Puck squad gets big assist from donor
Brock women’s hockey team is using financial gift for mental-health programs
The Brock University women’s hockey team hasn’t played a game since Feb. 22 — and may not return to league action until the fall, at the earliest — but that hasn’t stopped the Badgers from celebrating a big assist.
An anonymous donor recently made a “sizeable financial donation” with a stipulation some of the funds support the mental health of student-athletes.
“The donor felt that female athletes as a group are largely unrepresented and undersupported,” said Sonia Dupte, director of development and stewardship, advancement and external relations.
“Athletes, regardless of gender, are facing challenges during this pandemic with the regular routine and fewer or no games being played,” Dupte added.
“Mental health and the wellbeing of the athletes is a priority at this time to ensure our athletes remain well and thrive.”
Head coach Margot Page, who has created a health-promoting team environment since joining the program in 2015, welcomed the “phenomenal” donation.
She is looking forward to the increased support for the wellbeing of her student-athletes.
“Resources regarding mental health have evolved significantly over the past couple of years, and it’s something we’ve always wanted to spotlight with our student-athletes,” Page said. “Hockey is the avenue for our female student-athletes to have access to tools like these, which will help them in life, through their careers and empower them as women in their future.
“I think Brock University in itself has done a wonderful job with that. We’re one of the top schools in the nation dealing with mental health and getting programming for it.”
She said the donation has the potential to go a long way. “I think it will. It depends on how we utilize it,” Page said in an interview. “If we can get a season or two out of doing some unique things with the team that we wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
Besides programs in mindfulness or yoga, the donation could be used to fund more sports psychology sessions, including on a more-individualized basis.
“I’m going to talk with the team about where they think their needs are, and what would be helpful and impactful to them,” Page said. “It’s not going to be something where you can build a whole yoga room or anything like that, but it is something very significant because, number one, we don’t get a lot of donations in women’s hockey — or in women’s sports, in general.
“I think a lot of donors really forget about some of the ‘softskill’ areas that are so important, not just for student-athletes but for life skills, and I think the mental health portion is part of that.”
Page is glad the stigma of seeking help for mental-health struggles is no longer as great as it once was.
“I think that is changing. I’m finding it very open and receptive now, and I’m so glad it’s changed,” she said. “We’re just trying to really open up so that the forum is open to everybody and they’re starting to feel more comfortable. You have to have a comfortable environment first to be able to make sure that you can speak up if you need to and you need help.”
Student-athletes just don’t have regular academics to go through, along with the stresses of being in university in the first place. Compounding that is the training and out-of-town travel to games and tournaments.
“Our lifestyles are scheduled down to the minute. In the few hours we spend away from school and sport, we face both external and internal pressure to continuously better ourselves while managing physical, mental and emotional fatigue,” said Kaitlynn Colonna, a fourth-year defenceman who recently received U Sports academic all-canadian honours.
Given the added stress caused by the pandemic, the donation couldn’t have come at a better time for Jensen Murphy, the team’s new goaltending coach after five seasons backstopping the Badgers.
“It’s heartwarming to know there are extra resources available for the team during this hard time,” said the health-sciences graduate, class of 2019. “I don’t question for a second that I would have benefited from something like this in my first few years as a player.
“The team is a pretty close family and this donation will only help grow the trust and openness among the team.”
The pandemic has made it a “whole different ball game” for student-athletes.
“I think at the start there was a lot of stress on the athletes,” Page said. “Then, as soon as the OUA (Ontario Universities Athletics) and U Sports said that we would not have a second-half season — that we would not be starting in January — I can’t say the stress went away right away, but it was more, ‘At least we know that’s not an option now.’ ”
What is an option for the team is making the most of its time together. “What is our goal-setting going to be now, how do we go about doing that so we’re ready for the fall, while still having a productive year of training and making sure everybody is feeling part of the team, still feeling part of the Brock Badger family,” Page said.
When Niagara was in the province’s orange and red pandemic zones, the Badgers trained together three times a week with Vicky Bendis, the strength and conditioning instructor.
“When the rinks were still open, we were going on the ice three times a week. We were having virtual team meetings for those who weren’t here with us,” Page said.
The head coach estimated about two-thirds of the team was back for the start of the fall semester in September.
The athletes have their own team meetings and “fun kind of activity days. Usually, coaches aren’t invited to them,” she said with a chuckle.
Preparing for hockey with no games on the horizon was difficult at first for Page and her team. “It was hard. We just had to have a different focus,” she said. “We embraced as a group just saying, ‘OK, we want to get better as hockey players. We’ve never had this opportunity, let’s take this as an opportunity and we can actually get better at the things we normally don’t have the opportunity to work on.’
“We really focused in on basics: shooting, puck handling, skating, speed. Just things you don’t have a ton of time for.”
Page assigns a technical-tactical task in her individual meetings with players.
“We’re just trying to create things outside the box to help them still be in the mindset of being hockey players, but also still students, as well,” she said.
“You have to have a comfortable environment first to be able to make sure that you can speak up if you need to and you need help.” MARGOT PAGE
BROCK UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S HOCKEY HEAD COACH