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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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A lifelong advocate for improving sport environment, retiring President and CEO of Sport Manitoba Janet McMahon helped take Safe Sport from a concept to law \u2014 the Manitoba government passed the Protecting Youth in Sports Act on April 1.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really strange position to be in,\u201d McMahon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the one hand, I\u2019m leaving in a good place for me and I was able to do it on my own terms. From another perspective, you never think it\u2019s going to happen. The idea of not coming here (to Sport Manitoba) anymore, it\u2019s quite bizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n
McMahon grew up as a multi-sport athlete, like many, but quickly realized the ways organizations ran could be improved when she played Vincent Massey Vikings basketball. She watched firsthand how coaches Mike Hill and Stew Farnell laid the blueprint in their fight for equity for the girls\u2019 team.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir whole empowerment of high school girls and what they were doing back then was quite forward thinking,\u201d McMahon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a lot of equal programming back in those days. They fought hard so we got the same uniforms, trips, tournaments, all the things the guys\u2019 teams did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following a standout high school career, Winnipeg Wesmen coach Tom Kendall recruited McMahon, and she played four years, winning three Great Plains Athletic Conference titles and two national bronze medals.<\/p>\n
After that, she ended up as a games co-ordinator for Westman Sport, which sparked her interest in the path she ultimately followed for the rest of her career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea of not coming here (to Sport Manitoba) anymore, it\u2019s quite bizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hnatiuk and McMahon connected when he was the recreation director in Melita. When he was appointed president and CEO of Sport Manitoba upon its inception \u2014 a merging of the Province of Manitoba Sport Directorate and the Manitoba Sports Federation \u2014 he knew he needed McMahon on board.<\/p>\n
McMahon proved her value to the organization from the start. She played a pivotal role in revamping and simplifying Sport Manitoba\u2019s funding model.<\/p>\n
Hnatiuk said her creative, outside-the-box thinking was instrumental in resolving major issues or challenges. What stood out most was that if she brought up an issue, she always came prepared with a solution.<\/p>\n
Six years after joining Sport Manitoba, following a secondment to help orchestrate the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, McMahon was promoted to director of sport.<\/p>\n
Soon after, she started Sport Manitoba\u2019s LeadHERship conference. The program was focused on empowering women in coaching, management and administrative roles.<\/p>\n
And when Hnatiuk was appointed as president and CEO of the 2017 Canada Games, one of his first moves was to bring her over with him on a secondment from Sport Manitoba.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeveloping women leaders in sport was really important to Janet.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Games historically have created major physical legacy projects, such as the Canada Games Sport For Life Centre in Winnipeg, McMahon saw a way to do more.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeveloping women leaders in sport was really important to Janet,\u201d Hnatiuk said. \u201cWe wanted to leave a legacy of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to bring young staff on, give them an experience, give them an opportunity and hope they stay in the community and are valuable contributors in sport or whatever job they may go to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with empowering the leaders McMahon directly trained, she wants to see the number of women coaching female teams continue to increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the fundamental challenges we still have is male coaches for female teams,\u201d McMahon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of (the leagues) have made great strides \u2014 you see the soccer numbers and even the hockey numbers being closer.\u201d<\/p>\n
As McMahon\u2019s role grew, she always knew the importance of volunteers to make sports function and promoted volunteerism while volunteering her own time. She has served as convenor for the Corydon Community Centre basketball program, organizing Winnipeg Minor Basketball Association teams and coaching when necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s done the things the people on the ground level of sport delivery have done and are doing,\u201d said John Blacher, who stepped into McMahon\u2019s director of sport role when she was promoted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople that interact with her at that level probably don\u2019t know she\u2019s the president and CEO of Sport Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n