Sting soother
Sting’s Amy Mausser, a Kitchener native, the sole woman behind a bench in the OHL
Kitchener sports therapist Amy Mausser keeps Sarnia’s players buzzing
SARNIA — Amy Mausser is a trailblazer, just don’t tell her that.
“I try not to think of it like that,” said the Sarnia Sting athletic therapist. “I’m like everyone else. I’m not any different. I’m not trying to prove a point.”
But she is the only woman behind the bench in the Ontario Hockey League.
Every other general manager, head coach, assistant coach, equipment manager and athletic therapist on the 20-team loop is male.
“I don’t know if calling it an old boys club is the proper thing, but it might be,” she said.
The Kitchener native is helping change that culture.
As athletic therapist, Mausser is the first responder when it comes to physical day-to-day maintenance for the Sting.
And she’s seen some gruesome stuff. Faces ripped open by high sticks, bloody mouths with missing teeth and bones bending in directions that aren’t natural. Through it all, she’s there with the training (she has a master’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science) and calming influence to take care of things.
She’s also on hand in the difficult times after injuries with a full rehabilitation program to help get players healthy and back on their feet.
“I would say that I’m kind of the mom figure on the team,” she said with a laugh.
Mausser was a skier growing up. The Eastwood Collegiate Institute graduate even cracked the all-Ontario high school downhill finals in her day.
It was brother Ryan and dad Fred that were the hockey nuts. And that passion rubbed off.
So when a work placement with Wilfrid Laurier University’s men’s hockey team popped up while studying at Sheridan College she stickhandled her way back to her hometown.
Since then, she has spent a ton of time in arenas.
There have been stops with the Jr. B Kitchener Dutchmen, K-W Braves lacrosse team, Kingston Frontenacs and the Connecticut Whale (now Hartford Wolf Pack) in the American Hockey League.
Mausser went west to work with the Brooks Bandits on the Alberta Junior Hockey League circuit. And four years back, she spent a season with the Humboldt Broncos, so this past week has been especially emotional in the wake of the bus crash that killed 15 players and staff in Saskatchewan.
“I don’t know any of the staff anymore but I knew one of the players (who died),” she said.
“It has been pretty hard. I did all those bus trips. You kind of cherish everything especially when you hear things like that.”
So she’s enjoying Sarnia’s special season.
The Sting are in the second round of the playoffs for just the fourth time in franchise history and currently own a 2-1 lead on the Kitchener Rangers in their best-of-seven western conference semifinal.
And, while the 31-year-old grew up cheering for the Blueshirts, her allegiances are clear.
“I’m a fan of my job,” she said. “I’m passionate about the people I work with.”
Mausser knows two other women — in Guelph and Barrie — that have worked in the OHL as trainers and/or athletic therapists before her.
She adds that there are a few women currently working in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“It’s getting better over the years,” she said. “It’s starting to shift.”
One day, she’d like to reach the NHL. That’s the goal. Until then, she’s happy to improve performance in Sarnia one treatment at a time.
“I love what I do,” she said. “It makes your day when you treat an injured player and he can now go play a game or is a step closer to getting back out on the ice. I appreciate those small things.”