NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY A Briercrest volleyball player gets set to serve as teammates, plus two local girls from FAME's Get Benched program, look on at Medicine Hat College Feb. 27.
It’s been a whirlwind of a past two weeks when it comes to female sport in Medicine Hat. More than 7,500 fans came out to Medicine Hat College from Feb. 27-29 and March 5-7 to watch the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championships in women’s volleyball and basketball.
The Females in Action Moving and Empowering committee was dispersed throughout the two weeks to help celebrate this momentous occasion for female sport in our community.
Terra Petryshyn, Kimberlee Brooks and Ally DeWolfe of FAME helped to organize 60 young girls in our community to be part of the Get Benched Program. Through the program two girls from the community sat on each team’s bench during every game of the championships. One of Terra’s favourite stories from the weekend came when one of the Get Benched participants was on a bench for three games during the volleyball championships. When she arrived to her third game, she marched right up to the coach and said that the last two teams she sat with won, so that means you will win! It was the gold medal game, and she was sitting with Briercrest College. Briercrest did win and is off to national championships. Perhaps an extra plane ticket might be in order?
FAME member Dragana Vukovic was busy helping to arrange Fill it with Females, an initiative that saw more than 260 young women and their coaches attend the two award ceremonies. The evening started with every person in attendance receiving a conference championship shirt, an inspiring speaker aimed directly at the young girls in attendance, and the girls welcoming the athletes into the college theatre with cheers and high fives.
Once inside the theatre all of those in attendance were able to listen to powerhouse speakers. Dr. Sue Higgins was chosen for the volleyball ceremony. Dr. Higgins spoke of her journey through volleyball and how she was able to learn from some of the early adopters of the game in Canada. In light of International Women’s Day on March 8, Higgins was well ahead of her time as she not only coached the MHC women’s team but also received the CCAA National Coaching Excellence award in 1991 for her years spent as the head coach of the MHC men’s team.
For the basketball championships a transplanted Hatter, Krysten Hager (formerly Boogaard) spoke of what led her to become part of the Canadian national team for nine years. Her witty humour and humble attitude spoke of the lessons she had learned during her playing career. As a former Kansas Jayhawk who scored more than 1,000 points and went on to play professionally in Europe, one would assume her talk would be about triumphs. Instead she spoke of the trials and tribulations that shaped her into the player she was and person she is today. The audience rose at the end of her talk giving this Saskatchewan-raised athlete the recognition she deserved.
After the award ceremonies were completed, each of the collegiate teams took time to meet with the girls in attendance to do a question and answer session about how they got to where they were in their sporting careers. The college athletes had no hesitation to questions ranging from when they started to work out in the gym, how they balance school and sport schedules to what it was like moving away from home.
Kristina Segall, a FAME member and MHC Sport and Wellness employee, was also able to put a twist on the player of the game presenters. She arranged to have 22 different women of influence from the local community present the player of the game awards. Similar to Hager, these women walk among us every day with no mention of the amazing accomplishments that they’ve had in their careers. There were business leaders, national level coaches, record-breaking athletes, distinguished teachers and the list goes on!
Medicine Hat College made history these last two weeks as being the first institution in the ACAC to host conference championships on back-to-back weekends. With the help of the FAME committee the effects of these championships will be remembered for years to come. More than 300 young girls in our community have a bit more inspiration to take the lead and stay in the game.
Tara Chisholm is the head coach of the Canadian women’s para hockey team, a kinisiology instructor and wellness programmer at Medicine Hat College. You can contact her at tchisholm@mhc.ab.ca.
