Amplifying Voices: York Lions Jade Lew  

The OUA Amplifying Voices Series will share the stories, the efforts, and the impacts of the OUA’s champions of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), from those who have earned conference awards within their respective sport to those who continue to make a difference within their team, their campus, and their community.  

Burlington, Ont. (via Hayley McGoldrick) -  At York University, the standard of excellence for student-athletes means performance both on and off the pitch. 

With nine previous winners of the OUA’s Gail Wilson Outstanding Contributor, it’s no shock that York senior Jade Lew, a goalkeeper on the field hockey team, was the 10th recipient of the award that recognizes an athlete who best displays athleticism and service to her teammates and to the community. 

Even as a prospective student, Lew knew that being part of the team meant so much more than results on the pitch, and being part of something bigger than herself and her team was an exciting part of the pride of being a York Lion.  

“Especially on the field hockey team, from the get-go right with our campus tours when they were recruiting me, my captain at that time was Frankie [St. Louis], and she was in very similar roles that I'm doing right now,” said Lew. 

“It was just something that was really pushed for by our coaches as well, and supported by the admin team. They do try their best to help us out with pushing these different initiatives and trying to bond the varsity community as a whole.” 

Lew’s experience off the field is just as impressive as everything she does on it – being part of York University’s Sport Council, serving as the president for the last two school years, and was one of the masters of ceremonies of the Lions annual Varsity Banquet last year. 

She has helped facilitate many initiatives like the HEROS Program, where young athletes are invited to York games to see a day in the life of a varsity athlete. She has also taken responsibility in running Relay for Life, where money is raised for Canadian Cancer Society through 12 hours of physical activity, as well as school lunch time clinics where teams sign up to teach their sport to a school in the community during lunch. 

“I've been in Sport Council from the get-go, my coach enrolled me as a team rep in my very first year, and then I worked my way up the ranks. As a result, I've been able to witness it grow, and so my supervisor is one of our varsity managers, and we have a good balance, but we both know the other person's busy, so it's like a, ‘Reach out if you really need help’,” said Lew. 

“Then when that does happen, they are very on board with the communications aspect, and then funding as well, if required, and just encouraging overall participation across different teams.” 

Being able to give back to the community isn’t just something York student-athletes are encouraged to do by their programs, but as their involvement evolves across their time at the school, it becomes an experience they look forward to. 

Whether it’s improving their own varsity community, the university as a whole, or the greater Toronto area that surrounds York, all of the work that Lew and fellow student-athletes do is worth the commitment. 

“I honestly find giving back to the community is something that's really rewarding. It's something I grew up doing, my parents encouraged a lot ... but it was something I didn't mind doing, and so I was looking for things when applying for schools to be involved with, and as someone that's on a team, it was kind of an easy transition to be contributing to the varsity side of things,” said Lew. 

“Being able to see everything that you put your time towards come together, and to watch other people enjoy it as well, it doesn't feel like work or anything. The collaboration and the team process, there's quite a few of us that work together to make these things happen. I enjoy it, I don't mind putting aside a bit of time to do it – it's not homework.” 

Lew’s studies are intense as she is graduating this year with a degree in biology, on top of being moved into the starting goalkeeper position on the team, earning seven shutouts in the last two seasons, and a part of the reason York has allowed just three goals all season long. 

But finding time to do the things that fulfill her emotionally are just as important, and her background in sports as well as her upbringing have instilled in her that her position is a privilege, and she will do whatever in her power to be able to afford those same opportunities to all. 

“I think I'm very lucky to have the background that I do, and the privilege to be participating in sports, I know that's not really something that's always accessible to others, and there's different barriers,” said Lew. 

“I think just being able to remove those kind of barriers, to expose kids to sports and provide them with the chance to fall in love with something that can get them an education; if it wasn't for field hockey, I wouldn't be across the country doing school. It opens the doors and I think everyone should have a chance to do it if they can.” 

The precedent that Lew has set for those who will come after her is apparent, that the bar should continually be set higher and that sport and education should have less barriers to access. 

Lew knows that it takes a village to be able to make the events and initiatives she helps run possible, and that anyone in a similar position to do the same as her should to be able to make their school and surrounding community a better place. 

“I think if people have the opportunity to help, they should by all means take it, and not to be rewarded, [but] we have the opportunity to make differences in other people's lives, whether it's within just the school, within just the athletics community, or with GTA programs,” said Lew. 

“There's a lot of people that aren't fortunate to be in our positions, and so I think just giving them that chance and using our resources to make someone's day a little bit better … recognizing that these opportunities to give back or contribute exist, signing up to do them, that's really what we're pushing for. It’s to get people to join and participate and then hopefully find passion in something that we are offering and continue it on down the road.”