Author Bronwyn Corrigan puts the spotlight on women's sports in new book

CBC News

· Posted: Jul 13, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Author Bronwyn Corrigan said she noticed that the popularity and visibility of women's sports is increasing rapidly, truthful she decided to constitute a publication astir it.

The Professional Women's Hockey League and the Women's National Basketball Association are some expanding successful their adjacent seasons. This includes Toronto, who volition beryllium getting their ain WNBA franchise called the Tempo.

Corrigan says that this represents immoderate much-needed momentum for sports featuring women and athletes of each abilities. 

Her caller publication titled Canada's ABC's Of Who I Can Be, shines a spotlight connected women and non-binary athletes. 

Corrigan spoke with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris astir the book.

Audio of this interrogation appears astatine the bottommost of this page. The interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

Craig Norris: What was the inspiration for this? 

Bronwyn Corrigan: So there's a precise likewise named publication that came retired of Australia a fewer years agone by Chloe Dalton. She is simply a erstwhile rugby sevens subordinate and the laminitis of the Female Athlete Project, which I followed for respective years online. 

When her publication came out, I thought, that's amazing. I can't hold for a akin publication for Canadians to travel out. Then I benignant of forgot astir it. Over the years it's cropped up present and then. I thought possibly I should constitute this book. 

So this past winter, I thought, OK, I privation to spot this book, truthful I'm going to constitute it. I wanted a publication that represented athletes from each competitions, each abilities and each identities.

Craig Norris: Are you yourself an athlete? 

Bronwyn Corrigan: I am, yes. I grew up idolizing the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team. I played shot my full life. I made the power to rugby really astatine 19 but proceed to play it to this day.

Craig Norris: The publication is simply a solemnisation of 26 pistillate and non-binary athletes. Why is it truthful important to you to item these people?

Bronwyn Corrigan: I privation everyone to beryllium capable to spot themselves represented successful immoderate sport, immoderate quality that they have. Growing up, I loved watching the Canadian Women's National Soccer team. I traveled astir getting to ticker them play. 

Growing up successful Waterloo, we were adjacent capable to Toronto that I could spell connected roadworthy trips with my dada to ticker them play successful Toronto. I precise overmuch took it for granted that I benignant of saw that pathway for maine that if I truthful chose and had the skills, I could spell up and play shot astatine the nationalist level. 

As I got older and started moving with athletes of each abilities, started moving with inclusive sport, it truly dawned connected maine that not everyone had that luxury increasing up. Not everyone gets to spot themselves represented successful the media and successful sports. I truly wanted this publication to correspond perfectly each azygous imaginable way that folks could instrumentality to play a athletics astatine immoderate level they privation to.

Craig Norris: The publication introduces radical to antithetic sports excessively right?

Bronwyn Corrigan: It does, yes. That was specified a chill accidental that I had penning this book. I got to probe sports that I whitethorn person heard of and I benignant of knew a small bit, but not enough.

One of the athletes that I was penning about, she's a Goalball athlete. I started to picture Goalball successful the jock blurb reasoning possibly immoderate radical don't cognize what Goalball is. I benignant of had to cheque my assumptions to think, well, possibly idiosyncratic doesn't cognize what skiing is, what hockey is.

At the backmost of the book, there's really a glossary of each azygous athletics that's talked astir oregon mentioned successful the book, and conscionable a little mentation of what it is and however it's played. Hopefully it gets immoderate radical to possibly beryllium funny successful immoderate antithetic sports.

Craig Norris: Who bash you anticipation reads this book?

Bronwyn Corrigan: I would conscionable emotion for this publication to beryllium connected each azygous kids bookshelf. Really conscionable speechmaking and getting to cognize astatine a precise young property that determination are truthful galore antithetic ways to vie for Canada successful truthful galore antithetic sports. 

At the aforesaid time, it's besides a truly chill accidental for adults to larn a small spot more. I've had friends work this and substance maine saying, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't cognize astir this athlete.' It's really benignant of been the spark plug for a batch of radical to larn a small spot much connected their ain astir these athletes.

Craig Norris: What bash you deliberation erstwhile you spot sports leagues similar the PWHL and the WNBA expanding?

Bronwyn Corrigan: It gets maine truthful excited. Like I mentioned, going and watching the shot squad play, my dada and I would spell ticker them play astatine truly glorified metropolis parks with a grandstand connected 1 broadside of the tract and a grassy elevation connected the different end. $10 wide admittance to spell beryllium connected this grassy elevation and ticker the nationalist shot squad play. Flash guardant 20 years, I was capable to spell to a sold retired BMO Field for Christine Sinclaire's farewell tour. 

Seeing that maturation wrong the span of 20 years, it gives maine chills each clip I deliberation astir it. It conscionable makes maine truthful excited astir the immense acceleration of women's sports. We cognize the tendency to spot it has ever been there, but nine wasn't truly acceptable up to assistance them succeed. Going to my archetypal PWHL crippled this past wintertime and seeing boys, girls, women, men, fans of each ages with pistillate names connected their jerseys, I deliberation that's truthful chill and it conscionable gets maine truthful excited.

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