Sweating socially

>>Members find good friends and good
workouts at Club Montreal Sports & Social

KEEP COMPETITION FUN: Rachelle Salamon

by ERIK LEIJON

In four years, Club Montreal Sport & Social (CMSS) has not only succeeded in bringing Montrealers together through a mutual love of sports, but the club has also effectively shattered the notions that participating in organized team sports requires a certain amount of aggression and advanced skill level.

This is especially true for the club’s many female members, who perhaps in the past felt the dog-eat-dog competitiveness of single sex sports did not provide a warm and inviting environment for beginners. The sport-social concept is comprised equally of both parts—as important as getting a good workout is, members will give their social skills a workout playing in co-ed leagues.

“There’s a level of competition in single-sex sports even in women’s teams,” says CMSS founder Rachelle Salamon, who brought the idea to Montreal after participating in sport-social clubs in Toronto. “But when you add a co-ed element, there’s a whole other dynamic that develops. It’s a great venue for women to get involved—especially women who don’t want to worry about every goalie crease or offside rule.”

Sports leagues have existed in Montreal before, but none had previously emphasized sportsmanship and building friendships over winning. From ladies’ softball in the West Island to university organized intramural hockey, let’s face it, most people take their sports very seriously. CMSS’s uniqueness has been a hit among those in their 20s and 30s looking to recreate those innocent days playing at the local playground, long before your parents and coaches sucked the joy from team sports by repeating their favourite Vince Lombardi speeches.

Fair and fun

Nearly 10,000 Montrealers have tried CMSS since September 2003, and what started as only soccer and volleyball a couple of times a week has expanded to include eight sports, charity tournaments, parties and something to do almost every night. Salamon has even hired three full-time and 12 part-time employees.

One way CMSS ensures members are not playing like ’roided up linebackers are fairplay monitors, who roam each game handing out the odd yellow card if someone is being overly aggressive or belligerent. Teams also must fill out forms at the end of every game, rating the sportsmanship of their peers.

“It’s still a league with standings and playoffs, and we’ve added different levels of play,” says Salamon. “The system helps us maintain a level of respect and courtesy. It makes the players on the team intervene if someone’s not playing with the right attitude.”

Most of the leagues are self-refereed beyond the unobtrusive fairplay monitors. But don’t assume a more passive environment necessarily means a level of play that won’t be satisfying for seasoned veterans.

“The competitive level has steadily improved throughout the years,” says beach volleyball player Kevin Robinson, 32, who has been a CMSS member since moving from Toronto over three years ago. “It started as mostly recreational but as the popularity grew, we started to get more diehards out—it’s been good.”

“Even in a sport like floor hockey where (women) haven’t had a lot of formal training,” says Salamon, “there’s a little bit of contact.”

Relationships on and off the field

One of the benefits of expanding has been the ability to create separate divisions based on competency. Salamon says they’ve also listened to members who have been clamouring since the beginning to have leagues with hired referees and same-sex leagues. While those ideas stray from Salamon’s original vision, increasing the number of sports to include the likes of softball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, basketball and cosom hockey has meant meeting people and discovering a new sport can occur simultaneously. Robinson has since taken up several new sports that he plays on a weekly basis, saying the club “has given me a chance to play things I hadn’t even played before or since elementary school.”

Because members tend to be active-minded and social, it’s not uncommon for individual members to eventually join or form permanent teams in subsequent seasons. Although it was not Salamon’s intention, the sporting spirit for some members has also transferred into off-the-court activities. Although coy about couples who may have met at a CMSS event, Salamon says, “I can only hear some stories and smile.”

Another unforeseen development for Club Montreal Sport & Social has been the club’s popularity among women, as this year the club has experienced an abundance of female members and a lack of male members.

“[It appeals] especially to women who haven’t played sports in a long time,” says Salamon. “It’s a good alternative to going to the gym and lifting weights, which can be really isolating and actually quite boring. For me, I’d rather go play ball hockey than go to the gym and do squats.”

Visit clubmontreal.ca for
more info on joining.