Élise Desjardins was chosen to represent the University of Ottawa at the OUA’s Annual Women of Influence awards luncheon on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont.

The event honours a female student-athlete from each OUA school who has excelled in their chosen sport, field of study, and community involvement. This year's guest speaker will be dual-sport national athlete, Olympic gold medalist and OUA alumnus Heather Moyse.

Desjardins, a midfielder from Cumberland, Ont. was a three-time captain of the Gee-Gees soccer team. In her final year with the team, 2010-11, the Gee-Gees won the OUA bronze medal after losing in the semi-final to the eventual national champions. That season, the team reached a CIS ranking high of 5th twice during regular season and finished ranked 6th in the country, and Desjardins was named an OUA East Second Team All-Star for the second time in her career. Head Coach Steve Johnson describes Desjardins as “concerned, reliable, dependable, honest, trustworthy, giving, altruistic, positive, supportive, demanding, and active in making these traits work for the benefit of the team and coaching staff.” 

An Academic All-Canadian from 2008-11, Élise was awarded the University of Ottawa President’s Award in 2011 for her commitment to athletic and academic excellence in combination with dedication to community involvement. Throughout her time with the Gee-Gees, Élise was involved in projects to give back to the Ottawa soccer community. Since finishing with the team, she has taken these commitments international.  

Élise was a volunteer assistant coach for the Louis-Riel High School girl’s soccer team from 2006-2010, and frequently ran soccer clinics for girl’s club teams in the Ottawa region. She then began her involvement with the non-profit FindingLife by taking the lead in organizing a soccer tournament for 400 elementary school students in the Ottawa area which raised funds for a community in Kenya, which was connected to the Ottawa tournament through social media. Élise then travelled to Africa with FindingLife in April of 2011 to build classrooms in the city of Solio, Kenya and worked to engage the students in Canada to follow the journey. Elise was also involved in further fundraising initiatives to start a soccer league for the kids of Solio, using sport to teach discipline, motivation, and contribute to keeping them in school.  

As a result of her outstanding work on these projects, Élise was selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee as Canada’s Young Ambassador for the First Winter Youth Olympic Games, and was a member of the volunteer mission staff who travelled to Innsbruck in January of 2012. She has since been hired by the Canadian Olympic Committee and will also be working at the London 2012 Games. 

Click here for more information on FindingLife’s project in Solio: http://www.findinglife.ca/2011/04/webisode-4-the-findinglife-football-soccer-tournament/