Growing up as a female in competitive hockey since I was three years old, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard “You don’t look like a hockey player.” Tell me, what does a hockey player LOOK like? Skates, a bucket and a stick would suffice, no?
Every team I tried out for, I feared not making it. I remember sitting in the dressing room every year at tryouts, comparing my second-hand equipment to the brand new blades around the room and wondering to myself, what was I doing here? Instead of listening to that voice tell me I wasn’t good enough and I didn’t belong, I laced up extra tight and brought it. They may have “looked” the part, but I always made the team.
Well, after years of lining up at the face-off, starting line, I could still hear the comments that a girl shouldn’t be on the ice 6x a week and I was trying to fit in where I didn’t belong. I finally threw in the towel and quit hockey at age 16. I let the voices stop me.
But feeling like a true part of me was missing, I got back on the ice a year later, with a whole NEW vision. This time, it wasn’t about my dad’s dreams, or proving anything to anyone; this was about ME. It was about my pure love for the game and knowing THIS IS MY PASSION.
This passion brought me to study Sport Business Management in college & land a dream gig in sponsorships for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to start my career. Shoot for the stars, my friends.
If I hadn’t laced back up, I promise you, I would not be the person I am today, still skating & still loving every stride I take.
What’s your passion? Find what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at, what you can be paid for and what the world needs more of. That’s the golden ticket.
