Meet the Winners: Dairy Farmers of Canada Has Awarded 30 grants of $5,000 w/ the Champions Fund!
Canada’s Dairy Farmers Have Awarded 30 Grants of $5K with the Champions Fund!
They say that we ourselves are our only limit when it comes to fulfilling our goals. That means that we can achieve whatever we set out to do and push ourselves towards. In some ways, what we can accomplish is limitless.
That is why I am a big fan of Canada’s Dairy Farmers, Champions Fund. They too believe in the immense benefits that physical activity has for our young girls.
One of the most rewarding and beneficial things about sports is that not only does it keep your body and mind healthy but, it helps you to challenge yourself. If you’ve been following along, you know that I am passionate about spreading the word about girls in sports. I believe that sometimes, they are overlooked and girls don’t end up staying in sports the older they get.
The Champions Fund set out to help 30 girls or teams in sports, to help them achieve their goals and continue their relationship with sports. In case you are unfamiliar, I will give you a little refresher.
What is the Champions Fund?
It is a grant that is in its second year and a part of the national Fuelling Women Champions (FWC) multi-year initiative spearheaded by Canada’s Dairy Farmers. They are committed to the advancement of women in sport. It will benefit girls who love sports no matter how old they are or what their ability is. Applications were sent, judges picked, and now 30 grants of $5,000 have been awarded!
What is the End Goal?
Since the FWC and Canada’s Dairy Farmers are champions for healthy living and nutrition, their collective goal is to ensure that no hurdle exists that might hinder the passion for the game. So, ultimately, they want girls in sports to be more watched, more appreciated and more financially stable.
Now that you know a little more about the Champions Fund, let’s get to know a couple of this year’s winners!
Meet Nikita Holder
She is from Pickering, Ontario and a 100m hurdler in track and field. Nikita is a single mother and a 2 time Olympian.The grant will be helping her reach her goal of making her 3rd Olympic team. It will give her some financial relief as she reaches her full potential. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any outside sponsors.
As a single mother, Nikita has to juggle splitting her finances between her sport for training, nutrition, and competition. This is coupled with her her responsibilities as a parent. The grant can provide financial stability and a piece of mind while she trains.
When it comes to boundaries that Nikita would love to see women overcome, she has a great one. She would love to see women overcome the stereotypes and double standards in sports. Sports are important to her because they are empowering. It teaches love, confidence, and so much more. Especially in a world of social media, confidence and self-esteem are everything to a young girl/woman. Playing sports is a great way to breed the right mixture of a healthy self-image.
Good luck Nikita, we hope to see you at the Olympics again!
Meet the Canadian Women’s Field Hockey Team
The ladies rock the field and the Champions Fund grant will help them achieve success and improve their world ranking. To do this, they need to continue to gain game experience as a collective. However, traveling to compete is expensive. The Champions Fund grant would go towards travel costs which would allow their team to continue to play away games at the highest level.
Unfortunately, the team recently lost $300,000 in funding. As a result, they’ve taken on the daunting task of replacing this capital through sponsorship and fundraising. In order to maintain the Canadian Women’s National Program, athletes are currently paying to play through levies, which is not sustainable.
The Canadian Women’s Field Hockey team sees a major barrier for women in sport being athlete retention. Due to financial struggles or career pursuit, their team has experienced the negative effects of early retirement. They believe those female athletes should continue to participate and perform without outside hurdles stopping them.
It is evident that sport and all the positives that it brings is important to the team. They believe that sport brings athletes together in the pursuit of excellence and to achieve a common goal.
We hope they can continue playing and pursuing their passion without feeling an extra burden. Good luck, ladies!
Meet the 2017 Grant Recipients!
While I’ve only shared 2 grant recipients, you simply have to discover the other 28. They are all so deserving in so many different ways! Make sure that you head over to the Champions Fund site to see the winners and their profiles. Such an exciting time for girls in sports!
Don’t forget to connect with them on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates and follow along on the hashtags #ChampionHer and #ChampionsFund!
Do you have a female athlete in the family?
Let me know, til then–cheers m’deres!
Note: This post is sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Canada. All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.
Nancy Polanco is a freelance journalist, lifestyle content creator, and editor of Whispered Inspirations. She is a proud Mom to Gabby and Michaela and partner and best friend to Darasak. Having worked as part of a health care team for almost a decade, Nancy is happy to be back to her passion. She is a contributor to the Huffington Post, TODAY’s Parents, and an Oprah Magazine Brand Ambassador.
What an amazing gift that the Canadian Dairy Farmers have given through this fund. Promoting health and well-being in our kids and supporting our girls is so important!
Very important! I’m glad they did this!
I wasn’t aware of the Canada Dairy Farmers; Champions Fund.What a great cause! Thank you Canada Dairy Farmers.
That is amazing! I’m also a big fan of Canada’s Daity Farmers.
I love that’s it’s specifically geared towards women’s sports. There are so many well-deserving grant recipients!
Definitely well deserved!
Congratulations to all the winners! I love to see people getting the help they need to follow their dreams.
Me too!
I actually have all boys in the house except me. When I was a kid I did softball and track and I loved it. I am hoping that my kiddos will love doing sports also.
I don’t have any female athletes in my family, but I love that this grant is there for those amazing recipients. Loved hearing a few of their stories.
I was a field hockey player in high school and I love that there are so many grants going to female athletes! Such a great cause!
It’s a fantastic cause!
Oh wow what an amazing thing for them to be doing, I bet that money is making a huge difference to the people it has been granted too.
Anything will make a huge difference for our girls!
This is fantastic. Love that they are focusing on women in sports.
Gotta put our girls on the map!
It is so great to support women who are trying to achieve sports goals and excellence. This is an underserved group that needs the help.
I so agree! We gotta support our girls!
I am all about diversity when it comes to sports. I think it’s unfair that girls sports aren’t as popular. I love that their is someone like the Dairy Farmers giving back!
Me too! It’s awesome!
Grants and scholarships are great. My husband has a student loan so we are all about pushing our kids to find grants and scholarships when they get older and plan now.
My hubby and I do the same to our girls!
We need to help our girls and women succeed and reach their dreams. This does just that to empower them.
Not yet! My girls are 4 but I foresee great soccer players and gymnasts 😉
That’s so cute! Girl power!
Great cause and team! More ladies should get into playing these types of sports!
Spread the word!
Congrats to all the recipients. It is amazing that Canadian Dairy Farmers is helping support such a great thing.
I know right! I love this!
Congratulations to these winners. Those grants are going to help so much! I hope Nikita reaches her Olympic goal!
I hope so too! Great Campaign!
This is great that they did this. What an awesome thing! I love it when there are campaigns like these.
I love it!
What a great initiative! I love this idea and wish we had something similar where we live!
They might have it in your area! Keep a lookout!
It’s so great that they provided these grants to help women and girls in sports. Canada Dairy Farmers is doing good work.
their doing an incredible job! Two thumbs up for dairy farmers!
I think it is awesome that the dairy farmers helped to bless many teams. I love dairy and support all the farming efforts.
Me too!
Oh my heck! What a fabulous program. It seems to me that there aren’t many opportunities for women in sports anymore so this is encouraging. Cheers and more cheers for Dairy Farmers of Canada. This reminds me of the film ‘A League of Their Own’!
I’ll have to check that film out!
What a great program. Definitely good for girls in sports
What a fantastic program. Sports gives girls and women so much self confidence, and seeing them being encouraged it so wonderful.
I know right! Makes my day!
Wonderful job and Congrats to all!
Thanks!
I like that the dairy farmers are promoting exercise. Kids need to exercise.
I agree Tara! Gotta keep our kids moving!
These girls are awesome! Such an inspiration to young girls around the world. These are the kind of girls I want my kids to look up to.
Me too! Love how inspiring they are!
That is really amazing! Such a great way to support women in sports!
It is good to know that some people make efforts to empower women of all ages. It is important for women feel competent in every aspect of life. In addition, we, ourselves must be physically fit to adapt to our bodies changing capabilities due to ageing.
Us women are a powerful force! Girl power!
People learn through these activities that men and women have different abilities and must be treated equally when it comes to opportunities not only in sports but also in our daily lives.
You’re so right Ruth!
I currently don’t have any female athletes in my family, but I love the concept of this campaign. What a great message!
Thanks for coming by and reading it!
I loved milk products to begin with, so I love that the dairy farmers were part of this campaign. My own daughter is totally into sports like gymnastics and karate.
Wow that’s awesome! She totally kicks butt! hehe
What a great program to help athletes! I know many female athletes who would be deserving!
Yes and the best part is that they can apply for it.
Oh this makes my heart smile. What a great story. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure!
What an awesome initiative and a great way to empower female athletes! I look forward to learning more about the numerous recipients. Nikita seems deserving for sure.
Yes, all of them are so deserving. Very happy!
What a great way to give back to our athletes. I had no idea the Canadian Women’s Field Hockey team had faced so many obstacles.
Yeah, it is so unfortunate.
Congratulations to the winners. I enjoyed reading about each one of them. I am looking forward to the next round.
Thanks for checking it out!
What an awesome way to show support for female athletes! It is sad that some athletes would stop training due to financial constraints. But not anymore! Thanks to the Champions Fund.
Yes, it is very unfortunate.
I love to see when large companies give back to the community. Female athletes is a worthy cause
Yes, I completely agree!
With all the money spent on male athletics it is nice to see a company helping out the ladies develop their talents when it comes to sports. As a dad of a daughter who is very athletic want to see her and any woman have the chance to follow their dreams and aspiration when it comes to sports.
This is amazing to hear. It is so true.
I was just having a conversation last night with one of my clients about how girls sports are ignored and under reported. This is a great opportunity to help young lady’s reach for their dreams and goals.
Yes, such an amazing initiative.
Love the support that they’re giving to all those girl sports teams. I truly believe they all deserve it. Congratulations to all the grant recipients!
I agree, they are so deserving!
I love encouraging my grand daughters to continue in sports so this is great news. I’m going to head over there to connect with them and check out the winners.
That is awesome. It is so helpful!
This is a great fund and opportunity to invest in the people in the community too.
I completely agree. It is so awesome that girls in sports have more support.
So many deserving winners! I’m sure all 30 recipients were amazing and deserve the Champion funds grant!
Yes, I hope it helps them achieve their goals!
I love that they are helping kids be more active and healthy. I know communities want to do more, they just need a little extra boost.
Yes, me too!
This sounds like such an awesome grant program. Women are slighted in a lot of fields, but especially in sports. It’s great to see an organization that acknowledges that and is doing something about it.
I have to agree, it is often overlooked.
That’s so awesome! Congrats to all of those girls. I’m sure the money will be so helpful!
Such an amazing help I bet!
What a fantastic program! I continued to play sports through my high school years until an injury forced me to quit. I have great memories of team and individual sports. I love that this program is focused on girls in sports as there is most definitely a decline in participation as girls move into their teen years.
It’s such a great program! We gotta keep our girls in sports!