West Shore RCMP is encouraging more females to consider policing jobs and play sports with the annual Mountie Cup.
The senior girl’s basketball tournament rolled into Belmont Secondary and Royal Bay Secondary Friday (Feb. 2).
“We’re excited that we can really put a spotlight on girls in sports,” said Cpl. Nancy Saggar, West Shore RCMP media relations officer. “We’re working to foster that environment. When I was in high school, there was a lot of male-dominated sports, male-dominated tournaments. I think diversity is very important.”
The Mountie Cup features 16 teams from Vancouver Island in two brackets.
Police recruiting displays and officers were at both schools to answer questions and interact with students.
“Growing up and being a female myself, (policing) was never really presented to me as an option for a career,” Saggar said. “It’s really important that we have that representation not only here at the tournament level, but also allow students to see themselves in this position and doing this job.”
This year, the RCMP marks the 50th anniversary of female police officers in the organization.
“Really it’s only a third generation just starting now with women in policing. We want to attract a lot more females to this job,” Saggar said.
This is the third Mountie Cup with the first tournament held in 2020.
The final games of the 2024 tournament are scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. The location of the finals will depend on the results of the games but will be at Belmont Secondary or Royal Bay Secondary.
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