The value of role models can’t be underestimated in firing the imaginations of aspiring young people, whether in sports, arts or any other field of endeavour. Canadian female youth hockey players have had many of them as the national team has won four gold medals and two silvers in the six Winter Olympics since women’s hockey debuted at Nagano in 1998.
Role mentorship is the driving idea behind the U-15 Scotia Rising Teammate program, with Shawnigan Lake School blue-liner Arnica Bulmer among the 21 players from across the country selected to take part.
Wherever the 2030 Winter Olympics take place — maybe Vancouver again if that fledgling idea takes hold — these 21 players could be in the chase to be skating in those Games. They also may have an established pro women’s league to aim for by then. Women’s pro leagues are beginning, and with it the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association. The PWHPA, in association with Hockey Canada, has established the Rising Teammate program. Each of the 21 selected players will take part in a four-week mentorship with a PWHPA player, from a list that includes 2014 Sochi Olympics gold-medallist and 2018 Pyeongchang silver-medallist Natalie Spooner and 2018 silver-medallist Sarah Nurse.
Bulmer is a Grade 10 Shawnigan Lake student from the Yukon and has been paired with Nurse, the first session of which took place this week via Zoom.
“Role models are so important,” said Bulmer, who also plays rugby at Shawnigan Lake
“I have always admired Sarah Nurse and I watched her play in the Olympics. I took every bit of information I could from Sarah in our first session. My hope, my dream is to also play NCAA Div. 1, then for Canada in the Olympics and also be a pro PWHPA player.”
The connection may have also pushed Bulmer in the direction of an NCAA team, saying the Wisconsin Badgers are her first choice because that’s where Nurse played. All with an eventual goal in mind: “The growth of women’s sport, and women’s hockey, is something I am very passionate about. One of my goals when I go back home is to help women’s hockey up north continue to grow.”
“I hope that I can take what I learn through this experience and give back.”
Bulmer cites Nurse, four-time Olympic gold-medallist Hayley Wickenheiser, two-time Olympic gold-medallist Marie-Philip Poulin and Bridget Marquard as her sports heroes “who have paved the way for women in hockey.”
“There’s still more to do, but without these women fighting for women’s hockey, we wouldn’t be where we are today in the sport,” added Bulmer.
“I am grateful every time I step on to the ice.”
On the Island it has been Micah Zandee-Hart of Saanichton, projected on the Canadian blue line for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, taking on the mantle of role model. Bulmer also has to look no further than her Shawnigan Lake School coach Carly Haggard, who came out of Port Alberni to twice be finalist as NCAA Div. 1 player of the year with Dartmouth of the Ivy League.
Bulmer could be the next one. Something of a prodigy, the native of Dawson City played on the Whitehorse Mustangs U-18 girls’ team as a 10-year-old. There could be plenty of opportunities for her if the female game continues to grow. She clearly is appreciative of that growth and hopes to play a part in its continuance.
“This is a huge honour I’ve been given,” said Bulmer.
She is not the type to squander it.
Bulmer’s second season at Shawnigan Lake has been hindered by the pandemic and the team has yet to play this season.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some tournaments in later in the spring. And I’m really looking forward to next season,” she said.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
