Top players discuss state of women’s game
Canadian golf legend Lorie Kane is quick to agree that this week’s CP Women’s Open will be a grand showcase for the excellence of females in sport.
“Correct,” she said, “but I also think that we as women need to support each other as well. I think there’s more women in the world than there are men, so if we put our own eyes to where they should be, in supporting each other, I think that changes. But it takes time.”
It also takes events such as that of Tuesday, when the inaugural CP Women’s Leadership Summit is to be held at the Hotel Saskatchewan from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Kane, a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and a winner of four LPGA events since she joined the tour in 1996, will be among the panellists at the summit — which is being held two days before the tournament’s first of four rounds at the Wascana Country Club.
“When the fans of Saskatchewan — and Regina, more importantly — come to the LPGA Tour at the Wascana and watch the talent that we have, they ’ll see that it’s incredible,” Kane said.
“This group of women are very good at what they do. The summit is just another part of expressing where we are right now — women are moving things forward.
“And it does take a little bit of time and it is a little bit of a curve that needs to be straightened out but, all in all, I think we’re in a good place.”
But how can it get to a better place? How can the gap be closed between the attention paid to men’s and women’s sports?
One solution, according to Kane, is for females to attend more sporting events at which women are featured.
“We need to come out and support our own, along with the blokes,” the Charlottetown-born Kane said.
“I’m a huge hockey fan, and I know how many women watch hockey, and I’m a basketball fan. But I can honestly tell you that I don’t tune in to many WNBA games, and that’s bad on me for not doing that. Possibly I don’t because it’s through the summer and their season is our season. I’d have to find it first, and I think that’s one of the struggles.
“I think that the more we show up on a major network — let’s say, TSN rather than TSN2, 3, 4 or 5 — it’s beneficial. When we’re taken seriously, the product is good.”
All four rounds of the CP Women’s Open will be aired on the Golf Channel — a network that an appreciative Kane said “has done lots for us.”
But, she adds, “If you don’t like golf and you don’t have it, you’re never going to watch. It’s a matter of finding us.”
During the interview, it was pointed out to Kane that the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team is perennially of a higher calibre than its male counterparts. Yet, in many cases the crowd is larger for the men’s game during a Canada West doubleheader.
And, back on 2012, Hayley Wickenheiser — the Wayne Gretzky of female hockey, who is the keynote speaker at the summit — played against the Cougars as a member of the University of Calgary Dinos. Despite Wickenheiser’s presence, the attendance was a mere 243 on a Saturday night.
So, Kane was asked, is it a matter of blaming or pointing the finger at women for not attending those female sporting events (or others) in greater numbers?
“I don’t see it that way,” she responded. “To me, you’re pointing out the obvious.
“I also think that life goes by fast. When you think of women and the role of a female — and that is changing as well — they’re the stay-at-home parent or they ’re the ones who are making dinner and looking after kids. And all of that has changed, probably more so in the last 10 or 15 years, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t need to get out and support ourselves.
“I’ve thought it for a long time, and I thought it because of myself only. I thought, ‘I need to get out and see more women play the sports that they play.’ I have three sisters, five nieces and a greatniece on the way, and they’re all athletic and they all have played some kind of sport.
“But I’m the first one to go to a Leafs game — when I can get a ticket — so what does that tell you?”
Kane will have a lot to tell the audience at the summit, which is geared toward empowering women in the workplace, providing a platform for networking, and giving back to the community.
Hosted by Golf Canada, the summit is billed as “a celebration of women as business leaders, influencers and community champions. Our goal is to facilitate social and business relationships by providing opportunities to interact with like-minded professional women.”
As much as Kane is looking forward to golfing in the tournament, the summit will also be a highlight on her calendar.
“I know it’s not going to be a one-and-done,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a special event moving forward.
“It’s about encouraging women — businesswomen, athletes or people from whatever walk of life we come from — to gather just to elevate one another and to know that it’s OK to be a female and a competitive one.
“My older sister Mary Lynn was at an event where there was a woman speaker who left them with the idea of ‘lift and climb.’ By that, I mean that as you’re climbing, remember to bring someone with you.
“I think as women, we tend sometimes to look around us and we can’t quite nail down how to justify for what we’re doing, and there doesn’t have to be a justification for what we’re doing.
“I come from a family of all women, other than my dad. My dad was a hockey coach and there was not one thing that he told us that we couldn’t do. Both my mom and dad instilled in us that whatever you do, leave it better than you found it.”
In addition to Kane and the Shaunavon-born Wickenheiser, the summit will feature Rogers Sportsnet’s Evanka Osmak (host) and panellists Shannon Cole (RBC’S senior director, brand marketing), Joan Hardy (CP’S vice-president, sales and marketing, grain and fertilizer), Lesley Hawkins (general manager, adidas Golf, Canada) and Dr. Andrea Lavoie (interventional cardiologist, Saskatchewan Health Authority).
For more information, visit cpwomensopen.com and click on “VIP Experiences.”