Lesa Mayes-Stringer
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Lesa Mayes-Stringer (born 13 May 1968 in North Battleford,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
) is a former bobsled athlete who competed for Canada from 1999 to 2007. She was known as "Silly Stringer" during her years as a member of the Calgary Bobsled Club, due to her reluctance to assist in fund raising or sled maintenance, but her strong belief that she should receive the best possible equipment from the club.


Athletic career

Canadian Jr. Silver medallist in the Heptathlon Canadian Silver medallist Canadian Senior Track and Field Championships in the Heptathlon York University Track team. CIAU National Gold medallist, 60 meter hurdles; Gold medallist 4X400m; Gold medallist, 4X100m; Bronze medallist shot put Simon Fraser University Track and Field Team. Gold medallist shot put, Gold medallist 4X100m Canadian Champion Women's 2 man Bobsleigh 2003/2005 pilot First Black Women's Canadian Bobsleigh Pilot Gold Medallist First North American Black Women to compete on the World Cup Circuit as a pilot. Canadian Champion Women's 2man Bobsleigh 2004/2005 pilot. During her time as an athlete Lesa volunteered as a speaker with the YES Program (Youth Education for Sport) speaking to thousands of children throughout Canada. She also represented the 350 Canadian High Performance athletes from 2000 to 2007 on the executive board for the Canadian Sport Institute located in Calgary, Alberta. She advocated for athletes rights and even met with the Minister of Health and helped to get mandatory heath coverage put in place for all National Team athletes. In 2007, Lesa Mayes-Stringer and her family moved to France. She was asked to rebuild the National Bobsleigh program for Team France with assistance from the head coach of the national team of Monaco.


Education

Lesa earned a degree in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
from
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
on an academic scholarship and completed the PDP program at
Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...
in
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
where she received her teaching certification.


Teaching Career and Christian Ministry

Lesa worked as a High School teacher in Calgary, Alberta. During this time she started the PLP program for High School social studies for the Calgary Board of Education. She used the theory of multiple intelligences as a basis for using diversified teaching techniques to better meet individual student needs. The program began as a pilot program with approximately 24 students and later ballooned to include thousands of students. Lesa Mayes-Stringer started an English training school in France called Lovin'English. Lesa now lives in Edmonton, Alberta Canada where she works alongside her husband in full time Christian ministry as the Women's Ministry Leader for the Capital City Church of Christ. She is also involved in helping to bring about changes in Bobsleigh for Canada. Work as an Artist Family and Heritage Lesa is a direct descendent of a group who fled racial persecution in Oklahoma in 1910 and traveled north to Saskatchewan, Canada after reading flyers which promised 160 acres of free land to anyone willing to move there. This group of pioneers were known as the "Shiloh People", named after the "Shiloh Baptist Church", a small log cabin church they built after they arrived. Lesa Mayes-Stringer married Christopher Stringer in Richmond, British Columbia in 1994. They have three adult children, Meigan, Madison and Adam. She is the younger sister of former professional football player
Rueben Mayes Rueben A. Mayes (born June 6, 1963) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1993. He played college football for the Washington State Cougars, earning consensus ...
. Lesa's daughter Madison competes with the French National Women's Bobsleigh Team. In 2021, Madison won the Under 23 Jr World Championships with her pilot Margot Boch.


References


Black pioneers of Western Canada 2005 conference featuring Mayes-Stringer

Canadian sport news information for the 2003-04 bobsleigh and skeleton team featuring Mayes-Stringer
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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes-Stringer, Lesa 1968 births Living people Black Canadian sportswomen Canadian female bobsledders Canadian female hurdlers Canadian heptathletes French female bobsledders Sportspeople from North Battleford York University alumni Black French sportspeople Canadian emigrants to France 20th-century French sportswomen 20th-century Canadian sportswomen