Amplifying Voices: Ontario Tech Ridgebacks Josée Jones

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. (David DiCenzo) - Josée Jones committed her athletic life to soccer for two specific reasons. One was an obvious passion for the sport. Jones, a second-year attacking midfielder on the Ontario Tech women's soccer team, first kicked a ball at the age of two, and despite an extensive background in dance, she fell for the "beautiful game" and grew to love the long hours of rigorous training. 

The second reason was opportunity. Jones viewed soccer as a platform that could open doors.

But that devotion to the sport has come with adversity. Her first season as a Ridgeback in 2024 was derailed because of a chronic hip condition that dated back to high school. Jones didn't log a single minute in her rookie year, and it forced her to take a serious look at life beyond the pitch. If her playing future was in doubt, the Ajax, Ont. native nervously asked herself, "What now?"

"I thought soccer might actually be done for me," the Networking and Information Technology major and OUA Champion of EDI Award winner says when recalling an emotional time in her life. "I was told that I would have to have surgery on my hip. I had to find something else to focus on because soccer was difficult to think about."

One of the things that attracted Jones to Ontario Tech throughout her selection process was the university's BIPOC Athlete Association. Jones was president of the Black Students Association at Pickering High School, and she prioritized getting involved in something similar once in university.

"I asked about BAA and I was told that the club had stopped running in 2023," says Jones. "I felt that it just had to be brought back. We have such a diverse group at our school, and we needed to have this group.

"I started to talk to some of the veteran players on the team and most of them said they really hadn't been to events when the BAA was running. I branched out to other teams, and I also spoke to an athletic advisor, who suggested I recruit people for the BAA.

"I already had a list to go, so the Athletics office put out a Google Form, and participants were able to pick a role they wanted to fill in whatever capacity they wanted to help the club."

From the group of athletes who signed on to participate, Jones was understandably asked to lead them as President. She was motivated to get the BAA back in strong form, approaching the project the same way she competed in dance and soccer – with passion and unlimited energy.

Jones was raised in a household that encouraged participation and commitment. She never shied away from a sport in her youth, getting involved in basketball, badminton, field hockey, and track and field, on top of the countless hours devoted to her soccer and dance. That's just how her parents Wayne and Debbie taught Jones and her younger sister Athena.

"They are the most supportive people," she says of her parents, who have family roots in Jamaica and Barbados respectively. "There was never a time they weren't there. That support is what made me want to do my best to get something substantial out of whatever activity I was involved in.

"Sports are so expensive now and it really adds up. They put in the extra time for my sister and I to play competitively."

Jones is incredibly close with Athena. And protective. Jones has observed blatant discrimination against her sister's U-12 team, a side of predominantly Black girls. It's happened in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, like opposing coaches purposefully mispronouncing names with African origins or randomly questioning a player's age because of their skin colour.

"These aren't things you typically see it at U12 soccer game, where the stakes are not so high," says Jones.

Jones has learned about resilience in her young life. Her hip pain while in high school was debilitating and caused so much pain that she had numerous ER trips. X-rays showed nothing and she got used to just being offered pain meds as a temporary solution. When she arrived at Ontario Tech, Jones did an MRI, which suggested she had Femoroacetabular Impingement, a condition where hip joints rub, catch, our put pressure on each other. She was originally told she should have surgery to shave the joint down, a prospect that scared her.

After several MRIs and CT scans, Jones was told to see a rheumatologist because of the inflammation showing up on her scans. She was officially diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a chronic inflammatory arthritis. It's not curable, but the good news was that the pain could be managed. Last summer, Jones began weekly, self-administered injections and was thrilled to finally be pain free. That also meant a return to the pitch and a full season playing alongside her teammates for coach Audra Sherman.

"No one wants something like this, but I was so thankful to finally figure out what it was," says Jones.

She approaches her role as President of the BAA with the same grace and intensity in which she roams the midfield. Jones would pitch ideas to her high school, so she had experience getting things done. Step one was to figure out funding, because the BAA had none. Jones created a slide deck fundraising package that contained ideas for the events and activities the group wanted to start. That included a five-on-five soccer tournament with a 50/50 component to raise money for the BAA, BIPOC athletes academic tutoring services, and a focus on community outreach that emphasized working with local Durham high schools and their sports teams.

The momentum continued with an Anti-Racism Awareness campaign, including meaningful statements from athletes posted on their own social media platforms and a presence at both a women's and men's game on the OUA schedule.

"The environment for those matches was great," says Jones. "They were important season games, and you obviously want to beat the team, but there was so much love, and a definite connection. It had a different sentiment to it. Because the players were aware it was one of our Anti-Racism Awareness games, it amplified the mood."

Jones has also worked hard to identify scholarship opportunities for BIPOC athletes. She had already researched scholarships for both herself and for potential financial gifts that Coach Sherman could award to incoming Ontario Tech athletes. Jones took it upon herself to expand that search. She created a Ridgebacks Scholarships document that identified all the potential scholarships available to specific groups, including all athletes, BIPOC athletes, Indigenous athletes, and Black athletes.

"My thought was, 'How can I help incoming first-year students so that they're well-equipped and are aware of all the potential opportunities out there," says Jones. "I went on the hunt for any scholarship or bursary and was able to put together this list. I believe it's helped because here in Ontario, our cap for athletic scholarships is $5,000 and if you're living on campus, that just not enough."

Just two years into her tenure at Ontario Tech, Jones has been a difference-maker. The idea was to change games on the pitch, but she has quickly evolved into a key figure on campus, with the capacity to impact not just soccer results, but the lives of those around her. She was right about soccer opening doors – and she's done the same for others.

"I know how it feels to want a sense of belonging," says Jones. "Being in diverse environments growing up, I know the need is always there. I want to help as many people as I can.

"At Ontario Tech, we're lucky because our athletic teams are so diverse, something that is different from other teams and schools. I know the BAA is pivotal to the success and well-being of student-athletes here on campus.

"That's important to me."