Champions of Equity Take Centre Stage at UNMATCHED Conference
The third edition of the UNMATCHED conference presented by Tennis Canada and National Bank was held on August 7 in Toronto. It’s no secret that women’s sports have reached unprecedented levels of popularity, so the timing was perfect to create a platform and bring together an all-star lineup of speakers with the goal of accelerating the equity movement and inspiring people to take action for change.
Speaking of change, the first portion of the conference was dedicated to enabling the next big action that will move the gender equity in sport conversation forward, featuring Nathalie Cook, President, Mr.MomMusic Inc., Leanne Nicolle, President & CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto, Jennifer Jones, Olympic and World Curling Champion, and former CFL player Courtney Stephen.
Ann Austin and Kathleen Stroia from the WTA spoke about promoting gender equity through the Tour’s player health and well-being initiatives.
Award Presentations
Larry Tannenbaum, owner of Canada’s first WNBA franchise, was on hand at the conference to receive the inaugural UNMATCHED Award for Investment in Women’s Sport for his for his contribution to the development and advancement of women’s sport in Canada.
In addition, Sharon Arnold, a founding Board Member of the Philpott Children’s Tennis Fund, a longtime National Bank Open volunteer, and a fixture at the Ontario Tennis Association (OTA), was presented with the Jacqueline L. Boutet Award in recognition of her lifelong contributions in tennis which have helped make a meaningful and lasting impact on helping make the sport more equitable, inclusive, and accessible in Canada, particularly for women and girls.
Making Way for Inspirational Athletes
The second half of the conference was dedicated to giving multiple groundbreaking female athletes the floor to discuss the growth of their respective sports and their roles within the women sports movement to keep the momentum alive.
Jayna Hefford, Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), moderated a panel that included PWHL players Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, and Laura Stacey as well as Carmelina Moscato, Canadian Olympic bronze medalist in soccer, and Claire Buchanan, a high-performance athlete in wheelchair basketball and para ice hockey.
They spoke about the instant success of the PWHL during the league’s remarkable first yeari n 2024 and being role models for the next generation of athletes which can be taxing, but ultimately so worth it.
Eugenie Bouchard was in attendance and had the chance to catch up with Poulin and Stacey to chat about their season with PWHL Montreal as well as Canada’s historic Billie Jean King Cup victory last November.
The day wrapped with a memorable keynote address from the legendary Venus Williams, an icon on the court and off as a pioneer in WTA’s drive for equity, more specifically for her role in achieving equal prize money at the Grand Slams. The seven-time Grand Slam champion spoke to host Hazel Mae about giving young girls a reason to dream and showing them that anything is possible. She fielded a variety of thought-provoking questions from the audience.
Be sure to sign up today to be notified as soon as tickets for the 2025 UNMATCHED conference become available. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience you don’t want to miss.
