Sport as a gateway to finding your voice

When Jeannine Ritchot (BA History '00, MA Conflict Studies '11) arrived at the University of Ottawa at age 17 from a small town in Manitoba, she was terrified of losing herself on a sprawling campus in the capital. What she discovered was just the person she was meant to be.

"University of Ottawa was not at all where I lost myself," Jeannine says. "It's where I found myself. It's where I found my voice as a young woman."  

Today, Jeannine is a distinguished, internationally-recognized senior public sector leader with more than two decades of experience in key Government of Canada departments. Despite completing her studies and establishing an outstanding career early on, she realized that something was missing.

Growing up, she had played competitive sports, mostly softball and curling. But like so many young girls, she stopped playing between the ages of 14 and 16.  

"I quit every sport that I loved and that I was good at for all the wrong reasons. I'm the statistic," she says, referring to the significant number of girls who stop participating in sport during adolescence. "I didn't do sports during my university career and I would say that's probably one of my biggest regrets."

When Jeannine rediscovered sports years later, joining a recreational softball team and competing in natural bodybuilding, she saw the immediate benefits it brought, such as discipline, confidence and self-growth. Although she no longer competes, she still maintains a very active lifestyle because physical activity helps her achieve balance, clarity and discipline.

Belief in sport leads to scholarship

This devotion to sport is very much connected with Jeannine's strong sense of feminism and commitment to gender equality, values she learned early on when her parents encouraged her to believe that she could do and be anything a boy could.  

"Supporting women in sport became a beacon to me," Jeannine recalls. "I think it was the quiet evolution of my own journey, reflecting on why I quit, what wasn't there for me, why I loved being back in sport and watching my niece grow into this confident young teenager because of sport. And it just all evolved to the point where I decided that when I wanted to give to the University of Ottawa, I really wanted it to be for women athletes. That was where I could make a difference."

She established the Jeannine Ritchot Scholarship for Student-Athletes on Varsity Women's Teams in the Faculty of Arts, the faculty she graduated from. While the focus on sport was essential to her, so was the need to support the humanities, which can be perceived as less practical. But as she points out with a smile, "I think I did alright with my arts degree."

The significance of her scholarship became very real and powerful for Jeannine during the Women's World Rugby Cup. It was a full-circle moment as she watched the game on television and saw Maya Montiel (BA Arts '21), a uOttawa Gee-Gee Women's Rugby Program alumna and recipient of her scholarship, enter the game. "I just cried," she recalls. "Here was this young woman who got the opportunity to play rugby in university and she's translated that into being on the national team in a World Cup game. I had almost nothing to do with that, but I had a little tiny sliver. And it was probably one of the most amazing moments of my life as a donor. It was truly special."

Those tiny slivers turn into big impact when it comes to supporting student athletes. "Scholarships are so important and that's why I do it, because I want these women to live their dreams. For some, that might involve continuing in sport. For other recipients it might be to sit in a boardroom one day as a CEO. I want to give them the opportunity to play the sport they love and learn what they need to learn. To be who they want to be. Because that's what uOttawa did for me," Jeannine says.

Maya Montiel (BA Arts '21), a uOttawa Gee-Gee Women's Rugby Program alumna and recipient of the Jeannine Ritchot Scholarship for Student-Athletes in Varsity Women's Teams in the Faculty of Arts. (credit Rugby Canada)

A mentor as well

Jeannine's commitment goes beyond her donation. She's been a mentor to uOttawa women's athletic teams, a role that started during the pandemic. This involved weekly Zoom chats with a network of women athletes from various Gee-Gee teams. Eventually, she focused on the women's rugby team, and met Maya. Sometimes, she's also asked to provide guidance to young women trying to decide what to do after university.

Helping women athletes reach their goals is the legacy Jeannine hopes to leave behind, one reflected both in her lifelong commitment and in the bequest she has chosen to include in her will.  

Jeannine stresses that while women's sport has come a very long way and many positive things are happening, there's still so much that needs to be done for women to reach equality. "If it can inspire anybody who wants to support women athletes, then I will have accomplished my goal through this scholarship and I will keep doing that long after I'm not on this earth," she says.

Jeannine's advice to anyone thinking of starting a scholarship: focus on something that speaks to you, that you feel attached to, that reflects your values and that feeds your soul, especially with a legacy gift that lives on. "It has to match your heart. Think about what you want this world to be and how a scholarship will help you make that happen."  

For Jeannine, that world is one where young women can find their voice, just as she did.

Many University of Ottawa alumni have included a gift to the University and its students in their estate plans. It's important to inform the University of your intentions, so that our planned giving team can validate the designation of your future gift with you. To learn more about this type of philanthropic project, email us at heritage@uOttawa.ca.  

This article was originally published on uOttawa.ca by the Planned Giving department.