of course start the show as
we always do with what's going on? Yes, indeed, four

(02:27):
non blonde rocking it out as always what's going on? Well,
let's start off where we started last week as well,
with the Saskatoon Berries, who did have their losing streak
come or for me, their winning streak come to an
end in eight games, but they just started another one.
They're on a three game winning streak as we record
this episode. The Berries now as of recording, sit eighteen

(02:49):
and three on the season. That is good for top
spot overall in the Western Canadian Baseball League. They have
a three and a half game lead over second place
Medicine hat, and it was in fact those very Mavericks
who snapped the Barris eight games streak last week. But
those are the top two teams in the league right now,

(03:10):
and the fact that the Barrys already three and a
half games clear of the second best team in the
league speaks volumes about just how good they've been through
the first twenty one games of the season, and that
means they're already getting close to the midway point of
the season. So things are trend continuing to trend in
the right direction for the Barries. They were ringed out
last Saturday before sweeping a double header. Of course, they

(03:33):
took that Saturday game, they moved to Sunday played a
doubleheader against the Energy City Cactus Rats. They swept that
double dip by scores of four to three for nothing,
and then follow that up with a ten to four
good buddy win over the Regina Red Sox in the
Queen City on Tuesday. As we are recording this episode,
the Berries are hosting the Red Sox and the second

(03:56):
half of that home and home series, but by the
time this episode goes live, that game will be you
of course, So just to let you know what they've
got coming up on their schedule. They actually have consecutive
days off Thursday and Friday, which is a real rarity,
but that's because they're then going to play eleven straight
days after that, starting on Saturday, of course, weather permitting.
That begins on the road again with their familiar divisional foes,

(04:19):
the Medicine at Mavericks June twenty eighth and twenty ninth,
and then another home at home with the Regina Red Sox.
In this case they'll be hosting the front half of
that back to back series. First one of those is
on June thirtieth, the inn A Canada Day rematch in Regina,
and they will then host the Moose Jaw Miller Express
back at next Gen Patrick Karensfield on July second. That's

(04:42):
as far as we'll go on the upcoming schedule, But
busy stretch coming up for the Barriers. See if they
can maintain at first place pace with an eleven straight
game schedule. We'll see how they fare. Let's move along.
That's what's going on with the Berries now all. But
what's going on with the Saskatoon Valkyries of course. Sarah
Wright Valkyries running back was our guest last week on

(05:04):
this very show, and we're gonna we're gonna give that
another good sports bump. We're gonna just keep taking credit
wherever we can, because the Valks then went out and
beat the Regina Riot in the Prairie Conference Final. It
was a monsoon type of day at god I was
gonna say, GORDIAU Bowl SMF Field is what they've called
that now for many years, sas two minor football field

(05:25):
at Geordiause Sports Complex. It was a windy and wet
afternoon and so as you can imagine, a pretty low
scoring game, but it was the Valks coming away with
a nine nothing victory over the Regina Riot, the second
time in three meetings this season they've actually shut the
Riot out. And so now the Valkyries will play for

(05:47):
the WWCFL championship. If you missed our last episode, They're
going for a record fifth straight WWCFL title, and this
will be their fourth different opponent in that championship game
in as many years. In fact, it's going to be
their first ever meeting with a team that is new
to the league this year, in the Edmonton Storm. Now,

(06:08):
Edmonton has had a team in the league almost since
the inception with the exception inception exception of last year.
From I understanding, they were the folks behind women's football
and Edmonton were kind of regrouping, trying to reorganize things.
They used to be known as the Edmonton Storm. They
are now called the Edmonton Arctic Pride. They defeated the

(06:29):
Calgary Rage in a similarly sloppy affair in Calgary, which
had maybe even worse weather than Saskatoon did last weekend.
Six nothing was the final in that game, after those
two teams had a couple of games where they were
fairly high scoring during the regular season. They each won
one of those, but it was the Arctic Pride coming

(06:50):
away with the six nothing wins. So they will now
host the Valkyries in that championship game. The kickoff is
on Saturday, that is June twenty eight, at three o'clock
at Commonwealth Stadium, So pretty cool venue for the Valkyries
and the Arctic Pride. Not many athletes get to say

(07:12):
they get to play game inside of one of the
more iconic football venues in the country, and so Commwell
stadiumill host that game again three o'clock kickoff on Saturday,
June twenty eighth as the Valks go for their fifth
straight WWCFL title. They have faced Edmonton teams twice before
in the championship game, of course, was back when they

(07:32):
were the Storm, the Edmonton Storm, including the inaugural WWCFL
championship in twenty eleven. Bouts won that game thirty five
to seven. And then how about this for a score
in twenty sixteen. It was not close. It was over
at the opening whistle eighty one to six. The Valkyries
were winners in twenty sixteen. I'm going to go out
in a limons say this year's contest is gonna be

(07:54):
a lot closer than that seventy five point differential, which
is a record for WWCFL game, and of course the
eighty one points are also a record for winning team.
I don't think we're going to see either team get
anywhere close to that, but should be a real good battle.
Just from looking at the scores and some of the
stats from those games in Alberta in the Western Conference

(08:14):
this season, this Alberta or Emondon Arctic Pride team looks
like the real deal and could really give the Valkyries
a run for their money. So good luck to the
Valkyries in the WWCFL Championship game on Saturday. That's what's
going on with them. How about what's going on? What's
going on with the Saskatchewan Rattlers. Unfortunately, what's going on
with them is pretty similar to what was going on
with them last week and the week before and really

(08:35):
for much of the season. As their swoon continues. They
have now fallen to a CEBL worst two and nine
on this season, with both those wins coming on the road.
They have been zero for five on home court this year.
This past week they dropped a couple games on the road,
two more very close games. I feel like a broken
record saying this, but the Rattlers have been very close

(08:58):
in all but two of their games this season, and
but they just haven't been able to get that one
or two extra baskets and stops to turn those losses
into wins. The games over the last few days eighty
eight eighty six loss at Brampton and then that was
on June twentieth, and on June twenty second, and ninety

(09:18):
three eighty nine defeat at the hands of the Montreal Alliance.
In both those games, the Rattlers were in a position
where they had a chance to take a shot to
win the game, they just could not finish the job,
and that has been a common theme. They are now
two to four in games decided by less than five points,
and three of their other losses have come by seven,

(09:40):
seven and eight points. So it's just been a real
frustrating year for the Rattlers, no doubt, but also their
fans as well. And now the roster has been in
a bit of a blender. They just signed Julian Roche
this afternoon. He will make his debut or his return,
because he's spent the last two years with the Rattlers.

(10:00):
He's back in the fold, the big man from Saint John,
New Brunswick. He will make his season debut in his
third season as a Rattler in their Thursday night game,
which will which we will be having just after this
episode goes live. They host the Calgary Surge. So Roche
also apparently the team has signed another player named Jimmy

(10:21):
Hughes the Third. Don't know much about him. They've also
released Andre Reddick and there's some other players. Jamir Chaplin
it seems, is headed for the injured list. Not sure
if he'll be able to return. This year, So a
lot of changes, as one would expect with a team
that is struggling to win this year. Of course, some
of those out of necessity due to injury and other issues,

(10:43):
and some just you know, as they're trying to find
the right mix of players who can get them some success.
All is not lost yet, there's still thirteen games left
in the season, but their playoff hopes are certainly dwindling
with each passing defeat. So try to write the ship
and snap a five game losing skid. As I mentioned tonight,
as you're seeing this episode if you're watching it on

(11:04):
the Thursday, hosting the Calgary Surge, who is one of
the teams they have beaten this year. The Surge, however,
are hied for top spot in the league at eight
and three, coming off their second win over the Vancouver Bandits,
who have been the team that has clabbered the Rattlers
twice this year. So who knows what game we're in,
what kind of game we're in store for at the

(11:25):
snake Pit on Thursday night, But see if the Rattlers
can pull a rabbit out of the hat and get
back in the win calm and give the fans at home.
Something to cheer about. Two, because again they are zero
to five at the snake Pit this season. So that's
what's going on with the Saskatchewan Ratlers. Finally, what's going
on with the Junior A Saskatchewan swat Lacrosse Club. They,

(11:46):
much like the Rattlers, are struggling as well. They remain
winless on the year now oh and thirteen. I talked
a lot this season about moral victories and decent results
against very good teams. They had a couple more of
those on the over the weekend, losing nine to six
to the Calgary or part of me, nine five to
the Calgary Mountaineers, and then eight to five to the

(12:07):
Junior A Raiders, who are the undefeated first place team
in the league. That's the closest of their five head
to head meetings this season. So you can see incremental
progress in terms of the final score line with those matchups,
but it's still not translating into wins. They've got two
more games left on the regular season schedule. Those are
both on the road, July fifth and sixth. We'll have

(12:29):
a weekend off here coming up July fifth and sixth
in Edmonton against the Miners a team that they had
a couple close battles with here at home earlier in
the season, so we'll see if they can steal a
win out of Edmonton late in the season. And then
of course the playoffs will be here and the SWAT
will be hosting a couple of playoff games in their
best of seven series against the Junior A Raiders, but

(12:50):
don't have dates and times for those just yet, so
we'll pass those along when that series schedule is finalized.
So that is what's going on with the Rattler Swat.
Excuse me, and that is what's going on this week.
Good fun all right. Time now to welcome in this
week's guest. And it is of course the final week

(13:11):
of Bride Month here in Saskatoon and in the most
places as well, though there are some jurisdictions that have
it at different times a year, but it is Pride
Month in a lot of places, and right here in Saskatchewan,
here in Saskatoon, and wanted to sort of have a
conversation about pride and sports and how those things kind
of intersect, and so who better to come in and
share this conversation with me and my friend Amy crocop

(13:33):
A former Husky athlete both basketball and in soccer, now
an assistant coach with the women's soccer team. You're also
the board chair newly elected board chair for sask Sport
and also one of my broadcast partners in the CEBO
with the Saskatchewan Rattlers. So Amy, thanks a love for
being here.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Thanks Ryan, I'm very excited to be here.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
This is my first podcast and very excited to talk
about something near and dear to my heart, which is
sport and also pride.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
Months Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Well, and like I said, you were the first person
I thought of when I sort of conceived of trying
to do something like this with this show. Because one
of the things that I think a couple of core
principles for this show is about representation, It's about inclusion,
also of course about celebrating local sport, and so I
think all those things kind of come together nicely here
for this chat. So I guess where I wanted to

(14:21):
start to kind of set the table is just get
some of your backstory as well. And the first question
I had, because I mentioned right off the top you
were competed in a couple of sports with the Huskies.
Were you out at that point in your life or
when did that happen and what was your experience as
a university athlete.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
Yeah, so coming up to university, I competed in both
basketball and soccer. Like you noted, I actually did my
five years with the Huskies playing basketball under the legendary
Lisa Tomidas. Had a fantastic career, and then moved into
a coaching role with the University of soccer team, so
I got to play out soccer in a different role

(15:00):
in a coaching capacity. I never did play for the
Huskies playing soccer, but no, when I was in university,
I was not out. I was in my twenties and
had still had, you know, an amazing experience as a
student athlete with u offs and the Husky women's basketball program.
Very much a positive experience. But it's interesting as you

(15:22):
get older, and I actually came out at the age
of thirty, which is a little bit later in life.
Everyone's kind of got their own journey. And after coming
out and really starting to get to live my more
authentic self, and you just you realize and get to
reflect on some of the areas of your experiences that
maybe weren't as colorful or as you know, just as

(15:46):
confident as they might have been when you're suppressing a
part of yourself or hiding a piece of yourself. So
it's interesting to look back. And then also, the world's
come a long way since I played. I played from
two thousand and four to two two thousand and nine,
and a lot has happened since then in terms of
the acceptance of queer people and also the platform that

(16:10):
sport has in terms of making people of all sexual
identities just really all identities feel comfortable and welcome in sport.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
Did you now once you came out, did were you?
Did you how much thought did you give to like
what if you know, I had been out or come
out during my time at university, Like, what were what
were I guess maybe the to rephrase that is like
your experiences as a as a university athlete. Yeah, were
there experiences within that that that were in that helped
keep you from coming out? Or was it just you

(16:41):
just weren't ready at that point in your life? Like
what was that internal dialogues? I'm sure it was as
with most people, right, it's constant, right, Like.

Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, yeah, And it's one of those things that you
can't really like pinpoint at least for me. There wasn't
specific events or or specific things that I key and
on that I missed out or anything like that. But
I think it really comes back to just being able
to live your full, authentic self and be loud and
proud and who you are. And the thing I think

(17:10):
about most when I think about my athletic career is
would I have been a better athlete because I could
have been a more full person? And I'll never know that,
and I don't. It's not something I give too much
weight to because I had a great career and a
great experience, but it's always kind of in the back
of your mind, just like, what if I had been

(17:34):
able to be more myself back then, what would that
have looked like? How would that have come out? Both
on the court, in the locker room as well as
in the community. So we'll never know, but I'm pretty
grateful that now I have some roles where I get
to influence sports, the environments that I'm in, and also
young athletes.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
So yeah, it's one of those impossible to answer hYP with.
That's unfair question, I know, but I just I'm very
curious about those sort of those internal conversations and those
debates because obviously that's not something I've had to navigate. Yea.
And it is interesting you mentioned that that that one
wondering about your performance, because there are is research right,
there's there's been research done that shows that athletes who

(18:13):
aren't who are closeted essentially or have those you know,
haven't come out that that have had their performance affected
in some certain tangible ways because there's that there's a
mental side of elite athletic performance is so important. Yeah,
and so if you have this thing that's weighing on
you in money, it could be some other topic entirely,

(18:34):
but something that is really weighing on your mind, that
that is going to have an impact. Although I will
say yes, very good, very good career. I know the
numbers speak for them spell speak for themselves. Pride Pride
Month is a big you know, there's a lot of
different things that go into it, and obviously it encompasses
all of life and not just sport. But why do
you think it's important to recognize and to celebrate pride

(18:56):
within the sports environment, sports community.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
Yeah, like you said, it's a big month. There's a
lot to it. There's the history aspect of really pride
was born out of the Stonewall Riots, a resistance standing
up for human rights back in nineteen sixty nine, and
so everything that happened from that point on, all the
people that fought for the LGBTQ community to have the

(19:19):
rights that we have today, that's a big portion of it.
So similar to sport, you kind of stand on the
shoulders that came before you. And in parallel with pride,
I think it's important to recognize all the work that's
been done to get us to where we are today.
And I'm grateful that I can live a loud and
proud life.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
In that sense.

Speaker 4 (19:38):
But for sport in particular, I think the aspect of
pride is it just comes back to the environment, the culture,
the locker room, and giving people a sense of belonging,
allowing them to feel valued and celebrated for who they
are in their full spectrum, whatever that is. And I
think by celebrating pride, it shows athletes and young people

(20:03):
in sport that they belong and that there is a
place for them. Sport has so many benefits in terms
of self confidence and you know, just building relationships, friendships,
all of that. It's an amazing place to be and
so we want people to feel welcome.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
I always am interested to like we have the public
displays of sort of solidarity anaoship right with you know,
you're wearing the shirt. We've got one also hanging on
the set that's mine. I'm not wearing it. It was a
good thing because we would have been a little too
awkwardly matching there. But and you know, teams and organizations
will have these events to sort of mark pride, whether
it's a Pride game or Pride Month. You know, depending

(20:43):
on what time of the year that the team is playing,
they might have their own events. Hockey, for example, have
the pride tape. A lot of teams used. Now those
are sort of the public I won't say pr but
they are. They get you. There's a lot of goodwill
that is engendered by doing that. No pun intended, but
but that there's all a lot more than needs to
happen right behind the scenes, right to foster that kind

(21:05):
of environment. Yeah, because it's one thing to say it,
but if you don't back it up, if the athletes
who are within your team or your organization aren't feeling
that same message within, that is not really going to
go that far. So I'm curious from your experience within
Husky Athletics what you've seen in terms of sort of
the work that's done internally to sort of build that
culture of accept as inclusivity.

Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, I mean that's such a good point. We know
that pride from a marketability standpoint, corporate standpoint, can be
a lot of talking the talk and not walking the
walk or surface levels, so it goes so much beyond that.
I know within our Husky soccer environment, we definitely it
really comes down to values and it's the little details that.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
Make a difference.

Speaker 4 (21:51):
Because yes, you can put a Pride flag on the door,
and you can celebrate Pride Month with a photo.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
On your Instagram.

Speaker 4 (21:57):
But you know, are people feeling on the day to
day like you described, like when you are having conversations
with your teammates, when you're hanging out in the locker room,
are people using inclusive language? Are they, you know, thinking
about asking all kinds of questions. Not in case of

(22:19):
women's sports. You know, something I remember as an athlete
was do you have a boyfriend? And that was always
probably one of the few times where I would climb.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Up a little bit. And so those are just like little.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
Things that go a long way in terms of living
out the values and creating a sense of belonging a
culture where people feel comfortable to be that go a
long way in terms of that going.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
Back to that sort of culture building side, and specifically
when you talk about coaching and just how important is
it for not just the head coach but coaches to
set that temperature and to make sure from moment one
that the player and you're talking to a university environment,
especially you've got new recruits coming in every Yeah, so
how critical is that.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Pieces it's everything.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
I mean the head coach of course at the very top,
but along with the coaching staff and whoever you kind
of select into your leadership group, you set the tone
for what the culture will be and what you tolerate
you accept is a quote that we've lived by and
so I think first and foremost being upfront with.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
What your values are. As a program.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
With Husky Women Soccer, we have ten standards that we
worked on with our players and established. They live on
our wall when you walk in the team room, you
see them right away. That's an opportunity rate there to
speak to what your culture stands for and what your
environment provides to your athletes and something I actually spoke
last year at a sask Sport event and talked about

(23:46):
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and I think it's a neat
way to think about creating inclusive spaces. When you think
about that pyramid, the baseline of people feeling accepted is
just being tolerated. And that's not a great feeling to
just feel tolerat. That's like the bare minimum.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
You just want to just being put up with.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
And so the next level up would be actually feeling
like you belong, feeling like you have a community around you,
you're supported. The next level up from that is that
you feel valued. You actually feel like people want you there,
that you contribute to the space. And then really the
top of the pyramid that I think we should all
be striving for is to feel celebrated. You want people

(24:25):
to feel like they are celebrated. Being in that space
that they are, you know, who they are, is something
that everyone believes in and can celebrate. So that's a
neat way I think for coaches and players to think
about their environment and kind of reflect like, where are
we in that pyramid?

Speaker 3 (24:46):
Are we just tolerating people? Maybe that's could reflect for.

Speaker 4 (24:49):
The NHLs right now or are we celebrating and then
you look at like the WNBA or NWSL, two leagues
that really celebrate queer out athletes.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, it's funny, Like I was just thinking about that,
you know, being the best teams usually have that ingrained
in that celebrating each other. Like I'm just thinking, you know,
recency bias here, But you know, watching the Husky women's
basketball team, you know when Nationals this past spring, and

(25:21):
there's clearly a star of that team. There a lot
of really great players, but obviously Gage Grassic is the
star of that team. She's the best player in the country.
But everybody on the team is celebrated and lifted up
for what they what they contribute, not even necessarily to
the game itself, to the culture as well, and within
within the room because that locker room, and that's really

(25:42):
what it comes down to is, yeah, how are things
working within the locker room? That's really the litmus test.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
Right, Yeah, absolutely, And then it goes beyond that. I
mentioned the leagues, and so coming back to Houski Athletics,
the players aren't just looking at our program. They want
to know, you know, whether they're whatever their identity is,
they want to know that they're welcome within the Husky
Athletics umbrella organization.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
And I think something that.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
Husky Athletics does well is a lot of storytelling. They
celebrate Pride Month, they celebrate Black History Month, and those
are the signals to the student athletes that all of
these values along the way aligne and that this is
a safe space for them and it's a place that
they can flourish, both as an athlete but also as
a person.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Where do you think sort of sports because we talk
so often about how sport is almost a microcosm of
life or of society and what it reflects about us.
And you know there are you know, silos within that,
especially geographically right, different parts of the world, different levels
of progress. But how important is that acceptance piece, that

(26:48):
inclusivity and celebratory piece within sport in terms of as
a cultural trendsetter, Like how much can that make an
effect positive change outside of sport?

Speaker 4 (26:59):
I think it's huge. I mean, you look at any
progressive movement happening in the world, and sports has a
big platform for that, especially at the professional level. And
you can see which leagues use that platform for good
and which athletes use their platform to help create that

(27:22):
celebrated environment and really push and fight for human rights.
And then you can also see the ones that don't.
And I think sport because it's so powerful, people look
to sport for I don't know everything, like people are
fanatic for sport, and so it appears to be something
that's just fun, but it can have a really big

(27:43):
impact in how people perceive the world because it's just
at the end of the day, humans working together trying
to achieve something.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well, I always laugh, but the and this has come
up a lot in the last few years, where don't
I don't want politics in my sports, So, like you could,
there is no separating the two, like and really from
life like politic life is like everything has a political
element to it or a human element to it. So
it's for it's usually coming from the folks that just

(28:11):
want to pretend like there's parts of the world that
don't exist, so they can just like ignorance is bliss
and they're trying to shut that out. But I laughed
because you also mentioned the NHL, and they have courted
some controversy in the last few years, and we're not
going too deep into this, but like, you know, sort
of pulling back on some of their pride initiatives after
getting some we'll call it loud minority opposition. Yeah, what

(28:37):
did you make of that? And when that sort of scenario,
because that's not the only time that's happened. Yeah, but
when you see something like that, like it's like progress
is going backwards.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
Exactly, it's scary.

Speaker 4 (28:46):
And I think, like you said, politics is at the
end of the day, it's life and if if you're
able to ignore politics, it's probably because you're in a
pretty privileged position. And I think I mentioned but when
something like that happens, unfortunately, it's a very scary and
negative signal for the queer community in that it is

(29:08):
backwards progress and it makes people feel like, well, if
you can't put rainbow tape on your hockey stick, do
I really belong as a fan, as an athlete, as
someone working within the organization, like all layers of the league.
It sends a really negative message and I think it
is scary in terms of what's happening in the world

(29:30):
and it feeling like things are going a little bit backwards.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
I'll say this because I'm the host, so I can
get myself in a little bit more troubloger, but I
thought it was downright cowardly of the National Hockey League
to do they took for those who don't know, one
of the main things that kind of they pulled backwards
these when a team would have a Pride night, they
had pride themed warm up jerseys that they didn't even
wear for the game, but just just for the warm ups.
And because there were a few players that voice their

(29:53):
opposition of that, they decided, oh, nobody's going to wear them,
which I think is their ridiculous bending to the will
of the minority. But anyway, we won't dwell too much
on that because we're talking about positive change. But it's
also important to recognize that, you know, this is not
a linear journey either, right, this is there's a lot
of backslides along the way. Unfortunately as as we go

(30:16):
that representation a piece though and being sort of being
being out now like what can you how do you
and in your role is in sask sport board chair,
you have an opportunity right to to really move that
agenda forward if you will. At agenda, that's a loaded word,
you know what I'm saying though, right, but but you
have an opportunity to really advocate for for positive for

(30:38):
positive measures, right and continued improvements. What sort of things
when you look at it take a wider lens, what
where do you see sort of the next steps or
areas that we can still continue to work on an address?

Speaker 4 (30:50):
Yeah, and I think I'm grateful to be in a
few different roles, both as an assistant coach with soccer,
even in this broadcast role with the Saskatchewan Ratlers in
the CEBO League. Being a queer women broadcaster is very
new and I don't take that lightly. And so this
new opportunity to be the board chair with sask Sport

(31:11):
is just another chance to work with great people to
keep driving towards creating an inclusive environment for sport. And
I think sasport already does that so well. So it's
really just finding more and more ways and sharing the
message and making sure that kids, especially We know that

(31:31):
a lot of girls in particular drop out of sport
at an early age, and so working with the leaders
within Sassport, within this community, all of the provincial sport
organizations and trying to instill those values and really help
them come up with strategies for keeping women in sport,
keeping girls anyone who just has an identity that you

(31:54):
know isn't necessarily always accepted, I think is a really
cool opportunity.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
They talk about sort of this concept that hate is
a learned behavior and that you don't you're not born
with that innate capacity, so to speak. But when we
talked about the university, but going back to grassroots, I mean,
how critical is that to start at that level and
foster that for a lifelong alleyship and inclusivity. To start

(32:23):
at the grassroots with those kids that are coming in five, six,
seven years old, you know, in whatever sport that may
be playing.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
No, I mean it's everything I think I've benefited from
sport throughout my whole life. And the stats aren't good
for girls in sport in particular, but also it's just
if you can start at that age. It's actually funny.
I have a story from we have a Junior Huskies
program with our Husky Soccer and a couple of years

(32:50):
ago we had our first non binary player join and
that was a really neat and good learning experience for
our coaches in terms of creating an environment again that
use the right language, gender neutral. We started rather than
calling them ballgirls, we started using the term ball fetchers.
And just little things like that are a good example

(33:13):
of how you can help a youth who is new
to sport feel like they have a home. It helps
them develop relationships, friendships, get all the benefit the health
benefits of sport, and hopefully then create leaders that carry
on whether they go into high performance sport or they
just keep playing sport and stay active as an adult

(33:35):
and give back to the community in different ways.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
You mentioned the gender neutral language. It's amazing how pervasive
gendered language is and you don't even realize it, And
especially in sport. A lot of positions in a lot
of sports have included in them or something like that.
I remember Leah Hextall catching some flack. She's a hockey

(33:59):
broadcasts for those who don't know it works for ESPN,
she caught some flat because she when she would do
play by place, she would say defense women if she's
doing women's game. She's done a lot of NHL as well.
But it's one of those things that you don't even
really think about and then oh, well, yeah, I guess yeah,
and so no, I you know, I call husky games,
I will either say defense women or defender or blue liner,

(34:21):
Like there's a lot of alternatives that we don't. We
get so used to those sort of like muscle memory
of some of that gendered language. And it's not even
coming from a place of non inclusivity, it's just its habit. Yeah,
And so it's about those little those little changes that
affect a larger change right overall where what obviously I

(34:42):
touched on it briefly, but like there is a whole
other piece to this when it comes to men's sports.
And and I know that obviously for obvious the reasons
you can't speak directly for that from your experience, but
just on a sort of a general basis, is it
just literally just because of the sort of the macho
like do you think that it that we have such
a all a small number of proudly like out male

(35:07):
gay athletes, and especially when they do come out there
almost always after they've finished playing. Like there's like curling
is like one sport that's a bit of an exception,
and that's just the sport. I think it has a
different wold culture to it that it's a lot more camaraderie,
but is it is. It just is that just the
biggest is that one of the biggest hurdles that is
still left is that that male sports get over that

(35:29):
macho irdle. And and because that seems to me where
the biggest stigma still remains. I mean there's other stigmas too, But.

Speaker 4 (35:36):
First off, shoutout Peril Lily Curling League. It's it's our
gay queer curling league here in Saskatoon and it's thriving.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
I'm also in the.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Lawn bowling there. We'll show it Jason Evana because he's
a he's a friend as well, and he's.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
In this community.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
So but yeah, like you said, I think I mean,
obviously I don't have the lived experience, but on the
male side, You're right, it is more pervasive in terms
of homophobia and just a lack of acceptance and all
the way up to celebrating gay men in sport, and

(36:12):
I think it's probably tied to the macho locker room vibe.
I also would look to again the professional leagues and
if those leagues aren't celebrating it or valuing queer people,
then it's going to go down to the grassroots. And
it's it's just this constant cycle. Whereas on the women's

(36:34):
side of sport again the w n B a NWSL,
there are a lot of queer female athletes, non binary athletes,
and I think that sets the tone then and creates
the what everyone else follows.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
The uh I had a thought there and it just
flew again as that happens. I thought, I thought there
was going to There was a moment there where a
few quite a few years now back when Michael Sam
football player came out before he was drafted into the NFL,
and then there was a lot of debate over whether
that affected his draft stock. He didn't stay in the NFL,

(37:14):
NFL for very long. He actually came to the CFL
briefly played it for the Montreal Lwettes for a very
short time. So it's always hard to tell, like would
he as a just based on his football ability, Like
would he have stuck around if he had not come out,
and if then how much that But it felt like
for a brief moment that there was almost an opportunity,
there was an opportunity there for a wave to kind

(37:35):
of follow that, but it never really happened. And I
just wonder if we're going to get to a point
where you know, the right most you know, a prominent
and prominent enough after yeah, decides to take that plunge
and come out while they're still you know, in the
middle of the career, and especially if that's like a
really you know, one of the you know, a star athlete,

(37:55):
but even if they're not, and I just wonder if
that will open some floodgates. It's hard who knows, right,
But it just it felt like there's been a couple
of moments in the last few years where it felt
primed for that and then it didn't happen. So it
may just be trickles and trickles and trickles. Of course
we haven't touched like, there's so many different topics to
get into and in this obviously this is a wide

(38:17):
ranging conversation. But and we're not going to delve into
the too deep into the trans athlete debate right now,
because that's a whole there's a whole other set of
issues that go with that, especially when you talk about
elite athletics and eligibility rules and things like that. But
how important do you think that that discussion is to
the overall kind of context of athletes and sports and pride.

Speaker 4 (38:41):
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, when
we talk about trans athletes, it comes back to human rights,
and human rights are women's rights there, you know, when
it comes to different races like it all is part
of the bigger picture and the end of the day,
we want people to feel comfortable in sport. We want
people to be part of sport. We know it's such
an important part of life. And I think there's a

(39:03):
lot of people do get overwhelmed with the topic and
it is it is a big one, and there's a
lot of misinformation out there. A lot of people don't
do their research or or you know, it's hard to
form an opinion because it is a bit of a
hot topic. So I think that at the end of
the day, it is important to be part of the discussion.

(39:25):
And it really just comes back to creating inclusive spaces
where people can be themselves, where everyone can enjoy sport,
get the value from it, and be part of a team.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
Because it feels like the resistance from sort of the
conservative resistance to two LGBTQ athletes and sport and in general,
they've kind of moved off of gay and lesbian athletes,
bisexual because like we feel like like, oh we lost
that battle, but we still got the can still go

(39:59):
after these And it's just so like the you know,
find a new boogey boogeyman or boogiey person. Uh if
you will. Uh, it's just I don't know. Again there
another for one reason, like there's lots to dig into,
but also like I'll admit I'm not adequately equipped. I
don't feel adequately equipped to really have an in depth
discussion about that specific set of issues. But I will

(40:21):
put out a call if there's anyone watching this, especially
a trans athlete or coach or someone involved in sport,
who wants to come on and talk about this. It
doesn't have to be Pride Month. We could do it
any time of the year. Yeah. I would love to
have that conversation and learn, because that's that's what this
show is mostly about, is both learning and informing. So
if anyone wants to wants to jump in, and I

(40:41):
would be happy to have them on, you just let
me know. You can play is a program that was
sort of implemented a few years ago. It started in hockey,
but it's kind of branched out across sport. How much
of an impact as you can play. Do you have
you seen within within the sport.

Speaker 4 (40:59):
I'm not as familiar with that program, but I think
and it targets grassroots.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
Yeah. So the background on it is Brian Burke, longtime
NHL general manager Brian Burke. His son was a hockey player,
I think quit a team that was at I don't
know if it was a junior team or a post
secondary team because of the homophobia and the lack of
inclusivity that he felt. Came out after that and then

(41:24):
started this program. He tragically died in a car collision
back a few years back, but he started this program
that basically was that about promoting if you can play,
you can play. That's kind of the tagline, right. So
I'm just curious if if you've seen any sort of
ripple effects of that, even just that messaging.

Speaker 4 (41:42):
Yeah, I think any any type of programming or campaigns
that create that type of messaging can be very effective.
I was we were talking a few minutes ago. I
was thinking about something I read recently. There's an NFL
player who has LGBTQ kind of geared camps within football,
and and again just going back to that grassroots conversation

(42:05):
of creating inclusivity, a sense of belonging in sport at
an early age will ensure that that carries on as
these young athletes grow and and I think I'm sure
you can play has made a difference.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
I can't speak.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Yeah, no, I kind of put you on the spot
there too, And I shouldn't assume everyone everything, but it
just kind of popped out to me earlier today. What
about role models who do you see sort of setting
the tone, setting the you mentioned already suberd and Megan
Rapino obviously, but like, yeah, if there are you know,
young athletes who are looking for someone to look up

(42:43):
to in that like, who would you suggest?

Speaker 4 (42:46):
I mean, first and foremost women's sports. I used to,
I mean I love sports, I watch all sports, but
lately I've found myself dedicating most of my time to
following women's sports leagues because of the environment and just
what they stand for. So Megan Rapino, for sure is
one that I read her book. She's had some famous

(43:06):
quach she said go gaze in a in a speech
at the White House.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
I believe she also has.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
Made the statement of you can't win a championship without
a gay on your team, which I also love that one.
So she's someone that I just looked to at a
very formative point in my life where she was very
loud and proud and made bold statements in places that
were conservative and and where she was kind of putting

(43:36):
herself at risk. And I think that's pretty cool, and
so her and super Bird for sure. I would just
look at any any athlete or any teams within the
w NBA. They do a fantastic job. They were, I
believe during COVID during the bubble, the bubble they were
one of the first leagues to step up for Black
Lives Matter as well at that time, and so they've

(43:59):
always been on the forefront of progressive issues, standing up
for what they believe in as a league, as a
players association, the teams themselves, we talk about celebrating pride.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
I think that they're one of the top leagues that
does that.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
They I it's such an interesting juxtaposition because these women's
leagues exist or have especially up until recently, and really
with only a couple of exceptions, really kind of their
viability has always been kind of has been in question
for a long time because of the whole notion of
nobody watchings whatever that Well, hey, and again we talked

(44:40):
about that's corporcible in this show, right, we want to
every celebrate all the sports and everyone who's involved in them.
But the where was I going with that? So it's
it's it's funny, it's almost ironic to me that it's
the women's leagues that have that. You know, a lot
of ways have a lot more to lose, but there

(45:02):
is so much more courage to to step up and
to sort of lead these conversations, whereas these entrenched professional
leagues that we've all followed for years and years with men. Yeah,
you could argue they have more to lose financially because
they have their their their bottom lines are so much bigger. Yeah,
But it's it's that old piece about you know, the

(45:22):
big the corporate juggernaut, you know, not being willing to
take to set the cultural tone right, And so it's
I just kind of chuckle a bit at it because
what else can you do that, Like, here are these
women's leagues that up until even the w NBA, until
the last five years, was like touch and go, and
now here they are they say work, not only are
we not gonna worry about that, but the if there's

(45:44):
any negative impacts of this, but we're going to be
right up the forefront, and so I just think that's
definitely worth acknowledging and just pointing out as well, because
you know, you want to get more leadership from sort
of the established, the establishment, but it's often not the
case where it has to come from outside the establishment. Right.

Speaker 4 (46:03):
Yeah, there's also I should have wrote them down, but
there's there's so many good social media accounts that you
can follow to that celebrate pride in sport. The Gist
is one that comes to mind. I follow them. There's
others that I'm like blanking on, but maybe that's something
we could we could do at the end. I don't

(46:23):
know if you have, like we could probably have some
Instagram accounts, and I find that's a good place too.
If you surround yourself and create a community where you
get to see these stories come to life, that's a
great way as well. And we shouldn't ignore you Sports.
I mean, I think that you Sport does a really

(46:43):
good job of celebrating all student athletes from all walks
of life. And they do, like I said, a lot
of short form long form storytelling and really allowing people
to get to know.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
The athletes and their stories. So that would be another place.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
To lost a lot of good a lot of good
recommendations there. I mean, we could keep on going and
going and going here, but I think we kind of
touched on a lot of the highlights. Is there anything
that I didn't ask about or we didn't get to
that you think is important to to bring up or
to mention within the pride in sports kind of space.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
And we covered a lot.

Speaker 4 (47:19):
I think one thing you said that is a good
reminder is Pride Month, as much as it's fun, there's
rainbow flegs, there's a parade, there's lots always it always rains,
there's a lot of events and parties and all that
good stuff. Again, it comes back to it's not linear,
and people often are like, well, do we really still

(47:41):
need to celebrate pride like.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
You know and not old chestnut? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
You look at what's happening in the world, and it's fragile,
and I think a lot of the rights that we
have and the progress that we've built, both in sport
but in society, at any point it could go the
other way. And that's it's a scary thing for people
that aren't in a position where that doesn't impact them.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
Well, I mean, like almost a third of the countries
in the world, it's still illegal, yeah to be gay, right, Like,
so there's athletes will travel and sometimes we get forget
you know, the progress that has been made here is
not necessarily the progress that has been made everywhere. And
even if you just head south across the border into
the States, there's going to be some things that are
different as well. So it's important, as you say, to

(48:28):
not take that for granted and to continue on having
these conversations and celebrating everyone in sport for what they're doing,
uh and not who and who they are too, but
especially like it's sport is for all and if you
can play, you can play. That's the that's the whole
thing that you can play. And I think it resonates
well across this kind of landscape as well. Amy, Thank

(48:50):
you so much. Thanks. This is kind of exactly what
I was hoping we would be able to do with that.
I really be honest, like this, I was freaking out
a little about this episode because, like I mean, I'm
much more comfortable with the like talking about the actual
sports and you know, bringing people in and getting to
know their their stories. But I think this is an

(49:11):
important conversation to have, and when you have a platform
that you can have it on, I think it's important
to use it that way too. So I really appreciate
you being willing to come on here make your podcast debut.
That's right right here on Good Sports and and so
thank you so much, and keep on keeping on. Wet
to got a basketball game to call. Uh yeah, I
think right around right after this episode goes live, we

(49:34):
got the Rattlers game. Amy myself, Catrin Hodson will be
on that broadcast. So always great to get together and
there's a lot of fun. Let's do it again. Thanks
good Spot, Well, thanks agetting to Amy Procop for being here.
Really really appreciate her taking the time and sitting in
the guest chair this week for a conversation which admittedly

(49:55):
I'm not well versed in as a CIS white male,
So I think it's important for people like me especially
to get in and and and have these conversations in
the hopes of learning something and also hopefully the audience
is going to learn something as well or just maybe
just take away something positive from that. So I hope
you did. I certainly did, and I really appreciate again

(50:16):
Amy coming on and and being being able to bounce
some things off her as well. That's what friends are
great for, you know. And so again thanks to so
much to Amy. Before we go, of course, we want
to salute our good sport of the week, and this
may be a first and maybe all Wan's say only
because maybe we'll have a future opportunity for this. Our

(50:37):
good sport is right here on the set. This guy
right here, Chase Waters, a former captain of the Saskatoon Blades.
Of course he's has not been that for a few
years now, but he's also the captain now of the
Abbotsford Canucks, and they captured the Calder Cup Championship. Yes,
the Stanley Cup Final ended and there was still hockey
going on. The American Hockey League, of course, the primary

(51:01):
affiliate league for the NHL, the Abbotsford Canucks obviously the
affiliate team for the Vancouver Canucks. Chase Waters has been
with them for the last four seasons since entering the
professional ranks. He is their captain, and he and the
Canucks won the first ever Calder Cup title in Canucks history.
As they won that series in six games over the

(51:22):
Charlotte Checkers, who are the Florida Panthers primary AHL affiliate.
So the Canucks denied the Panthers organization from sweeping both
the Stanley Cup and the Calder Cup, and that has
something that hasn't been done in I think since nineteen
ninety five. The New Jersey Devils and the Albany river
Rats pulled that off in nineteen ninety five, but the

(51:42):
Canucks said, not on our watch. They went into Charlotte
after losing a chance to clinch the series in five
games at home, and they came back from an early
two to nothing deficit to win Game six, three to
two and win the Calder Cup. Chase Waters, the captain
of that squad, had five points in the playoffs and
twenty four playoff games, two goals, three assists. He also
had career high professional career high ten goals eighteen assists

(52:06):
in seventy two games during the regular season. He was
the only member of the team that played every single
game all season long, which for fans the Saskatoon Blades
who are familiar with Chase, that won't surprise them at all.
He is a very durable player, and he will go
to battle every night, night in and night out, even
if he's got some bumps and bruises along the way.

(52:27):
He is a that's why he's such one of the
things things that makes him such a great leader, why
he wears the sea for the Canucks as well, having
done it for the Blades as well. So Chase Waters,
congratulations you're a Calder Cup champion, and hopefully catch him
around the rink sometime this summer doing his offseason training.
Maybe we'll even see if we can get him on

(52:48):
the show at some point during the next couple of months.
Chase Waters is our good Sport of the week. Salute
to this villa right here, and that wraps up this
week's edition of A Good Sports. A reminder you can
follow the show at good Sports three oh six on Instagram.
If you're a real degenerate, you can follow me to

(53:09):
at Ryan af sports Guy, but the show content primarily
does go out on the Good Sports three oh six account.
And of course I want to thank the Different Avenue
Media Network and all the Ruffians around here that keep
us going and help make this show possible. So please
do head on over to the Different Avenue media network,
YouTube channel, throw us alike, throw us a subscribe, share

(53:29):
it with your friends and everyone else you know, and
let's keep this train rolling. So thanks to Different Avenue,
Thanks to you for watching. I'm Ryan Flaherty and we'll
catch you next week. You're on Good Sports, be a
good sport.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
Whatever makes you happy, what gets you out of bed,
whatever kigs top webs you'll join in instead. Far victorious
kay dream, that's my glory of fain cards, boing me

(54:05):
all on the same tea.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
That is the name of the game.