To create sustainable change for women and girls in all areas of Canadian tennis, Tennis Canada’s Game. Set. Equity. commitment will be divided into four specific phases:
PHASE 1 – Building the foundations
2021-2023
Through this phase, which already started in 2021, we are looking to collaboratively set the stage to create buy-in and change both within the organization and across the sector.
PHASE 2 – Championing Agents of Change & Prioritizing Investment for Impact
2023-2027
Through Phase 2, the Game.Set.Equity commitment is focused on championing agents of change and prioritizing the financial investment for impact. We wish to provide people and organizations working for or with Tennis Canada with all the necessary tools so that they can become influential actors of change in their own environments.
PHASE 3 – Removing Barriers to Amplify Change
2027-2030
Transform individual, organizational, and sectoral behaviours, practices and policies to remove barriers and manifest even greater change.
PHASE 4 – Changing the status quo
2030 and beyond
Challenge harmful norms and foster new patterns of thinking, acting and feeling to hold our entire organization and our partners accountable for delivering and sustaining long-term change.
Some EARLY HIGHLIGHTS
While Tennis Canada has much more to do, our efforts in the last few years have allowed us to realize important milestones:
1) Securing a 10-year partnership with National Bank in 2021 with a proportionate amount of the investment earmarked for advancing the participation and retention of women and girls in tennis.
2) Establishing a gender equity policy in 2018 focusing on changing the gender composition of the board, senior management team, and top 25 managers.
3) Actively balancing leadership representation across key decision-making roles at Tennis Canada.
4) Commissioning a gender equity organizational assessment by Canadian Women in Sport in 2020.
5) Launching the “Girls.Set.Match.” campaign with Bianca Andreescu in 2021 with a goal of retaining girls as tennis participants.
6) Equalizing the prize money pool, the number of tournaments and the points based on gender for Challenger events in Canada.
7) Promoting Valérie Tétreault, former top 100 WTA player and former Tennis Canada Director of Communications, to the role of Tournament Director of the National Bank Open presented in Montreal. She became the first woman to hold this position for the Montreal event.
