game. Spotlight on Business: There was not a women’s league at the time when you started playing hockey, so who did you look up to? Who helped you realize your potential as a hockey player and motivated you to get to the next level in your playing career? Jayna Hefford: As a young girl, I was a huge Wayne Gretzky fan. I loved watching him play, loved what he represented—that sort of humble superstar. I just loved the way he presented himself, in addition to the way he played the game. As a young girl, my goal, like any hockey player was to play in the NHL and win a Stanley Cup. Fortunately, nobody told me any different, which I think was a great thing at that age. I switched to girls’ hockey from 10 until I was 18. My coach, Beth Duff, was extremely dedicated to helping us grow as hockey players and build girls’ and women’s hockey programs in our community. She was a driving force to help us get to the next level as athletes and as people. She also helped to develop the character side of the game in players. When I was 13 years old, I went to my first overnight hockey camp and I met Margot Page, who played for Team Canada. I had been introduced to her after the
1990 World Championships, and I had been able to watch it on television. That’s when I realized, I wasn’t going to play in the NHL, but I could play for Team Canada. It was the first time I’d seen women play the game at the highest level, and it was on television, and it was sold out. And Margot was a player on that team. So that summer at hockey camp, she was the first female player that I had ever met that played the women’s game at a high level. So that was my early introduction to women’s hockey, and she is someone I looked up to in the women’s
game after spending my childhood idolizing Wayne Gretzky. Spotlight on Business: There are always ups and downs in any sports career. But tell what it was like heading into the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and getting to wear the Maple Leaf and play for Canada. What was it like to score what would be the gold-winning goal to secure the win over rival Team USA?
14 SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 24 ISSUE 3
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