WOMEN in sport conference

Annual Women in Sport Conference

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2025 Women in Sport Conference: The Power of Mentorship—a day filled with inspiration, connection, and celebration. Held on International Women’s Day at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club, the event brought together athletes, coaches, leaders, and advocates from across the province. With engaging panel discussions, hands-on leadership workshops from Minerva BC, and the excitement of the Richardson Wealth Women’s PSA Open, the conference highlighted the critical role mentorship plays in empowering women and breaking down barriers in sport.

As we look ahead, Squash BC, in collaboration with Minerva BC and Pacific Sport Fraser Valley, remains deeply committed to advancing gender equity in sport. Our next conference will continue to grow this movement—supporting, connecting, and celebrating women across all levels and roles in sport.

📅 Save the Date: March 2026

Join us once again on International Women’s Day weekend as we return for another inspiring Women in Sport Conference. Details on next year’s theme, speakers, and registration will be coming soon!

2025 conference recap

Lessons from the Power of Mentorship Conference

Written by Diana Chang

Tina Strehlke

CEO of Minerva BC

Tina is the CEO of Minerva BC, a Vancouver-based charity dedicated to advancing economic and leadership opportunities for women and girls. She is an experienced senior leader with 20 years of experience in the social impact sector. She has knowledge and expertise in career development, gender equality, inclusive leadership, and creating equitable workplaces. Tina has a BA in International Relations from UBC and an MA in Communications from Royal Roads University.

Sarah Kingstone

Clinical Counsellor at Elarton Point Strategies

Sarah is a clinical counsellor and teacher with an academic background in history, social justice, public policy, and counselling psychology. Currently she is working at the University of Victoria as the Student Athlete Support Coordinator. Sarah’s work student-athlete centred, providing a secure and confidential space for young people to explore their experiences, strengths, skills, and capacity, develop strategies to advocate for themselves and connect to community, and build a more trusting and responsive relationship to themselves. Research conducted through her Masters of Counselling Psychology focused on the factors that make female athletes uniquely vulnerable to mental health challenges and the strategies that increase protective factors and resilience. Inspired by her own experience as a competitive rower and swimmer, Sarah is passionate about advocating for and supporting young people to show up to performance and life feeling whole and steady.

Chrissy Benz

Sport Business & Equity Consultant

Chrissy Benz (she/her) is an experienced sport management executive with over 20 years in numerous director roles with organizations such as the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games, NORCECA Volleyball Confederation, Volleyball Canada, North American Indigenous Games, UBC Athletics, World Police & Fire Games, and World ParaVolley. In addition to her work in event management and sport development, she deeply understands the athlete, coach, and staff experience from her role as the team manager for Canada’s women’s indoor volleyball team and as a grassroots coach in her community. Currently, Chrissy is a sport equity consultant for sport organizations across Canada as well as Canadian Women & Sport where she fulfils her vision of promoting accessible, safe, and equitable sporting experiences at all levels. Her dedication in advocating for gender equity earned her the King Charles III of Canada Coronation Emblem in 2023.

Friba Rezayee

Executive Director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow

Friba Rezayee is the founder and Executive Director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow (WLOT), an international NGO advocating for women's rights and education in Afghanistan. Born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friba made history as one of Afghanistan's first female Olympians, competing in judo at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games at the age of 18. This groundbreaking achievement came just three years after the fall of the Taliban regime, which had previously banned women from participating in sports. Today, she is an outspoken and passionate advocate for women and girls’ education, gender equality, human rights, and women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Diana Chang

Business Development Manager at Minerva BC

Diana’s squash journey started when she played at Shawnigan Lake School as a junior and later on the Queen’s University Varsity team (2009 OUA Champions). After serving four years as a board member and chair of fundraising with the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, she is leveraging her experiences to serve as a board member and chair of fundraising at Squash BC. She plays out of Terminal City Club, on her team, Legs Miserables, and looks forward to expanding the sport’s reach and engagement, in particular to youth and women. Having played at clubs across Hong Kong, Doha, and Arizona, she is a big believer that the biggest life lessons are learned on the squash court. After spending over a decade in international student recruitment, admissions, and advancement, Diana develops partnerships at Minerva, in a quest to ‘change the face of leadership in British Columbia.’

Squash BC