Tori Baird on fostering confidence in the outdoors through Paddle Like a Girl

Social Sport

June 15, 2020

Tori is an avid canoeist and backcountry adventurer who lives in the small town of Magnetawan, Ontario with her husband, Jim, and her 21 month old son, Wesley. She has been paddling whitewater for the last 7 years and has navigated some of Ontario’s most challenging white water rivers. Her more substantial trips include fly-in remote wilderness rivers in Northern Quebec, Northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. She has also completed a 100 mile, 8 day backpacking trip through the Rockies from Jasper to Grand Cache. In early 2020, her experience and passion inspired her to create Paddle Like a Girl, which is an overnight workshop geared towards women who are interested in learning how to plan and execute their own backcountry canoe trips.

Some notable moments in this episode:

  • 14:45: Gaining confidence and empowerment through outdoor sports
  • 15:35: How society leads women to believe they’re weak
  • 25:00: Actionable steps for how to open up space for BIPOC and other groups less represented in the outdoors
  • 42:00: Sport as common ground

Also mentioned in this episode:

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Quote: “Sport is such a common ground for most people. It’s something that’s easy to connect with other people on and it’s something that people are often passionate about…when you can find a community of people that share a passion for a sport with you, I feel like everything else seems to matter a little bit less.”