Minor Hockey - Make the rink your classroom

People always say that it's not the homework or the exams you'll remember when you're no longer in school. It's the class field trips, the school plays, and all the special events that you'll look back on with fond memories of what it was like to be a kid. The same is true for minor hockey players. No one remembers every game they ever played or every opponent they ever faced. What everyone does remember from their minor hockey days though, are the weekend tournaments, the team parties, and all the other festivities associated with being a minor hockey league player.

Minor hockey is a time like no other in the life of a hockey player and it is very equatable to academic schooling. Early on in Novice, Atom, and PeeWee the players aren't really concerned with their futures as pertaining to hockey. Just like Grades 1-7, it's about learning the basics, making friends, and having fun. But then suddenly a student hits Grade 8 and they have to contemplate their futures in academics just a little bit because they want to make sure they're taking the right courses and doing the right things to prepare for potential entry into University faculties. Let's equate that phase of school to the Bantam, Midget, and Juvenile phases of hockey. It's still about having fun but suddenly there's an end in sight. Players are asking themselves: "What happens when I graduate from minor hockey? Do I want to continue to pursue hockey seriously? Because if I do, I have to start taking my games more seriously."

There are great opportunities available to pursue hockey after minor hockey. Scholarships to great Universities in Canada and the US are available to those who strive for them. From there, there are further opportunities to continue to play competitively thanks to the Canadian Women's Hockey League, which offers players a league to play in where the caliber is high and ties to the National Teams are rich. The opportunities are there, but the players have to be willing to go get them. Just like in school, if the grades aren't there, the opportunities won't be either.

Having been around the Minor Hockey scene as an adult for a few years now, I can honestly say that the opportunities come easier to some players than they do to others. Some players are naturals. Their talent is obvious, their skills are effortless, and their physique is ideal. Maybe their parents were both athletes in their day so they've inherited the sports gene. Others are not so fortunate. They might be a first generation athlete in their respective families and the only physical attributes they may have inherited are short legs and a sweet tooth (thanks Mom and Dad!). It is a lot to ask of teenagers to contemplate their professional futures. While their friends are out having a good time and enjoying their freedom, hockey players are at the rink every day of the week trying to hone their trade. Not only that, they are also having to be cognizant of what they're putting in their bodies. Cookies or fruit? Pop or water? Drugs or...no drugs?

From what I have witnessed, the players who are meant to have success make these decisions effortlessly and unbegrudgingly. Even if they are not the most skilled, they do have the most maturity. While the rest of their team mates are throwing back sodas before a big game, they are walking around with a homemade protein shake. While their teammates are slacking off and playing Candy Crush (addicting game, I know!) before a big game, they are in a quiet corner thinking about what they need to do to help win this big game. They are working on their physique away from the rink. Hockey players are famous for having big strong legs. Hands up - whose pants no longer fit around the thighs now that we're into the thick of hockey season? But these Minor Hockey players are focused on their upper bodies too. They recognize that if they want to shoot with velocity they need strong arms. They recognize that if they want to be hard to beat they have to protect the puck so they need a strong core. They are already incorporating extra training because they know that the on-ice portion won't be enough.

I am not trying to depress players by making hockey sound like school. It's not, trust me! It's way more fun! But I guess what I'm saying is this: if you have the talent and if you have the means, try to recognize this so that you don't waste the opportunity. It may feel like a sacrifice right now but it'll lead to years and maybe even decades of a great life in hockey. Enjoy the games, the tournaments, the parties, and even the training. You will never forget those experiences. If you're a young person who has the opportunity to pursue hockey further, give it a shot. What's better than having an ice rink as your classroom right!

Swan Song for the Dynasty? Appreciating Team Canada and all they have accomplished.

Newsflash everyone: We are living through a hockey dynasty right now. When we think of hockey dynasties we think of the Detroit Red Wings of the 1950s, the Montreal Canadiens of the 1960s, or the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s. Those teams accomplished it all during their respective eras of supremacy. Their players dominated the competition, the teams won multiple Stanley Cups, and their successes captivated a new generation of hockey fans. Each of those dynasties is defined by players whose accomplishments during those periods have become the stuff of legend and have led to the players being worshiped and immortalized. The NHL has not seen a true dynasty come along since the 1980s, but that does not mean that hockey hasn't seen a dynasty since that time.

Three Olympic gold medals, ten World Championship gold medals, the emergence of several players into becoming household names and Hockey Hall of Fame candidates, and their successes leading to the sport more than doubling its enrollment numbers since its inception into the Olympics. That is the résumé of accomplishments for Canada's National Women's Hockey Team from the year 1990 till present day. Team Canada women's hockey has become an international model of consistency, commitment, and professionalism. The Wings, Habs, and Oilers had the likes of Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Jean Beliveau, Rocket Richard, Wayne Gretzky, and Mark Messier as the backbones of their respective teams. Team Canada boast equally illustrious names. Angela James, Geraldine Heaney, Manon Rhéaume, Danielle Goyette, Cassie Campbell, Jennifer Botterill, Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Kim St-Pierre, and Caroline Ouellette are just some of the legends this era has produced. These women, along with the rest of their team mates, are directly responsible for the meteoric rise of women's hockey in Canada. They have also taken a sport that is becoming synonymous with multimillion dollar salaries and lucrative endorsement deals, and taken it back to a place of honest intentions and to a place where athletes are fueled by passion rather than by money or fame. To the women of Team Canada, the word "Role Model" is not just about signing autographs and posing for pictures. For them it entails running hockey camps, reaching out to international hockey federations, and growing the game both here at home and globally as well. 

Critics who are reluctant to see the rise of women playing hockey will cite the lack of parity in competition as a reason to banish the sport from the Olympics and to discredit the athletes from their efforts. Does the rest of the field need to catch up to Canada and the USA? Absolutely. Does the lack of parity diminish the top players' accomplishments and skill levels? Absolutely not. By the time all is said and done, many of Team Canada's players will have given more than half their lives to playing for the National Team. Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford played in women's hockey's inaugural Olympics in 1998 and both remain with the team today. Caroline Ouellette, and Charline Labonté joined Wickenheiser and Hefford to help bring home our first gold medal in 2002, and both remain important members of the current team. The game has already lost some great names, with several elite players such as Botterill, St-Pierre, and Becky Kellar calling it quits after the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, and several others retiring even prior to that. The Sochi Olympics in 2014 might just be the swan song for many of the remaining members of Canada's original finest players. Considering that by the next Winter Games in 2018, Wickenheiser will be 39 years old and Hefford will be 40, this could possibly be it for them. Now this is going strictly by age. Physically, Wickenheiser, Hefford, and Ouellette (who happen to play on a line together) still look like they could go full throttle for years. They put me and my weak strides to shame that's for sure! But their retirements are still a possibility, and for fans of the game, just the thought of these legends hanging up their skates should evoke some emotion. We will look back on this era of Canadian women's hockey and call it the Golden Years. There will come a time where other nations will challenge us and overthrow us at the top of the ladder. When that day comes, we will look back at this era in Canadian hockey history and we will finally realize, "wow, those girls were good. What a great time that was to be a fan of the sport." By then the legends will be long into their retirements.

How many of us wish we could have seen Richard or Beliveau play live or even on TV? Well folks, the Richards and the Beliveaus of women's hockey are still here. They're on the ice at arenas near us and they're on TV for all of us to cheer on. Don't wait till it's too late. Tune in and support them. Google their bios, learn more about their journeys, and follow them on Twitter and get to know who they really are. If you have young sons, and especially if you have young daughters, introduce them to these players and teach them that this is what a role model should be. These are the players who got it all started. They will go down in history as the people who put women's hockey on the map. And their reign just happens to coincide with all of us being at an age where we can understand and appreciate all that they have done. If this is indeed the swan song for the first generation of women's hockey royalty, we can't let them stroll quietly into the sunset. We must take advantage of this privilege we have been given and enjoy every last minute of their brilliance on the ice. And when they give the word that it's all over, we must stand and applaud, for if it is one thing we know it is that dynasties are rare and can not be replicated, but that when a dynasty comes along, it changes the landscape of the sport forever. 

The Fight - what fuels you to train harder?

Jayna Hefford - Team Canada

Twitter. A place to connect with those we know, those we wish we knew, and those we don’t know but are getting to know better through their tweets. I follow a lot of pro-level athletes on Twitter, and following them is basically an invite to go along and spend a day with them in cyberspace. If there was an “athletes on Twitter drinking game” (great idea, I know!) we would definitely be reaching various levels of inebriation based solely on one statement: “drink when an athlete tweets that they’re heading to the gym.” After big wins, tough losses, painful injuries, and even during holidays, it seems like the gym where athletes spend a majority of their lives. Even in leagues like the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, NCAA, and CIS, where most of the players have day jobs or college classes or families to attend to, they still seem to be able to squeeze in the time for a workout session no matter what. The commitment of these players into improving their skills and conditioning is remarkable. As a recreational hockey player, I am not required by my team or league to meet specific requirements or pass any tests in the gym (for which I am grateful, because I’d fail miserably), but I still think about finding that motivation from within and how it would factor in to an athlete’s overall performance. Why is it that some athletes are able to play at a high level for decades, while others fizzle out in just a few years? Why is it that some athletes are able to enjoy season upon season of injury-free participation in sports, while others can’t seem to go more than a month or two without ending up on the shelf? And as athletes, when are we most motivated to train harder: after a big win or after a tough loss?

In January of 2012, after losing a tennis match that lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, Rafael Nadal was asked how he felt about the match. “It’s nice (to) be there fighting, trying to go to the limit, bring your body to the limit of its chances,” he said. “It’s something I really enjoyed, and I (have) always said it’s good (to) suffer. So when you are fit, when you are with passion for the game, when you are ready to compete, you are able to suffer and enjoy suffering.” And, as legend would have it, Rafa and his opponent Novak Djokovic were both back in the gym training within a week of their marathon match.

There are constantly features on NHL players and their training regiments. A lot of them are interviewed while they ride the stationary bike or jog on the treadmill. The general public is well aware of the players’ commitments to physical fitness when they’re not on the ice. Such is not the case in women’s hockey. It is always surprising to talk to people who claim to be knowledgeable sports fans but who are still under the impression that female hockey players are merely beer leaguers with a bit more publicity. They claim to be fans of the sport yet they are unaware of how much the women commit to strength training and cardio. They think the women just show up to games and hit the ice. If only it were that easy eh! They never stop to ask themselves: “how was it that at age 35, Becky Kellar was able to compete at the Vancouver Olympics against opponents who were 12 or 15 years younger than her? How was it that Kim St-Pierre was able to be back playing for the Montreal Stars just 8 months after having a baby? And how is it that, at the age of 35 and with over 200 games played for Team Canada, Jayna Hefford is still able to compete for a spot on the National Team for the 2014 Olympics?”

For those of you who follow these players closely, you know the answer. They train. They train hard. And they get fitness tested all year round (including on the day after Christmas apparently!). What I would like to know is, what is their motivation when they train? Are they training so that they can play their best against a longtime rival? Are they training to avenge a tough loss against a longtime rival? Are they training to ensure longevity in their career so they can play the sport they love for as long as possible?

And what about the rest of us – what motivates us to get up off the couch and head to the gym? What are we picturing in our minds when we are trying to push through that final leg of the cycle on the elliptical? What pushes us to add those extra 10 pounds to the free weights? There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. For me, it is not the promise of winning or the fear of losing that motivates me. It is the knowledge that the only way to sleep soundly at night is to know that you did everything you could to be the consummate player and professional for your team. It is the feeling of a certain pride and joy that is associated with knowing you came through for them because you were ready for the challenge. And it is believing that nothing is ever “meant to be” unless we make it so. As Jayna Hefford and Jarome Iginla once said in a commercial for Nike: “Let the world keep believing we owe everything to fate. We’ll keep training till we control theirs.”

Say Yes - How parents mold athletes into legends.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Gardner Jr. (after scoring a basket): “Hey Dad, I’m going pro! I’m going pro!”

Chris Sr. (looking at his son): “I don’t know, you know. You’ll probably be about as good as I was. That’s kind of the way it works, and I was below average. You’ll excel at a lot of things, just not this, so I don’t want you out here shooting this ball around all day and night all right?”

Chris Jr. (looking dejected and throwing the basketball away angrily): “Alright.”

Chris Sr.: “Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me, ok? You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, you go get it. Period”

This beautiful scene between the on-screen (and real life) father and five year old son, in Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyness brilliantly captures the role of a parent in a child’s life. Thinking back to all of the hockey parents I meet every year at Hayley Wickenheiser’s hockey festival, all the sports parents I meet in every day life, and even to my own parents, I realize that this scene is one that is played out for real in homes all across the world on a daily basis. At least I hope it is. I think about the parents of my heroes: Hayley Wickenheiser's parents, Christine Sinclair's parents, and Serena Williams' parents, just to name a few. They could have said no to their children pursuing such ambitious goals. They could have said no knowing that women's sports are not nearly as lucrative as men's sports, and that their daughters were looking at a potential future of financial insecurity and obscurity. They could have said no because a career as a pro female athlete usually means instability and relatively no glamour. They could have said no for all these reasons and their reasons would not have been wrong. They could have said no and our world would be without these incredible role models. But instead they said yes.

After over 25 years of research, the Women's Sports Foundation published an article detailing why by age 14, girls are dropping out of sports at almost double the rate of boys. The article identified six key factors that influence this high rate of drop outs:

1. Lack of access - There are 1.3 million fewer opportunities for girls to play sports in high school than boys.
2. Lack of transportation - It is harder for girls to find safe training sites and the location of such places can make it hard for busy families to participate.
3. Social stigma - There is still a fear of being socially isolated because of preconceived notions about girls in sports.
4. Quality of experience - Lack of equal competition as players get older. Players are sometimes required to play with and against boys, which most are unwilling to do. 
5. Lack of role models - The females that our society hold in high esteem aren't always consistent with the mold of athletes. There is peer pressure on teenage girls to look and act a certain way. Often, being an athlete can interfere with this image that they are expected to portray. Lack of proper self esteem can lead to them deciding to quit their sport rather than go against the expectations that society has placed upon them.
6. Cost - Schools are being forced to slash their athletic department budgets. Female programs are usually the first to get shortchanged, meaning that participants end up having to pay more money out of their own pockets to keep programs running. 

Despite all of these challenges, studies show that "girls active during adolescence and young adulthood are 20% less likely to get breast cancer in later life." The studies also revealed that more than 3/4 of career women feel that sports increases their self image. All the factors listed above can be mitigated by parental involvement and support. For young children, the support is in the form of financial assistance, transportation, and general encouragement. As kids get older and begin to play at a higher level, parents are needed to be sounding boards and supporters after setbacks or discouraging days. Teenagers face tremendous pressures to perform academically and athletically. They encounter peer pressure, tough coaches, challenging team mates and opponents, and general bumps along the long road to adulthood. Parents are what keep them grounded and confident. And once they hit adulthood, as Wickenheiser, Sinclair, and Williams have, their parents are still there to be their biggest fans. My mom and dad have the pleasure unfortunate task of being the parents of a goaltender. Every goal surrendered is dissected, every loss is vented about, every pressure filled moment leaves them breathless and stressed out, and my mom ends every day by asking me the same question: "why do you do this? And more importantly, why do I do this with you?" 

There are so many parents out there who make sacrifices for their kids to play sports. I hope they continue to provide encouragement and support to their children, no matter how old they get. We don't know where the next Hayley Wickenheiser, the next Christine Sinclair, and the next Serena Williams is right now. But no one wants to be the parent that says NO and forces their child to turn their back on the sport they love. There is a future in sport for everyone who pursues it. Your children can be difference makers on a local scale and maybe even on a global scale. Say "yes", be their rock, and watch where their passion takes them.

Hola from the Wickenheiser Festival

The Mexico Women's National Ice Hockey Team at Wick Fest

You know how most kids had a place growing up that they considered to be a second home? Either it was their grandparents’ place, their friend’s place, or, in the case of most Canadian kids, the ice rink. When I was about eight years old a new multi-purpose sports facility opened up just minutes away from my house. Eight ice rinks, a gym, physiotherapy clinic, dance studio, restaurant, and seminar rooms all under one roof. Appropriately named Burnaby 8-Rinks, the arena became a place where I spent every spare minute of my day, training to be a….figure skater. Yes, I said figure skater. 8-Rinks is the home of the BC chapter of Skate Canada– the governing body of figure skating in the country. At the time it was first opened, they were pushing hard to recruit anyone and everyone to go into figure skating. When a rather decorated former figure skater who shall remain nameless approached my parents, let’s just say I was being outfitted with a bright pink spandex skating dress before I knew what was going on. Days consisted of me spending countless hours in a sport that I knew wasn’t mine, working towards a goal I didn’t even want to achieve, and all the while dreaming of joining the boys who were playing hockey on adjoining rinks. But I was told that girls don’t play hockey and, judging by the hockey teams on the ice every day, this was true because there wasn’t a single girl on any of the teams. Girls and hockey did not mix.

Fast forward roughly 15 years to the weekend of November 15^th, 2012 and 6 out of the 8 rinks at 8-Rinks were occupied by female hockey teams from Canada, the US, and one very special team from Mexico. Each locker room had a sign with a team logo and a message on it: “No boys allowed.” Girls were warming up by jogging around the facility while chanting, cheering, hooting, and hollering. On the ice they were putting on impressive efforts with their skills and speed. Off the ice they had taken over the entire building. And somewhere in all the mayhem was the world’s greatest female hockey player – the reason for all this excitement and domination of 8-Rinks – Hayley Wickenheiser.

For the third year in a row, 8-Rinks and the City of Burnaby has had the honour of hosting the Wickenheiser International Women’s Hockey Festival, known to most as Wick Fest. Wick Fest consists of on-ice hockey tournaments for all the different levels of minor hockey, as well as on and off ice skills workshops, leadership and training seminars, team building exercises, and one on one time between the players and Hayley Wickenheiser. It is truly a weekend of comprehensive exposure to the game for all its participants and it is a weekend where the girls rule the roost. One of the best things for me about being involved in Wick Fest is the ability to witness how the players operate. These girls aren’t THAT much younger than I am and yet it is obvious that they are growing up with a different school of thought in their minds. Their generation knows with 100% confidence that they belong in hockey. They’re loud and talented and energetic. They’re hockey players and they’re proud of it. In previous years, my role at Wick Fest has been pretty minimal. I’ve volunteered my time for a few hours during the weekend and have been assigned to tasks that did well in breaking me in to how the festival works. This year however, due to either a shortage of volunteers or perhaps just my own eagerness to be more involved, I was given more hours and more jobs to do. For the first time since I mercifully quit figure skating at age 12, 8-Rinks became my second home, at least for the weekend. Being more involved this year allowed me to meet more people and truly understand better the vision that Hayley has for the festival and the sport. Several times during the weekend I popped in to a locker room to deliver pre-game snacks only to find Hayley hanging out in the room talking to the players. How's that for a pre-game pep talk eh! From impromptu autograph sessions, to an hour of great country music tunes courtesy of Dean Brody, to a beauty corner where two kind volunteers were applying henna tattoos for the players, Wick Fest truly had it all. There was a great energy around the event - an energy that was apparent in its volunteers. I worked hard, yes, but so many others worked harder and longer than I did. Many volunteers were also parents who popped in to lend a hand in between their kids' games. Many others started their shifts at 5am and were still going strong at 7pm. And many others went home with their hands dyed blue or red or whatever colour the Gatorade coolers they were scrubbing out happened to be. The volunteers worked with a mantra - perhaps the same mantra as the festival's namesake - keep your head down and work hard. Not for the cameras or the gratitude but because you care.

One of the highlights of this year's festival was the participation of the Mexican Women's National Team.When most of us think of Mexico we think of sunshine, beaches, all-inclusive resorts, and possibly Salma Hayek. Ice hockey is not synonymous with Mexico and yet here they were - the Mexican National Team clad in long green jackets and colourful sombreros announced their arrival at Wick Fest. As volunteers we didn't formally discuss it but there was an unwritten, unspoken rule we all adopted for the weekend - make Team Mexico (and all the other teams) feel as welcome as possible. It was incredible that they had accepted Hayley's invitation and taken the effort to travel across the continent to be here. The least we could do was encourage them and let them know how inspiring they were. And they were a heck of a team too. In speaking to one of their coaches I learned that this was the first year that Mexico had a women's only league. In the past all the players have played on co-ed teams and they all came from an inline hockey background. Both these concepts were incredibly evident in their play. They were aggressive and not afraid to use their physicality to defend, and they were all terrific skaters. Their goalie was positionally sound and had exceptional rebound control and they played with a ton of confidence. Being involved in Wick Fest is humbling in many ways and one of the great things I get to witness every year is the coming together of the greater hockey family. In this year's case, a parent of a hockey player from one of the Vancouver teams noticed that Team Mexico didn't have enough pucks to practice and warm up with. They only had about 10 pucks whereas all the other teams had buckets full of them. He mentioned to me that he had been collecting pucks for years and had a crate full of them in his garage. He brought them in for Mexico to use and take home with them. Team Mexico, in return, were humble and had a great spirit to them. They quickly made friends with players on other teams and could be heard yelling "HOLA!" as they passed fellow competitors around the arena. They were gracious and allowed me to take a picture with them, and were more than willing to chat and answer the million questions all of us Canadians had for them. Their upbringing may be different, their culture may be different, and even their exposure to the sport of hockey may be different from ours. But their passion? It is identical.

Wick Fest is a weekend of doing good things all around. There is the obvious goal of growing the game of women's hockey, cultivating friendships, establishing leaderhip, and creating lasting memories, but there are other more global goals being pursued there too. There are silent auctions and 50-50 draws where 100% of the money raised goes to Kids Sport and Right To Play. This year the Fortius Foundation, which is in the process of constructing an elite sports medicine and development facility adjacent to 8-Rinks, stepped up and donated to the two charities as well. In addition, Fortius along with Tourism Burnaby announced a long-term partnership with events such as Wick Fest as well as other sporting ventures in the city such as the Esso Cup.

These showings of support from both individuals who donate their time and from companies and organizations who donate their funds is proof that Hayley is not alone in her vision. We all share in it and we support it and we want to be a part of it. There is no ego or hierarchy to this legend of our sport. She is as humble and as authentically Canadian as they come. Access to her is unlimited. She is always around and always makes herself available to chat with the girls who look up to her. She works hard, is disciplined, and is a tremendous leader. She has set the bar high. But that is part of the honour of getting to work with her - knowing that you have to work to those same standards. My pink spandex figure skating outfit has long since been stashed in the (very back of the) basement but I couldn't help thinking back to it during the weekend of Wick Fest. Thanks to Hayley and her team mates, we've come a long way since those days. It's a source of comfort to me knowing that girls are now free to chose their preferred sport rather than be forced into it. It is a sign of progress. Till next year's girl's only invasion of 8-Rinks I bid farewell to Wick Fest 2012 and all its participants and volunteers with a salute of my red Gatorade-dyed hand.

Turkish Delight: Positive hopes for women's hockey in Turkey

Turkey vs Canada at the 25th Winter Universidae in 2011

 Happy hockey season everyone! Here’s wishing all of you a safe and successful season that is filled with big wins, great team mates, and only limited stenches from smelly equipment. Every new season brings with it new opportunities to grow the sport both here in North America and worldwide and to promote it so that it reaches places that are farther and wider than ever before. At first I thought that the concept of growing women’s hockey internationally was pretty simple – get some equipment and some willing volunteers, send them to various countries to introduce and promote the sport, and work with the participants who show the most skill and enthusiasm to form a team or perhaps even a league. My recent family vacation to Turkey was amazing and educational in many ways, none more so than the way it changed my perspective on what it means to be a woman in sport.

Let me start by saying that Turkey is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever been to. The people, the places, the weather, the lifestyle, and the food (pigging out for 3 weeks right before the start of hockey season wasn’t my finest decision!) are all second to none. The city of Istanbul alone is home to over 13 million people. And judging by the traffic and concentration of pedestrians, I think all 13 million plus are out enjoying life every night! The mosques are breathtaking, the museums are historic, and there is nothing more humbling and calming than listening to the Azan (Muslim call of prayer) while swimming in the Mediterranean.

Prior to leaving for Turkey I did some digging on the caliber of women’s hockey that was being played there. I was surprised to discover that Turkey has a national women’s ice hockey team that is currently ranked 35^th by the IIHF. Their players play on teams at Turkish Universities or on club teams based in the northern part of the country. They finished the 2011 Women’s World Hockey Champhionships in 4^th place in Division V – ahead of Ireland, and behind Poland, Spain, and Bulgaria. Though they have never qualified for the Olympics and have never played any higher than Div.V at the Worlds, the city of Erzurum did host the 25^th Winter Universidae in 2011, and they did submit a women’s hockey team for the competition. The team was unable to score a goal throughout the tournament and they were defeated by large margins (15-0 to USA and 32-0 to Finland) but they were still supported strongly by the home fans.

“I am proud to play for Turkey,” said 22-year old forward Çağla Baktıroğlu. “We are learning a lot. We won’t be number one but we will improve. When you play with a good team you become better.”

Baktıroğlu’s team mate Çağla Sevgili went on to make an astute observation that plagues many of the lower-tiered nations in women’s hockey. “The US has 45,000 players,” she says. “In contrast, Turkey has 150. They pick the best among them, while we have limited options.” To an outsider the Turkish national team’s prospects may look bleak. And they did to me too until I went to Turkey, saw their culture first hand, and realized A) How far their women have come in society, B) How empowered they are, and C) What an accomplishment it is for them to have a women’s hockey team in the first place.

Over the years, much has been publicized in the media about the role of women in Muslim countries but, at the risk of being wrongfully influenced by possible biases, I chose to approach Turkey with an open mind. There were some surprises both ways. One thing that stuck out right away to me was the respect that the women had for themselves. There was about a 50-50 split of women who wore a headscarf and women who did not. Even those who did not, however, were still dressed respectfully. They were well-covered and did not showcase their bodies in an overt way, they spoke well, were trendy, educated, and independent-minded. Certain aspects about their culture certainly made me realize and appreciate the challenges their hockey players must encounter as they attempt to pursue and grow their sport. A shopping trip to a large Adidas store in the heart of Istanbul, for example, revealed that they don’t sell too many styles of shorts. They prefer for the women to work out in long pants. The majority of posters of professional athletes endorsing different clothing brands featured males only. There were no notable female athletes such as Serena Williams or Abby Wambach featured on any of the Nike ads. Though more and more girls are pursuing educations and careers there is still a large emphasis on getting married young and starting families. The traditional life path of women leaves little time for pursuing a career as an athlete. In general, there isn’t a culture for ice hockey in Turkey. As we all know, being an ice hockey player requires a certain aggressiveness and vocality that isn’t exactly part of the blueprint of Turkish women.

Witnessing this is when I realized that for current members of the national team, growing the sport is not simply about coaching and exposure. They literally have to shift an entire set of cultural practices that have been in place for centuries. It will take time. Improving a team’s passing, shooting, and skating are simple enough to do. Opening them up to a new way of thinking and getting them to discover and embrace this passion that they never knew they had might be harder. It will happen, as it always does, through the trailblazing done by their own current players. Çağla Sevgili of the national team is a student at Turkey’s Kocaeli University and is a great ambassador for the sport. She makes sure to recommend skating to everyone she meets and describes it as being “free despite the fact that you skate within a limited area.” Sending a Canadian or American to Turkey is not the answer to growing the game. The face of the sport must be a local. Anyone else will be seen as an outsider who doesn’t recognize the values and traditions of Turkey. It must be the local girls and women, through their modern ways of thinking and their vibrant and youthful personalities, who must appeal to those around them and inspire them to give hockey a try. Similar stories exist in soccer. It was the Canadian women’s national team’s coach John Herdman from England who changed the program and led it to its historic bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics. But the face of the team and the one who inspires young girls to lace up the cleats is a local – Christine Sinclair. Same goes for the US team. Pia Sundhage of Sweden was the mastermind coach behind their gold medal. But Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and Alex Morgan are the heroes in the eyes of young girls.

Congratulations are in order to all members of the Turkish women’s national hockey team for getting this far already. Passion is like a flame. It just needs to catch fire and, before we know it, it’ll spread beyond anything we ever imagined. And nothing can torch that fire. In return for their amazing hospitality, I give to the people of Turkey my best wishes for continued growth in all areas, and I truly hope that some day soon, the red and white of Canada will join forces with the red and white of Turkey to produce a prosperous women’s hockey program that will change lives, inspire growth, and create history.

Layers of Leadership

When Roberto Luongo gave up his captaincy of the Vancouver Canucks, one phrase he used ad nauseum to explain his decision was "you can always lead without a letter." Basically what he was saying was that while there is only room for one captain and four assistant captains on a hockey team, it doesn't mean that they are the only 5 players who are allowed to be leaders.

Think of a hockey team's composition as being similar to that of the Planet Earth - there is the core, which is responsible for controlling some of the most critical functions of the unit. Then there is the mantle, which uses what the core is generating to carry out its own functions and which works to create valleys and mountains for the next layer to use. And finally there is the crust, which uses what the core and the mantle have created to make the earth liveable and sustainable. The same functions occur on a hockey team. The formally named captain and assistant captains who wear the letters on their jerseys are the core. They are responsible for laying the foundation for the team by setting the standards and helping everyone play up to those standards. They make the tough decisions on behalf of the team, all the while keeping in mind that they must act in the best interest of the team. The core is assisted by the hockey team's version of the mantle - veteran players who, despite not being given a formal leadership role, are still very much a part of the fabric of the team. The core leans on these veteran players to provide support and build on what the core is preaching. And finally, there is the crust - the rookies and younger players of the team. They may feel like they are far away from the core but in reality they are a critical component in ensuring that the core's vision of the team pans out. And despite not being as strong as the core or mantle players, the crust players are still free to forge their own blueprint on the team.

Every player on a hockey team serves a function both on and off the ice. Nowhere in any hockey rule book is it written that rookies are not allowed to lead or that veterans are not allowed to learn from the rookies. Veterans bring a sense of stability to the group. They have been around different situations before and so they have the benefit of being able to draw upon those experiences to help guide themselves and the team through the ups and downs of a season. Rookies bring a sense of optimism to the group. For us rec-hockey players, we rely on the rookies to inject some energy into the room when we are all dozing off while waiting for our late-night-I-should-be-in-bed-right-now games to start. One of the greatest strengths of the rookies is that they don't over-analyze the game. They play it as they see it.

Women's hockey brings with it a very intimate style of leadership. Women have a special bond with each other and it means that we develop a fierce loyalty to each other. This loyalty is what fuels our desire to block shots and take hits for one another. Women are also very maternal and comforting and, in my experiences of playing hockey throughout the years, this emotion is reflected well in how women lead a team. Most teams have a few players who are quite a bit older than everyone else. They get offended if you refer to them as "team mommies" but in actuality that is exactly what they are and the title is not meant to be a jab at their age. It is more a reflection of the comfort and kindness they show to the team. Most teams also contain quite a few middle-aged (in sports that usually means age 25-35) players who are less maternal and more tough-love. They're a bit more cocky and they push the team hard every night but they are equally as supportive as the team mommies. The only difference is, they are less willing to share band aids and energy drinks with you and they don't apologize after they drop f-bombs.

One of my favourite sports quotes of all time is: "Good players inspire themselves. Great players inspire others." Before the start of each season and each game we must ask ourselves: what layer of the team are we, what can we do to bring leadership to the group, and what can we do to inspire those around us to play harder? And after every game we must look in the mirror and ask ourselves: did I do enough? If the answer is yes, we are not only building towards winning championships and trophies and medals, we are also building towards a legacy of wisdom and leadership that the next generation of players will carry with them going forward, ensuring that our legacies as players live on into the future.