119: Trauma in Sport by Guylaine Dumont

Today, we continue the conversation with a warrior.  Guylaine Dumont is considered the best volleyball player in Canadian history and yet, that doesn’t even begin to tell the tale...  

Growing up in a small town in the Province of Quebec, her early years were filled with a father who beat her mother, and 3 sisters trying to rally together to survive it all.  At only age 13, Guylaine was moved out of home to begin playing sport full-time.  This was right around the time that her closest sister Nathalie went missing…

As the youngest player ever on the Canadian national team right into adoring fans during her pro career in Italy; the darkness of her upbringing shadowed most of her career.  Consistent humiliation and abuse from coaches seemed all too familiar for her. But when the news that her sister had been found dead, reached her in Italy; you wonder how she ever rose to the heights in sport that she did.

Longing for an Olympic dream - twice she would shut the door on it – bc the price you needed to pay seemed too high. It took a player 10yrs her Junior to sweep her up out of retirement and reach the Athens Olympics to score the best ever result in Canadian female beach volleyball history!

Now married with 2 daughters, Guylaine has devoted her life to helping athletes be supported through their own traumas in sport.  As co-founder of “Sport-Aide” (loosely translated as “Sport Help”), she rallied more than $2M from the Quebec government to bolster her program and passionately charged up a “help line” for athletes.  Finally, being able to provide the lifeline she never felt she could call!

As her own healing journey continues with its natural highs and lows, I am honoured to be speaking to a woman that has come through the ashes of her own abuse to be able to create not only change for future athletes but more importantly, a space for healing…

 
The Goods on Guylaine:

Guylaine Dumont (born October 9, 1967 in St-Etienne-de-Lauzon, Quebec) is a Canadian female beach volleyball player. She lives in Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly.

Together with partner Annie Martin, Guylaine Dumont recorded the best ever Olympic result for Canadian women in beach volleyball wit

The Podcast's 7th Season
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chatta-box Media, where we aim to story-tell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing.

Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.

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