The province says that the program also aims to reduce incidences of bullying, hazing, harassment, violence, and abuse among male student athletes. Pictured: Minister of Education Stephen Lecce. Photo Credit: Stephen Lecce/X.
Hamilton-based organization Interval House, which runs a woman’s shelter and multiple support programs, was chosen by the Government of Ontario to run a province-wide program that will work to combat gender-based violence in youth.
Through the program, the Ontario government is providing nearly $875,000 to “train high school coaches on prioritizing important conversations with young male athletes about youth dating and gender-based violence, consent and healthy relationships, and building cultures free from violence.”
Interval House of Hamilton will have the task of certifying up to 23 violence against women (VAW) agencies across the province in a program called Coaching Boys into Men.
Coaching Boys into Men is a program that was created by American organization Futures Without Violence and has been used by Interval House since 2022.
Interval House has also partnered with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to bring Coaching Boys into Men to teams across the Greater Hamilton Area.
Due to their previous experience with the program, Interval House will then work with those other agencies across the province who will then work with local school boards to train up to 400 coaches and teachers “to engage with students aged 12 and up through sports on healthy relationships, mental health practices, and gender-based violence.”
They plan to benefit students in over 200 high schools across Ontario.
The province says that Coaching Boys into Men is a 12-week long course and seeks to bolster the coach’s leadership skills in standing up for respect and having important conversations with athletes.
In a press release announcing the initiative, Ontario’s Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said, “It is critical that boys and young men in this province learn how to build healthy relationships, prevent violence, and respect girls and women in schools and across our society.”
The province says that the program also aims to reduce incidences of bullying, hazing, harassment, violence, and abuse among male student athletes.
The Ontario government says that dating violence can begin as early as elementary school and that 29 per cent of young girls and women in Grades 7, 9, and 11 report that they have experienced dating violence.
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Kitchener South–Hespeler Jess Dixon, who is a former Crown Attorney, personally advocated for the program and said, “We will never succeed in combating gender-based violence if we fail to give young men and boys the tools they need to foster healthy relationships, challenge harmful behaviours, and ultimately become allies of women.”
The investment also received strong support from Ontario’s Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Sport and Hamilton East – Stoney Creek MPP Neil Lumsden, who said that the government “is working to build positive and safe sports cultures.”
Hamilton Police Services Deputy Chief Ryan Diodati echoed Lumsden and called the program “crucial”.
“In policing, we often encounter the negative outcomes of gender-based violence,” said Diodati.
“The Coaching Boys into Men program is crucial in shifting this narrative by educating young men early on about the importance of respect, consent, and healthy relationships. Teaching these values is not just about preventing crime; it’s about fostering communities where healthy relationships are the norm and violence is unacceptable.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
