Reactions to the lifting of a publication ban on 4 victims of B. Charest
Reactions to the lifting of a publication ban on 4 victims of B. Charest
(Quebec City, Monday, June 4, 2018) – Following the press conference held this morning in Montreal, Sport’Aide wishes to applaud the great courage of 4 victims of former coach Bertrand Charest. “We can only admire what these young women did today, since the testimonials heard illustrate the dark side of sport, whereas it should represent an opportunity for its participants to flourish and enjoy a positive and enriching experience,” said Denis Servais, President of Sport’Aide.
In reaction to this public disclosure and the initiative proposed by B210 to better protect our young athletes, Sport’Aide would like to emphasize the concerns shown by the sport world since they are directly related to its own mission. “We are very pleased to see that we are not the only ones to take this problem seriously, and we would be delighted if other organizations also want to contribute to the mission that we embarked upon in 2014,” added Mr. Servais.
In this respect, and like it has always done from the beginning, Sport’Aide intends to continue working in collaboration with the sports world in order to provide a healthy, safe and harmonious sporting environment. “Sport’Aide exists today and offers a e range of services thanks to the close collaboration that we have developed with the Department of Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur, Sports Québec, sports federations, Unités régionales de loisirs et de Sports, the RLSQ, the RSEQ, the INS, the AQLM, Égale Action, Safe Sport International and Université Laval,” said Mr. Servais.
Parallel to this network of partners, Sport’Aide meets the needs of the environment, which often turns to Sport’Aide for its expertise. “We very regularly support numerous clubs and organizations that are already concerned with the problem of violence in sports. Already, the lnstitut National des sports du Québec, the City of Montreal, Gymnastics Canada, Volleyball Canada, the COSMOSS Bas-Saint-Laurent, the Longueuil soccer club, Judo Canada and several others have called upon Sport’Aide to educate, develop tools or optimize their respective practices”, specified the president of Sport’Aide.
This intervention by Sport’Aide complements the various measures recently put forward in the Quebec sport environment whereas, on October 20, 2017, the Department of Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur – in collaboration with Sports Québec and Sport’Aide – unveiled a new information platform – SportBienêtre.ca – which brings together all the information necessary for anyone who wants to learn more about the various forms of violence and their unfortunate consequences.
At the same time, the Department and Sport’Aide also unveiled its team of Ambassadors for good sportsmanship, composed of Guylaine Dumont, Karen Paquin, Chantal Machabée, Jean-Luc Brassard and Patrice Bernier. These ambassadors have been touring Quebec since January, meeting with young athletes to share with them the positive values surrounding the practice of sport in healthy, safe and harmonious environments.
Also, since May 1, the Quebec sporting community has been able to turn to a support, guidance and orientation service, a first of its kind. Available 24/7 this service allows stakeholders in sporting environments (athletes, coaches, managers and administrators, official, parents and volunteers) to confide or obtain information if they are victims or witnesses of all kinds of abuse in their sporting environment. The service is offered free of charge and users can reach our team by telephone or via virtual methods (chat, text messages, emails or Facebook).
Finally, Sport’Aide’s field of action extends to the entire sports system, from a school environment to the municipal and community sector, from beginners to elite, in all sport disciplines.
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For more information or to set up an interview:
Sylvain Croteau
General Manager and co-founder
s.croteau@sportaide.ca
Tel.: 1 418 780-2002 (3985)
