Thomas A Stewart High School Athletic Awards Banquet ==================================================== Location: Peterborough, Ontario Date: June 3, 1992 INTRODUCTION: ------------ First, I have to warn you ... I'm a much better hockey player than I am a public speaker!!! :-) It's a pleasure to be here this evening. It's really special for me to come back to my old high school to speak. When I left Thomas A. Stewart 6 years ago, I would have never imagined that I'd be back here talking about my experiences of winning the World Championships in Finland. Actually, I don't think I would have believed it a year ago! And if someone would have told me that I would be the 3rd highest scorer in the world tournament, I would have told them that they were right off their rocker! (hand:-) I still can't believe it! It just goes to show, you never know what's in store for you ... And if you work hard ... you can reach your goals. I achieved my ultimate dream; I was very proud to be part of the team that won the gold medal for Canada. I'd like to talk to you today about o my hockey career, o my experiences trying out for Team Canada, and o my experiences playing for Team Canada in Finland. So first of all, I'll tell you a bit about my hockey career... MY CAREER: --------- I first started skating on our pond when I was 4 years old. In grade 1, my parents registered me for figure skating in Peterborough. I did this for 3 years and I think it helped my skating skills a lot. I'm not sure exactly why I decided to play hockey, but my mom says that when we used to have those marathon figure-8 sessions... I used to skate over to the boards and say to her "Mom, can I play hockey next year?" I guess I found the excitement of the game really intriguing. I started playing hockey in grade 4 in the Peterborough girl's hockey house league. In grade 7 I switched to the United Counties League and played for Otonabee until the end of high school. We played against other small towns in the Peterborough area. I don't know if I really realized just how lucky we were to grow up in an area which had organized girl's hockey. In many places throughout Canada, girls don't have the opportunity to play. Actually, some high schools don't even have hockey at all, so I was really fortunate that TASSS had a girl's hockey team. Throughout high school I played on the hockey team as well as on numerous other school teams. In fact, in grade 13, I was crazy enough to play on 7 different school teams and also be a member of the Student Athletic Association. But as enthusiastic as I was about playing sports, I realized that it was also important to concentrate on academics. As you can imagine, I had to be very disciplined and committed to balance both sports and school work. I also led an active social life and had to do chores on our farm. I'm really glad I got involved in sports in high school. Not only did it improve my skills as an athlete, but it also improved me as a person. Being part of a team helped me to develop my interpersonal skills. It also taught me a lot about responsibilities. High school athletics forced me to develop my time management skills and helped to build my confidence. I also made many good friends by being involved in high school athletics ... many of these friendships I still have today. My hard work and determination were well rewarded in both academics and athletics. My grade 13 marks were quite good, and I was offered a hockey scholarship to attend the University of New Hampshire. I accepted the scholarship offer and moved to New Hampshire to pursue a degree in Computer Science. I was really fortunate to get my University education for free and what deal, I got to play hockey... *something I absolutely love*, in exchange. Heck, I would have paid them to let me play! I had heard that a lot of students on athletic scholarships in the US never finish their degrees. I was pleasantly surprised to find that at the University of New Hampshire academics came first. There was a minimum average required by all student-athletes in order to stay on a Varsity team. Our coach made it clear that academics were the priority ... If we had a class or had to study for a test, we were excused from practice without any question. I think it makes sense that the emphasis should be put on academics ... because after all, when you're 35 and past your athletic prime - you know, when you can hardly walk, and you have more stitches on your face than hair left on your head - If you don't have an education, then you have nothing to fall back on. After all, not everyone can be a Wayne Gretzky and make 3 million a year! I earned my degree in Computer Science at the University of New Hampshire, and since then, I've been working on my Master's degree at the University of Toronto. A big motivator for continuing my education was the opportunity to play for UofT's varsity team. As well as playing for the varsity team, I've also been playing for a team in the Women's senior "AA" league in Toronto. This is a very competitive league in which almost half of the Team Canada members play. I should graduate from UofT by this fall. Last week I signed a contract with a team in Langenthal Switzerland. I'll be playing for them during the 1992-93 season. Our team is one of the 6 teams in at the "A" level. There are also 24 teams at the "B" level in our league. The Switzerland league allows two foreigners on each team. It just so happens (well, ok, maybe we planned it) that my former University of New Hampshire teammate and roommate will be the other foreigner on my team! It should be a great experience and a great way to see Europe. Honest, I wouldn't just be going there for the skiing or anything like that! It's so great to see so may opportunities opening up for women's hockey. It really has come a long way over the last 5 or 10 years. It would be nice to see it become an Olympic sport some day. There has been talk of it becoming a demonstration sport at the 1994 Winter Olympics. I just hope that they hurry up and make it an Olympic sport before I'm past my prime! Now I'll tell you a little about my experiences with Team Canada... TRYOUTS: ------- About this time last year, I started thinking seriously about getting ready for the Team Canada tryouts. I was determined to make sure I would be ready to give it my best shot. Over the course of the summer, I played hockey 3 times a week with men - most of them were a lot stronger and bigger than me so it forced me to work hard. I also played ball hockey twice a week, and started lifting weights regularly to improve my upper body strength. To make it to the final Team Canada tryout camp, I had to make it past two tryout camps in Ontario. I was one of 46 players who made it past the first set of tryout camps in Ontario. The second Ontario tryout camp was in Barrie and it proved to be very hard, because there were so many very good players trying out. Making the team meant enough to me that I was willing to make sacrifices to do so. I looked at the players selected to attend the Barrie camp, and realized that a lot of the best players were centres ... Angela James (she's a centre) ... Margot Verlaan (she's a centre) ... Vicki Sunohara (she's a centre) ... Laura Schuler (she's a centre)! I mean, wow! All these players were members of the Canadian team that won the gold medal two years ago! To me it seemed nearly impossible to make it past the second Ontario Camp if I tried out as a center. Even though I had always played centre, I was willing to learn how to play wing if it would help me make the team. The Barrie camp lasted 4 days; and we all worked extremely hard. We spent up to 7 hours a day on the ice, constantly being evaluated. During both practices and games, we were always trying our hardest. It was really demanding - fortunately, the thought of making Team Canada kept me going. By the 3rd day, my legs were soooooo sore that I just wanted to hang up my skates and go home. But there was a little spark inside me that wouldn't die. The pain didn't matter nearly as much as making Team Canada did. So, I was really honoured to be one of the 12 players in Ontario selected to attend the final tryout camp. 35 players from across Canada gathered in Kitchener for the final Team Canada tryouts. Of course our hockey skills were being evaluated, but they were also looking for other qualities. To be able to play in a foreign country like Finland, would require that a player be able to adapt to a new environment ... they would have to adapt to a different time zone, different lodging, and different food. Boy was I ever glad to have a slice of Pizza when I got home! Players would also have to adapt to a larger ice surface, and be able to play with new linemates. They were also looking for players who had good leadership skills, would make good role models, and would always have a positive attitude. One of the most important qualities that they were looking for was the willingness of a player to put the team ahead of herself. Throughout the 6-day camp, there were various practices and games used to evaluate our hockey skills. Off the ice, the coaching staff interviewed the players one on one. They also took notice of how the players were able to interact with one another. These off-ice skills would influence the team's ability to come together on the ice. Heading into this final camp, I wasn't all that optimistic. I was worried because I had suffered a groin injury a couple of weeks before the camp, and I had come down with a killer cold just 3 days before the camp. Unfortunately, I reinjured my groin muscle on the first day of the camp, and was forced to play the rest of the camp in a lot of pain - every single stride was painful! They were giving me painkillers, but they sure didn't seem to work! I mean, they had me taped up so much that I looked like a mummy. You should have seen me! The injury affected my play and I was disappointed that I wasn't able to play my best. I really didn't think I had much of a chance of being selected. But fortunately, I think they realized that I had a lot of determination because I kept playing even though I was in severe pain. And I think that this had a lot to do with me being selected. I walked into the room where the coach was going to tell me his decision. I was absolutely thrilled when he greeted me by shaking my hand and saying "Welcome to Finland!" I'll never forget it! I was soooo happy! It took them 3, maybe 4 minutes minutes to peel me off the ceiling! Really! I was sooo overjoyed to find out that *I* was one of the 1500 hopefuls across Canada who would be fortunate enough to represent Canada at the World Championships. So I promised myself that I would do everything that I could to help bring back the gold medal to Canada. FINLAND: ------- In early April, our team headed off to Finland. We trained in Vierumaki for a week before going to the Championships in Tampere. We were told that if we weren't willing to follow the team's plan, we would find ourselves sitting on the bench. The coaching staff was faced with the challenge of bringing twenty individuals together as a team, in just one week. The one thing that was really reinforced in Finland was how much more important the team was than any individual. The success of the team had to mean more to the players than their individual success. For example, if a player was not given much icetime, she was expected to respect the coach's decision and assume that it was for the good of the team. Obviously, if she was to pout and complain about it, this negative attitude could be transferred to the entire team. As you can imagine, such a decision by the coach would be difficult to accept because all the players on Team Canada are used to being among the top players on their team. The players had to be unselfish and able to keep a positive attitude regardless of personal success or failure. The coaching staff gave us 2 t-shirts to remind us that the team is the most important thing ... ... (show & read shirts) ... If someone was to ask me "Why did Canada win the gold?", "What was the biggest thing which contributed to our success?" Hmmm ... I'd have to say that our ability to come together as a team was our most important asset. When it comes to an international competition where you are representing your country, every aspect is taken very seriously. Not only do the players have to go through a detailed selection process, but the coaches are also selected very carefully. Our coaching staff made it clear that we were there for one reason and one reason only - to bring back the gold medal to Canada. Both the players and the coaching staff were dedicated to achieving this goal and were willing to do anything to help win the gold. No detail was too small to be overlooked ... our coaching staff said that they didn't want there to be any excuse possible for losing. Looking back on the tournament, the one thing that stands out the most about every player on Team Canada, was her hard work and determination. We had a sign on our Team Canada dressing room door in Finland that summed it up nicely. It said, "No one can stop you from working hard." Every player on the team took these words to heart. For me, the most memorable thing was the feeling I'd get after winning a game ... you'd see that Canadian flag slowly being raised to the top of the arena, and you'd hear that Canadian anthem echoing throughout the building, It was just a wonderful, undescribable feeling to know that I was a part of it! Thank you.