Watching the Olympics and professional sports is a pretty amazing experience. There's something magical about watching people who have sacrificed and trained their whole lives, achieve a lifelong dream. So when we had the opportunity to meet Olympic and CWHL players in person, we were beyond excited!

On November 17, 2018, SeeWhatSheCanDo-ers from across the GTA joined us at our Epic Ladies Night out. We got up close and personal with a panel of three amazing athletes, watched the CWHL's Markham Thunder battle the Toronto Furies and mingled with the players post-game.  This night was a true reflection of our awesome SeeWhatSheCanDo community - a place where creative, passionate active women can connect, share, be supported and inspired.

We invite you to experience our evening and join us as we grow our community.

Pre-Game: Women's Olympic and Hockey Pro Panel

Get ready to be inspired by Lori Dupuis, Sami Jo Small and Chelsea Purcell as they share their mantras, advice for their younger selves and personal stories in our panel discussion. Meeting these athletes was beyond amazing. These women graciously opened their hearts and gave of their time. We're thrilled to share their stories with you.

Meet Sami Jo Small - Sami Jo is a Winnipeg native, 3-time Olympian and General Manager for the Toronto Furies. Sami Jo is a co-founder and driving force behind the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Interesting facts: she's a public speaker and can also throw a Javelin.

Meet Lori Dupuis - Cornwall native. Grew up on a farm, came from a family of 8. She’s a 2-time Olympic medalist, former player, and former General Manager for the Brampton Thunder (now known as the Markham Thunder).

Meet Chelsea Purcell - Our co-host, former CWHL player and General Manager of the Markham Thunder. Chelsea is a native to Saskatchewan and played a pivotal role in the rebranding and relocation of the Thunder to Markham. Chelsea has played elite level ball hockey and ice hockey for many years at the university level, with the WWHL, the CWHL and abroad in Kazakhstan.

SWSCD Athletes: Women's Olympic and Hockey Pro Panel Discussion 

SWSCD: Do you have a mantra? Something that helps you aspire to be your best you? Something that would be an indication of how you live your life or would like to live your life?

 

Sami Jo: I think when I was younger, I always really strove for excellence. I wanted to do and be the best at whatever I was doing, but being older now and having gone through situations in sport and in life, I think my mantra has become: 

You don’t always get to choose the role you play, but you always get to choose how you play it.

I really believe in that, because I think that we’re all put into situations in life, in sport, that we don’t necessarily want to be in, but it really is what you do with it. We’re not all given the same cards in life, so it’s really about how you play them. I’ve tried to live my life in a way that brings honour to whatever position I am given, regardless of whether or not it’s a position I want to be in. Sometimes it’s a leadership role, sometimes it’s as a follower, or even as a volunteer at an event, and it’s in those situations that I think you still have to do your best and bring out the success in the people around you as well.

 

Lori: I think looking back now, at the time when I was playing, I didn't really have this mantra of ‘striving to be the best’. To me, if you get to a certain level, it’s because it’s innate in you. It’s something that’s in you, that you want to be the best. At twelve, thirteen, fourteen, even at 20, it wasn't something I legitimately thought about every single day. I read an article by Jen Kish (former Canada rugby player). In this article she says, part of the reason why you play at such a high level is the little things, the little goals that you accomplish every single day. She was saying how 1% of this life is going out and having fun with people - traveling with your friends, sharing your experiences with your friends, and family, getting to be a role model for the kids. It’s that one percent that you play for. My mantra is: 

Treat people the way you want to be treated, but just absolutely do your best every single day and try to have that confidence so you can achieve your little goals, day in and day out.

Chelsea: I don’t really live by one thing, I change a lot. I thought about how when I was younger, I wanted to be the best at whatever, maybe it was, math, or hockey, or anything. As I grew up, I learned that

I may not be the best, or I wasn’t the best but to always try to be the best you can be, as a person. As long as I’m working hard at being better each day, or being better than I was the day or the week before, as long as I’m getting better as myself, that’s all I need.

I don’t need to be the best hockey player, it’s just being as good as you possibly can be. I think I learned that as a GM, I like doing all things, and you can’t be the best at everything, so you need to know your strengths and know your weaknesses. I think one of your biggest strengths is knowing your weaknesses and getting other people to help you where you can, and you can learn from them as well.

SWSCD: You’ve all talked about the fact that it’s amazing to be an athlete but there's stuff that goes with being an elite athlete that isn’t always glorious. If you could look back at yourself in your early twenties, what would you say to your younger self?

 

Sami Jo: if I was to talk to a younger Sami, I think I would tell her that life isn’t always going to be like it is. I mean getting to play on the national team is pretty amazing, getting to travel around the world with some of your best friends is pretty incredible, but eventually, that’s going to stop, and that’s going to be okay. Also that we all move on with a new set of friends, we all move on with a new set of goals and a new set of dreams and new challenges in our life. I would say that every day is a new day so don’t hold on to the past.

 

Lori: I guess my biggest thing would be telling myself to enjoy every single moment. You know there’s so many times, so many tournaments we’ve been to, where you do things and you really take it for granted. You look back now and as Sami said, you retired, and it’s done. But at those times, I think the only regret I would have had was not writing a good journal to really see where we went and what we did. You do so many things with great friends, you play so many great games, you have so many little moments in games that are just fantastic, meet so many great people.

 

The other thing is, probably confidence. If I’m talking to myself, I have a daughter and a son, I’m going to tell them both the same thing, whether they’re a boy or a girl, and that’s to have confidence when you’re growing up. You know, to try and instill into them that if you’re going out for a team or if somebody says something bad to you, that’s one person’s opinion, but that doesn’t mean that it’s everybody’s opinion, it’s what you think of yourself and how much you respect yourself that matters.

 

Chelsea: For me, I would say, I took this leadership course when I was in university and one thing they talked about for females was that we lack confidence. If somebody tells you “I like your shirt,”, you’re like “oh I just bought it yesterday, there was a sale,” rather than just saying thank you. This is a very common thing. When I learned that, I became more aware of how I take compliments, and I noticed that I do that all the time. It’s hard just to say thank you, and accept something, so if I could go back, I’d maybe tell myself to accept compliments and be more confident about myself.

Game-time

Check out our photo highlights showcasing the great moments from the first game of the cross-town battle between the Markham Thunder and the Toronto Furies.

Post Game Meet & Greet

SeeWhatSheCanDo-ers from across the GTA meet Markham Thunder and Toronto Furies players. What a great end to the night.

Photo Gallery - Epic Ladies Night Evening Highlights