Ottawa Redblacks player Brad Sinopoli sheds light on “locker-room talk”
Posted on Wednesday, December 7th, 2016
On December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Ottawa Redblacks wide receiver and recent Grey Cup champion Brad Sinopoli visited Algonquin College to shed light on so-called “locker-room talk.”
The Sexual Violence Prevention committee, along with students and various faculty members, were tasked with coming up with a theme to help raise awareness and draw attention to this annual event. With the comments by Donald Trump regarding “locker room talk” fresh on people’s minds, the organizers felt that a large, eye-catching display that featured lockers would get people’s attention.
Students and staff alike were encouraged to sign the lockers as a pledge that the inappropriate language used by Donald Trump is “not our locker-room talk.” The booth also featured bookmarks with this slogan on the front and support resources on the back for women who are in abusive relationships.
“It felt like an engaging way to reach out to students, particularly young men, who are passing by,” said Lisa Roots, one of the organizers and a Co-ordinator and Professor in the Police & Public Safety Institute. “And it was important to us to have a male at the booth to have that perspective as part of the conversation.”
Sinopoli took part in one of the three awareness booths that were located around the Ottawa campus. Sinopoli said many of his teammates were upset when they heard about Donald Trump’s comments because “it’s an old-school mentality.”
He wanted to be part of the December 6 events to raise awareness about this important day and viewed it as an opportunity to reach out to students and younger athletes and talk to them about what goes on in their locker rooms.
“This is an opportunity to spread the word about the locker room and what’s not appropriate — and to raise awareness so that people know it’s not just talk,” Sinopoli said. “Your words mean something.”
The Awareness Booths were part of a series of events in support of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The other events included workshops on Healing and the Self-Empowerment for Emerging Leaders and a Songwriter Circle in partnership with the Students’ Association.
College President Cheryl Jensen stopped by the booth where Sinopli was speaking to students to show her support for the initiative, and she took the opportunity to congratulate him on the Ottawa Redblacks’ triumph over the Calgary Stampeders in the 2016 Grey Cup.
“Congratulations, but you had me biting my nails,” she said of the win that went down to the last seconds of overtime.
You can watch the full CBC TV report on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. or you can listen to the radio segment on CBC Radio 1, 91.5 FM, on Wednesday morning. Both reports will be posted online when they are available.
Photo: Left to right, Brad Sinopoli, Lisa Roots (Coordinator/Professor, Police and Public Safety Institute), Jennifer Matecki (Professor, General Arts and Science), and Laura Carmanico (Professor, General Arts and Science).
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