OUA'S WOMEN OF INFLUENCE: Ottawa's Elise Desjardins
HAMILTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) will recognize the top female scholar-athletes from across the province at a luncheon on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont.
The event honours female student-athletes who have excelled in their chosen sports, fields of study and community involvement. This year's guest speaker will be dual-sport national athlete, Olympic gold medalist and OUA alumnus Heather Moyse.
Name: Élise Desjardins
School: University of Ottawa Gee-Gees
Sport: Soccer
Year of study: 5
Program: Masters, Human Kinetics
uOttawa's Élise Desjardins is today's first featured OUA Woman of Influence. The midfielder from Cumberland, Ont. was a three-time captain of the Gee-Gees soccer team. In her final year with the team, 2010-11, the Gee-Gees won the OUA bronze medal after losing in the semi-final to the eventual national champions. That season, the team reached CIS ranking high of 5th twice during regular season and finished ranked 6th in the country. Desjardins was named an OUA East Second Team All-Star for the second time in her career. Gee-Gee Head Coach Steve Johnson describes Desjardins as “concerned, reliable, dependable, honest, trustworthy, giving, altruistic, positive, supportive, demanding, and active in making these traits work for the benefit of the team and coaching staff.”
An Academic All-Canadian from 2008-11, Élise was awarded the University of Ottawa President’s Award in 2011 for her commitment to athletic and academic excellence in combination with dedication to community involvement. Throughout her time with the Gee-Gees, Élise was involved in projects to give back to the Ottawa soccer community. Since finishing with the team, she has taken these commitments international.
Élise was a volunteer assistant coach for the Louis-Riel High School girl’s soccer team from 2006-2010, and frequently ran soccer clinics for girl’s club teams in the Ottawa region. She then began her involvement with the non-profit FindingLife by taking the lead in organizing a soccer tournament for 400 elementary school students in the Ottawa area which raised funds for a community in Kenya, which was connected to the Ottawa tournament through social media. Élise then travelled to Africa with FindingLife in April of 2011 to build classrooms in the city of Solio, Kenya and worked to engage the students in Canada to follow the journey. Elise was also involved in further fundraising initiatives to start a soccer league for the kids of Solio, using sport to teach discipline, motivation, and contribute to keeping them in school.
As a result of her outstanding work on these projects, Élise was selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee as Canada’s Young Ambassador for the First Winter Youth Olympic Games, and was a member of the volunteer mission staff who travelled to Innsbruck in January of 2012. She has since been hired by the Canadian Olympic Committee and will also be working at the London 2012 Games.
Click here for more information on FindingLife’s project in Solio: http://www.findinglife.ca/2011/04/webisode-4-the-findinglife-football-soccer-tournament/
What is your proudest academic achievement?
My proudest academic achievement was in the last semester of my Undergraduate program, in the winter of 2010. I had six classes and one research project that semester. The subject of my research project was Olympic sponsorship, which signified that my data collection could not be completed until the Olympic Games in mid-February. I then had less than two months to finalize my project, which was a very short timeline considering the fact I had the workload of my remaining six classes. That being said, with a lot of hard work and dedication, I was able to complete all my work and ended up having the most successful semester of my Undergrad.
What is your proudest athletic achievement?
My proudest athletic achievement occurred in my first season as a Gee-Gee on the University of Ottawa Women’s Soccer team. Our team qualified for the CIS National Championships after winning the OUA Final Four tournament. Our first game at nationals was against the host team and defending CIS Champions, the University of Victoria. They also happen to beat the Gee-Gees in the CIS final the year before. With all odds against us, we managed to pull off the upset and beat them 1-0 in CIS Quarter Finals. We went on to win the Bronze medal.
What is your most memorable community related moment?
My most memorable community related moment was on April 26th 2011 at the FindingLife Soccer Tournament. I helped put together this event that used social media to link kids in a poor African city (Solio, Kenya), with over 400 young students in the Ottawa region. We raised money through this initiative to help put together a soccer league for the young people of Solio. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to witness this event from Solio and to see the immediate impact we had on children. Furthermore, just being able to witness how these young people reacted when seeing a computer for the first time was extremely rewarding. The kids in that city still benefit from the discipline they learn everyday through the sport of soccer and knowing I contributed to that is an incredible feeling. April 26th 2012 will remain a memorable day for everyone in the Solio community.
What woman has most influenced you, and why?
My mother has definitely influenced me the most. She is an amazing person that always puts everyone else’s needs before her own. She leads by example everyday without even realizing it. She’s honest, respectful, and trustworthy and puts her family before anything else. She has taught me everything I know (outside the sporting world) and continues to teach me so much on a daily basis. Not only has she influenced the woman I have become, she is the perfect example of the woman I want to be in the future.
What are your future plans?
For the future, I would like to stay involved in the soccer community and continue to help kids develop through sport. Sports has given me an opportunity to develop qualities such as discipline, motivation, goal setting, etc. which has greatly contributed to my development as a leader in my community. I hope to continue to stay involved with youth program and help kids develop the same qualities and help them become the leaders of the future. I would also like to stay involved with various NGOs and continue to help the sport development in less fortunate countries.
Join OUA as Heather speaks about her career on and off the field, and inspires a unique group of accomplished young women to continue to pursue excellence in sport and in life. Tickets are $55 each or $400 for a table of eight. To purchase tickets please contact Samantha Magalas at samantha.magalas@oua.ca
OUA recognizes the following sponsors for their support of this event; belairdirect, Centaur Products, Pioneer Energy, Wilson Sports Equipment of Canada and Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS).
