Top row: Valérie Audet, Geneviève Houle
Bottom row: Sarah Bergeron, Evelyne Dubé

THE (FEMALE) INGENUITY BEHIND THE PERFORMANCE

As part of International Women’s Day, INS Québec would like to celebrate some of our professional allies who make a big difference in the lives and performances of athletes. They are valuable members of our teams and represent 60% of our management and executive staff. They are the elite in their fields. Discover four of them.

Valérie Audet, B. Sc.
Strength and Conditioning

After spending a decade coaching athletes in France, Valérie Audet returned to Montréal and joined the INS Québec team in the summer of 2022. She is currently responsible for the strength and conditioning of wheelchair rugby and triathlon athletes, as well as working with judokas.

Q. What makes you passionate about your work and high-performance sport?

A. EVERYTHING! I love this job because of the many opportunities it offers us both professionally and personally. The challenge of accompanying athletes, coaches and the team around them in the best possible way is exciting. There is no dullness, it is always in motion. As a colleague would say, “you write with your right hand and erase with your left” in order to refine, improve and adapt on a daily basis. Working with high-level athletes is rich in emotions. We experience the strong moments as well as the difficult ones. I like this job for the diversity it gives me, the desire to surpass myself with a team to reach our goals, the surprises and new challenges it offers us.

Q. Can you tell me about your experience as a woman in high-performance sport (challenges, obstacles, successes, etc.)?

A. Being a woman in the field of strength and conditioning is not always easy. You have to be patient and listen. You have to sow a few seeds here and there to have an influence and especially to create a bond of trust. It gets a lot easier when that bond is in place. I am happy to have had great experiences coaching high-level athletes for the French and Canadian teams. I am proud to have enriched the practice of a multitude of sports in a performance or reathletization project.

Q. If you could say something to the little girl you used to be, what would you tell her?

A. I never thought about working in high-performance sports. When I was younger, I would have loved to be part of a swim team to experience the performance challenges, but it didn’t happen that way. If I told the girl I was that I would be helping the champions on television, I think she would have laughed. My educational background and professional experience has given me access to this world and I am very happy about it. I feel blessed to be in this role every day.

***

Evelyne Dubé
M.Sc., HPC
Performance Analyst

After completing her Master’s degree in Physical Activity Sciences (biomechanics) in 2016, Evelyne Dubé immediately joined INS Québec. Her daily work consists of analyzing athletes’ performances in order to extract statistics and information relevant to their progress. In addition, she supervises student researchers in physiology internships and develops research projects with provincial sports federations to have an impact on the next generation of athletes.

Q. What excites you about your work and about high-performance sport?

A. What excites me is the diversity of sports and projects, the teamwork. I also enjoy learning from the scientific literature and from my colleagues. Every culture and performance environment is different, you have to adapt, that’s the challenge and the beauty of it. The closeness I have with perseverance, surpassing oneself and resilience on a daily basis is inspiring to me. I have the privilege of really seeing the results of our efforts through the performances of Canadian and Québec athletes!

Q. Can you tell me about your experience as a woman in high-performance sport (challenges, obstacles, successes, etc.)?

A. My experience has been to learn on the job, literally. There is a great lack of female role models in sport science. That comes with a lot of questioning and periods of discouragement. As I thought about it more deeply, I realized that since I was a little girl, I always wanted to do things differently, to challenge the mentality and surprise the skeptics. Today, I’m proud that I persevered and succeeded in making my mark.

Q. If you could say anything to the little girl you used to be, what would you tell her?

A. I would tell her to be patient and trust herself. Small steps are important and will lead you to bigger steps when you are really ready. It will also be important to savor and celebrate each of these accomplishments, no matter how small. I would end by telling her to take the time to breathe and live in the moment.

***

Geneviève Houle
Advisor, Education and Development Services

Her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology as well as her various courses in the National Coaching Certification Program led Geneviève Houle to coach softball, tennis and badminton. She joined the INS Québec team in January 2018 and is responsible for the implementation and development of all programs related to the training of coaches or stakeholders working with high-performance athletes.

Q. What is your passion in your work and in high-performance sport?

A. Since I was young, I have always been involved in sport in all areas, from athlete to coach to volunteer to manager. I love the challenge that high-performance sport represents and the teamwork it requires to achieve a good performance. I am curious by nature and my work in education at INS Québec allows me to learn every day in many different fields and sports. It’s very rewarding to be around people who are at the top of their field every day.

Q. Can you tell me about your experience as a woman in high-performance sport (challenges, obstacles, successes, etc.)?

A. I have been fortunate in that I have met mentors and people throughout my career who have continually opened doors for me. I am extremely grateful for this and I try to keep going and learn from all the people I come in contact with on a daily basis. I was able to practice and still practice various sports, very different at first glance. However, if you really look into it, you can find similarities between them all. Those similarities are a lot about the heart and the fun you can put into what you do, no matter what role you play in the sport.

Q. If you could say anything to the little girl you used to be, what would you tell her?

A. You think that sport is the best school of life and you are not wrong. Continue to meet wonderful people, to create relationships, to get involved in anything that interests you. It will allow you to experience many beautiful things, to meet people, to travel, to open doors and especially to grow as a person.

***

Sarah Bergeron
Coordinator, Operations

With a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, Sarah Bergeron gained experience in the sports world by working for four years at the Calgary Olympic Oval as a customer service supervisor. Passionate about sports, she has been pursuing her career at INS Québec since 2014 as Operations Coordinator.

Q. What makes you passionate about your job and high-performance sport?

A. High-performance sport is a stimulating field that brings us into daily contact with athletes, coaches and colleagues who are motivated to surpass themselves. For me, it is inspiring to be surrounded by people with great ambitions who share the same values on the importance of physical activity. In my day-to-day operations, what thrills me is the fact that I am constantly in the thick of things and managing a multitude of projects related to the athletes in one way or another. Rarely will you find me sitting at my desk! Instead, you will find me around the pools, on the training platforms or in different areas of INS Québec. So it’s not too hard to reach my 10,000 steps on my watch! Each day brings new tasks that dull the term “routine”; scheduling, pool reservations, purchasing equipment, building maintenance, supervising the front desk team, and even having to put on a construction helmet to work with the Olympic Park on various redevelopment projects!

Q. Can you tell me about your experience as a woman in high-performance sport (challenges, obstacles, successes, etc.)?

A. My strong personality and work ethic have definitely played a key role in helping me make my way in a predominantly male field. It’s not uncommon to be the only woman around a table with external suppliers or partners. When I first started out, fresh out of university, being a young woman was not my best ally in gaining the trust of tradesmen, suppliers and sports partners. It is with time and hard work that I was able to prove my worth and earn that confirmation from my peers. I consider myself fortunate to have female leaders who have supported me.

Q. If you could say anything to the little girl you used to be, what would you tell her?

A. To know that you have the right to surround yourself and delegate projects or parts of projects to qualified people around you. You don’t have to be 100% in control of every piece of every project.

***

Balance in sports is a key to success, so is balance in our teams. And respecting the identity of all individuals by appreciating their strengths and assets is the starting point for performance. We wish to be a vector of female references to inspire the next generations and generate models that open doors and give the possibility to dream.