Joey Payeur
It was well worth the wait for Georgia Oltsher.
The 11-year-old from Emo got the chance-of-a-lifetime when she was chosen to participate in Sunday’s Scotiabank Girls’ HockeyFest in Winnipeg.
She not only got to skate on the home ice of the Winnipeg Jets but also share that ice with two members of Canada’s national women’s hockey team’s storied past in forward Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Winnipeg-based blueliner Fiona Smith-Bell.
Members of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s squad also were on hand.
“My uncle who lives in Winnipeg signed me up through e-mail,” recalled Oltsher, who plays for the Emo Express PeeWee girls’ team.
“I was put on a waiting list at first, then they told us I was accepted.”
The event included off-ice sessions for the roughly 375 female players on nutrition, dryland training and fitness, stretching techniques, and the importance of proper hydration.
But the real thrill came when they got to take part in on-ice lessons led by current Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Campbell-Pascall and Smith-Bell, who between them have 13 Olympic and world championship medals—10 of them gold.
“It was really exciting to meet them,” said Oltsher.
“[Campbell-Pascall] signed my hockey glove and thanked me for coming.”
Oltsher would love to make the Canadian national team one day, though she’s aware it will take plenty of work to get there.
But she was heartened by a story Campbell-Pascall told the group from her first tryout with the national team.
“Cassie told us a story about a teammate who only spoke French—she could only say, ‘Believe you belong’ in English,” recounted Oltsher.
“[Campbell-Pascall] made a bad play and was sure she wouldn’t make the team,” Oltsher added.
“She skated to the bench, where her French friend tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘Believe you belong.’
“Those words stuck in her head and she made the team,” Oltsher added.
“I thought that was important.”
