Tackling Sports Culture Together with Rick Westhead - FREE EVENT

Name: Tackling Sports Culture Together with Rick Westhead - FREE EVENT
Start: 2026-05-05T18:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-05-05T20:30:00-04:00
Location: 357 McCarthy Rd, Stratford, ON N5A, Canada

Schedule

Tue May 05 2026 at 06:30 pm to 08:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

357 McCarthy Rd, Stratford, ON N5A, Canada | Stratford, ON

The Stop Violence Against Women Coordinating Committee of Perth County is proud to host a free community learning event – Tackling Sports Culture Together – featuring award-winning journalist and TSN senior sports correspondent Rick Westhead, as part of our Sexual Violence Prevention Month campaign. The event takes place on Tuesday May 5th from 6:30 to 8:30pm in the Community Hall at the Burnside Agriplex (357 McCarthy Road, Stratford).
This event brings together Westhead’s landmark investigative reporting with an urgent and timely discussion about what respectful, accountable sports culture can and should look like for players, parents, coaches, and communities. An in-depth conversation with Westhead will be followed by a panel discussion with local community advocates who work with sports-involved youth, and an audience Q&A.
In his book, We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture, Rick Westhead delivers a hard-hitting look at hockey’s moment of reckoning in Canada, exploring how hockey has been shaken in recent years by court cases involving sexual assault and disturbing incidents of hazing and abuse. He gives voice to those impacted, while drawing attention to the systems and individuals willing to sacrifice player and community well-being for the sake of the game. Westhead also offers hope by highlighting people and organizations committed to educating players on consent and putting an end to hazing.
The event will also include a presentation from Interval House of Hamilton on Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM), an evidence-based program that aims to prevent sexual violence by supporting coaches in building positive, safe sports cultures. The program trains and motivates sports coaches to have meaningful conversations with male athletes about healthy relationships, consent, mental health, peer pressure, and challenging attitudes and behaviours that can contribute to violence.
Representatives from StopVAW community service organizations will be on hand to offer support and information. The event is proudly sponsored by Stratford Warriors, Stratford Municipal Golf Course, Optimism Place Women’s Shelter and Support Services and Stratford, St. Marys, North Perth, West Perth, Perth East, Perth South Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.
We hope everyone involved in youth sports will join us for this powerful event that will shine a light on persistent issues within sports culture and spark a conversation about how we can move together from awareness to lasting change.
Photography at the event provided by Media by Michael (Instagram @media.by.michael)
Fanfare Books will have books for sale at the event.
*No registration required.