C A N A D AÂ Â G A M E S
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| Coach Lesley Jordan gives pointers to her team. (Nick Pearce Photo) |
It’s a busy week for Lesley Jordan.
Not only does she have her regular duties as coach of the Dalhousie women’s varsity hockey team—which finishes its regular season on Sunday before heading into the playoffs—but she’s also running the bench of Team Nova Scotia during this week’s women’s hockey action at the Canada Games.
“It’s been a bit of a challenge,” she says, though she notes that, conveniently, there are no Dalhousie games during the week, so it’s only practices that she has to work around. “I have amazing staffs on both sides, so I’m confident we’re going to make it work.”
Team Nova Scotia won its first game against Prince Edward Island on Sunday 4-1, lost 1-5 against Quebec on Monday night and faces Manitoba on Tuesday night.ĚýThe team is pulling together quickly, considering that they only had a couple of tournaments and practices to gel as a unit prior to the Games.
Action packed
“This is a very short event and it’s a lot of action packed into one week,” she says. “With the Tigers you have a whole season and you get to practice with them day after day and shape them. When you’re selecting a team like Team Nova Scotia you really have to pay attention to skill and character because in a short event if something goes wrong, there would be a lot of challenges to overcome. Whereas with the Tigers, if something isn’t quite right you have time to work it out.”
This is Ms. Jordan’s second time coaching at the Canada Games but her first as head coach; at the 2007 Games in Whitehorse, she was an assistant coach, working with her twin sister Lisa (coach of Saint Mary’s women’s varsity hockey team). She also played at the 1991 Games—the first time that women’s hockey was included as a sport.
“I think this is going to be the highlight for a lot of their careers,” she says of her team. “Women’s hockey is still a developing sport, so of our team, maybe five to eight of them will go on to play university hockey. So for most, this their big event. Having gone through it as a player and a coach, you never forget it. There’s so much going on, so much excitement...it’s the experience of a lifetime.”
Tigers trainer too
She’s joined on the Team Nova Scotia coaching staff by Joe Johnston, Dalhousie’s goalie coach. And Tigers student trainer Meredith Waisman is volunteering throughout the Games at the athlete polyclinic, located in the Athletes Village at the World Trade and Convention Centre.
“I really enjoy working with young athletes,” says Ms. Waisman, a physiotherapy masters student. “It’s a great clinical experience, because you really have to focus on explaining things clearly and on a level they can understand. It’s hands-on experience at a major event right here in Halifax.”
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