Corporal Brandi Weibel has always loved sports.
“I was an avid sports enthusiast growing up and played every sport I could get my hands on.
When asked to play volleyball during her first month posted at 14 Wing Greenwood, she welcomed the invitation: Weibel has been involved in the base’s Personnel Support Program sports ever since, even recently joining CISM basketball training camp.
It’s not simply her fondness for games that drew her to the PSP programs. Weibel enjoys the energy, positive atmosphere and sense of empowerment that comes from playing with the wing’s teams. While the fun of sports is reason enough to get involved, she finds Greenwood’s sports programs offer Canadian Armed Forces members opportunities to network, both on the wing and in the wider military community. Programs like the basketball camp present CAF members with opportunities to connect with other players in the military community.
Despite the many benefits PSP sports provide, Weibel is surprised by the lack of participation on the wing.
“There was one day I was sitting in the office, and our volleyball team was having a hard time getting enough people to practice. We would have practices with just three people for weeks on end, and we didn’t have a coach. It was really disheartening to see the team that got me back into sports not be able to participate in regionals due to not enough women.”
Second Lieutenant Katherine Bruce echoes Weibel’s desire to promote female athlete recruitment in Greenwood. More players would not only increase the wing’s talent pool, allowing the teams to be more competitive, but it would help all players improve their skills with more opportunities to practice.
And, Master Corporal Sandra McLean, a member of the CISM swimming/ lifesaving team, feels it’s unfortunate there aren’t more members taking advantage of the available PSP programs. With experience competing against other world military teams, both at the national and international level, for her, sports are an important part of military life.
“(Sports) help keep you healthy, whether you have goals of achieving a sports team, you want to challenge yourself physically, or you just need a break during the day to work on yourself and take a mental break.”
One problem Bruce notes is, when members find out about opportunities, they are often too late to get involved. The speed of distribution of information may be a barrier to increasing recruitment of new players. Weibel, talking with McLean about the existence of a women’s sports representative on the wing, who could help spread information to female members; discovered Greenwood didn’t have one.
Together, Weibel, Bruce and McLean have now formed a the female sports ambassador program to help get information to members on the different sports programs PSP offers here in Greenwood, and recruit players and coaches.
Alyssa Platt, the 14 Wing PSP sports coordinator, is the PSP lead for the program. Although all teams are always looking for new players to join through their seasons, volleyball, badminton, soccer, slow pitch and basketball all have an on-going practice schedule.
Weibel assures CAF members they do not need to be proficient in any sport to participate. Last year’s softball team included mostly novice players, and Weibel herself decided to try hockey for the first time.
“I would say it’s not necessary to have experience in the sport, just a willingness to learn and a positive attitude.”
Everyone is welcome, with opportunities to play and practice recreationally, in both intramural and extramural programs. Base team try-outs usually only take place for interested players prior to advancing to regionals. Through the various PSP sports programs, CAF members may compete against other bases both regionally and nationally. Bruce adds coaching positions are also available for seasoned players who no longer play but still want to contribute to sports. Coaching is great for passing on knowledge to new players and developing leadership skills.
The female sports ambassador program intends to hold wing information sessions before every season to inform members on upcoming sports opportunities, with the first in June. In the meantime, members looking for more information on current PSP sports activities may visit the 14 Wing Splashpage, both the 14 Wing Fitness and Sports and The Aurora News Facebook pages, email the female sports ambassador program’s positional mailbox at P-GWD.W14_CAF_Sports_Ambassador@intern.mil.ca or +W14 CAF Sports @DWComd PSP@Greenwood, or contact Platt at Alyssa.Platt@forces.gc.ca.
