A retired RCMP police officer since 2012, Yvon Brault began his involvement with ringette when his youngest daughter started playing in 1997. He then joined the Gatineau Ringette Association (ARG) as an assistant coach and eventually a head coach, as well as on the board of directors by combining different functions: scheduler, director of development and tournament director. Five years later, he became president of the association and held this position until 2018.
Mr. Brault spearheaded several initiatives aimed at promoting and protecting young people. In 2004, Mr. Brault’s U16 A team became the spokespeople for the RCMP’s Choix.org program. This national program aimed to promote healthy lifestyles as well as the promotion of drug-free youth. In 2007, he founded a franchise in the National Ringette League (NRL) under the name of Fusion de Gatineau. As the leader of the Fusion, Mr. Brault established many important partnerships, and in its first year of inception the Fusion of Gatineau was named franchise of the year by the National Ringette League. Over the next several years, many other NRL teams looked to Yvon for guidance as they looked to model the successes of the Fusion across the country. Yvon contributed to the success of the league beyond his team with his participation on several national committees aimed at enhancing and growing the league. He’s also been a learning facilitator with the NCCP for many years.
In 2010, he set up a Sport-Études ringette program at Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau to allow athletes to combine studies and sport. Because the athletes of the program could not find a place to train, he opened and financed a non-profit gym to accommodate them. The fast-growing demand forced him to increase the surface of his facility from 2000 sq/ft to 14,000 sq/ft. The gym had all the equipment needed for athletes of all levels including Olympic athletes.
He started as a humble volunteer, but the growing success of ringette is largely linked to his human approach, his generosity, and his incredible passion for the sport. As he would tell you, none of his accomplishments could have been realized without the help of hundreds of volunteers that helped him become Mr ringette.
‘Now 24 years later, a new challenge awaits him: he is teaching his two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to skate and who knows, in the near future we may find him again behind a bench as a coach’. – Elodie Brault