WEYBURN - A former Weyburn Comp teacher and coach, Jacquie Williams, gave words of encouragement to the 10 teams gathered for the 5A Girls Provincial Volleyball Championships in Weyburn, at the opening ceremonies held on Friday morning in the Eagle gym.
There were also representatives of the school and Southeast Cornerstone board, and MLA Mike Weger and newly-elected Mayor Jeff Richards brought greetings to the 175 athletes and coaches, including the host Comp Eagles senior girls team.
Williams, who retired from teaching in 2018, told the girls that 45 years ago she was in the same position they were, attending the 5A Girls Volleyball provincials, playing for Carlton Comprehensive then.
“We are women in sport, we are female athletes,” said Williams. “It’s hard being a female athlete. When I graduated from high school, I was told ‘don’t let sport define you – use your brain, get a job, get married, have kids’.”
She told the players they have a place to play sports after high school, and pointed to WNBA star Caitlyn Clark as an example – but also showed how challenging it is for her. She noted Clark earns a salary of $78,000, but pointed out that in the NBA, even new players there earn an average of $1.1 million.
“I certainly don’t want to insult any men, or your dads, brothers, uncles. I must say with utmost confidence that everything I’ve ever succeeded at as a female athlete was cause of the challenges I faced. It’s a skill that each and every one of you earns,” said Williams.
“You already faced challenges by being here. For some of you, the challenge was making this team, for others it was getting through a long season,” she said. “These challenges are no different than what each of you are going to face in your life, the challenges of getting your first job, getting a higher-paying job, getting your first apartment.”
Williams said the first thing to do in facing a challenge is make a plan of how to meet the challenge, then it’s how to execute that plan.
“It’s hard work, but as you do the hard work, you do so with positivity and enthusiasm. Female athletes tend to bring people up around them as they go through their plan,” she said, adding that as “true female athletes” they will do it with grace and dignity.
“Do you know how you’re going to feel when you meet those challenges? You’ll feel fantastic, it’s the greatest feeling you’ll ever have,” said Williams. “Do you know how you’ll feel if you don’t succeed? In the moment, you’ll look around at your teammates, at your family, and you’re going to feel you did your absolute best.”
She added their team may not win because the other team was just a little bit better than they were on that day – “and that’s okay.”
“I’ve told this to every team I’ve ever coached, and to my own four kids, as they were going through challenges. After the game is over and the challenge is past, the sun will go down and will rise again the next day, and you will still be here,” said Williams, wishing all of the players good luck in the tournament
