From Spark to Accountability: What Coaches Can Learn from GBV Experts

Written By Kip Ioane

“What’s the best way to summarize two days surrounded by experts, energy, and activation toward the change I believe in?”
That was the struggle I wrestled with on the plane ride home from Ontario, Canada yesterday, after presenting at Interval House Hamilton’s Rewriting the Playbook Summit on GBV prevention in sport.

If I share my notes, the information spreads—but do the speakers get proper credit? If I don’t share them, the insights die in my Google Drive. Where’s the sweet spot between community, learning, and giving credit where it’s due?

Here’s where I landed: below is a list of speakers, their online profiles, the topic of their talk, and my #1 takeaway from each. Not perfect, but it’s my attempt at keeping the learning alive and the credit intact. (Message me directly if you’d like access to my full notes.)

  • Sue Taylor (Executive Director) & Jennifer Rowan (Dir. of Communications & Development) – Interval House Hamilton
    Interval House Hamilton
    Pulled together a 115-person summit in under 4 weeks and delivered a top-tier event. (Sue: “Welcome to the Chaos Train.”)

  • Courtney Stephen – From Training to Transformation
    Website
    Takeaway: S.E.E. acronym for building leaders—Spark, Equip, Engage.

  • MPP Jess Dixon – Change Makers: Where Politics Meets Purpose
    Website
    Takeaway: “Your anger can be your fuel, but it can’t be your content.”

  • Jesse Mahler – Coaching Boys Into Men
    Program info
    Takeaway: Examine your actions and beliefs—are they supporting a meaningful life, or inhibiting one?

  • Neil Shyminksy – MythBusting
    Instagram
    Takeaway: The manosphere’s draw is “coolness”—and we need to disrupt the coolness.

  • Soon-to-be Dr. Maddie Brockbank – Stories, Strategies and Impact
    LinkedIn
    Takeaway: The power of pairing an accountability approach with an invitation approach in GBV education.

Coach Prompt

Which of these six takeaways could fit into your own staff or player meetings this season—and what’s stopping you from making space for it?

Player Prompt

If you could add one conversation topic to your team meetings that goes beyond X’s and O’s, what would it be?

Kip Ioane
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Coaches: Can Your Players Tell the Difference Between “Not That Deep” and Real Harm?