Sports and athletics have been deeply ingrained in my life since I was young. I was a multi-sport child if you will, every weekend, a different tournament for a different sport, sometimes two tournaments on the same weekend.
The first sport I was ever enrolled in was swimming. My mom swam for UBC and UCalgary while she was in Med School, and she wanted at least one of her children to get into swimming. I jumped from Red Cross swimming lessons to swim club and swam competitively until Grade 11. At my peak, I was provincially ranked in 100 Backstroke, 50 Backstroke, and 100 Butterfly.
When I was 5, I was enrolled in soccer on a team with friends from kindergarten. I will preface this with the fact that I am *not* a very good runner. I could sprint, yes, however, I was not made for sprinting up and down the field continuously… So I became a goalie. Due to my height, I turned out to be a pretty decent goalie and ended up training with higher-level teams and playing in tournaments with them. However, my soccer career abruptly ended in Grade 7 when I broke my foot mid-game after a collision with another player, causing me to have a cast on for 6 months.
When I was in Grade 6, I was told by my teacher that I could be a great volleyball player because of my height (I was taller than 95% of the boys in my grade). I decided to try it out and I fell in love. I played on the school’s Junior A team as a middle at my first high school, which I attended for grades 8 – 10. In grade 10, I was asked to join the Senior Girls team, as they needed an additional middle. I was one of two junior players on the team, and while it was nerve-wracking, it was an incredible learning opportunity for me and I grew so much as a player. When I moved to the boarding school for grades 11 & 12, I tried out for the Senior A team and managed to squeeze onto the roster. Those two years of playing were incredible, we were Island champions both years, hosted provincials in my grade 11 year, and came 8th in my grade 12 year. It helped me make so many incredible connections with people I’m still close with and talk to regularly.
Playing these sports lead me down the path of coaching as well. I had the opportunity to work at the boarding school I attended for two years, and I was fortunate enough to coach the Junior A Girls’ volleyball team and the Junior Girls’ rowing team. I learned so much from this, and it helped me grow as a coach and teacher. Sports & coaching are things I will be pursuing when I am teaching, as I want to create those relationships with my students and the school community.
