聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 As the first-ever full-time female hockey head coach at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, 30-year-old Robin Ulrich describes her new role as 鈥淎 fantastic opportunity. It's basically the highest level of women's hockey outside of the national team.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 This season, the Lampman native was appointed interim head coach of the University's Huskies women's hockey team, while the team's head coach Steve Kook takes a one-year sabbatical for professional development.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 was able to get a leave of absence from my contract with my school division,鈥� says Ulrich, who teaches high school Physical Education in Lampman. 鈥淭hey were awesome letting me take the opportunity.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he entire community of Lampman has been really supportive and they've always helped me celebrate. Even last weekend, four of the kids I taught last year showed up to cheer the Huskies on. They had a sign that said 'Go Coach DJ Rob'. The players joked that the coach has a sign, but they don't.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Ulrich says her hometown has supported her hockey ambitions from the very beginning.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 started out figure skating as a kid, but I was friends with all the guys in my class and they all played hockey. So I figured maybe I should play too,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 went from figure skating to playing hockey. When I was about nine-years-old, I started to play hockey. It was a pretty natural thing in Lampman. I was friends with all the guys who played and there were a few girls from town who played hockey then in Lampman. I wasn't the only one. There was another girl from my grade who played on the same team as I did.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 never had those terrible stories about girls playing hockey,鈥� adds Ulrich. 鈥淧eople just accepted it in Lampman. I got dressed in a different dressing room than the boys, but it wasn't like one of those stories with the lone girl player shoved behind a furnace, sitting on a pail or something like that.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎s for challenges, there's nothing I ever recall being horribly bad,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you had a ponytail-and I did- that made you a bit of a target with other teams sometimes. And sometimes, with checking, but they were all just things that as a player, you learn to deal with.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 was lucky enough that I got to play on both boys and girls teams every year growing up, except for grades 11 and 12 when I only played girls hockey.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭here was one year I played for four different teams-boys peewee house, girls peewee, a boys provincial tier team and midget girls.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 think I owe a lot of my development as a player聽 to the fact that I had the chance to be on the ice, either practicing or playing, almost every night of the week,鈥� says Ulrich. 鈥淚 also was lucky enough to have my dad coach me all throughout my minor hockey career. We spent a lot of time in the truck, driving all over the countryside.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淢y entire family was always really supportive-my mom (Maureen), my dad, (Randy) and my sister, Blaire, my grandparents... Everyone was really behind me.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淢y Uncle Buzz (Allan Fleck) and my cousin Tyler (Fleck) both played hockey at a pretty high level, so they encouraged me a lot, too.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Ulrich's mother, Maureen Ulrich has written young adult novels which take their inspiration-in part- from her daughter's early days as a hockey player.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淢om's books were inspired by the stories of all the things that happened while I was playing hockey as a kid,鈥� says Ulrich. 鈥淏ut by no means are they about me. I'm not a character.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 was in university when they came out, and for me it was very inspiring to see her perseverance, especially with the first book. She approached a number of different publishers and eventually, she got one. It would have been very easy for her to quit, but she pushed through and that's very inspiring to me.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 After being scouted, Ulrich agreed to play hockey for the University of Saskatchewan's Huskies, starting in 2004. In addition to her successful university hockey career, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology degree and a Bachelor of Education degree. During her five-year tenure playing defence, she was voted team captain and won the CanadaWest Conference Student Athlete Award and the Huskie Athletics Female All-Around Athlete Award.
听听听听听听听听听听听 After her playing career, she was a Huskies assistant coach for five years and a scout for two years, some of it dones double-duty from a distance while she taught full-time in Lampman.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淐oaching is very similar to teaching,鈥� says Ulrich. 鈥淚t's all about your relationships with people. With your players, you trust and believe in them. Our players are scouted, so there's a reason that they fit our Huskie hockey player mould. We have high expectations for them- in hockey, in the classroom and in the community. There's a high degree of excellence and a standard of integrity that they're expected to uphold, all while finding a balance between school, hockey and a social life.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭hey do an amazing job,鈥� she says, adding that she continues to learn from the players she coaches. 鈥淲e ask a lot of them, too. Every day, they do four or five hours of hockey, besides school. And they keep their(academic) averages up, too. I see them on the bus on our way to a tournament, for example and I see how hard they work.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Ulrich says that members of the team come with both talent and an excellent work ethic.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎ll of our players are recruited,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey might come from a AAA team or their provincial team. Our players are from Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. And Manitoba.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭hey all come with their different backgrounds and systems and they've all come from different teams. Everyone's a good player at this level, but the challenge is to make them a team.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淪omething you notice every year is skating, shooting and ability with the puck is across the board much higher. The kids just seem to be getting better every year.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚t's really exciting and inspiring,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲ith our older players, it creates an internal competition-which is good because it pushes everybody to be better.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淎t the end of the day, our goal as a team is to be national champions- that doesn't change.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淔or me personally, I'm thankful I came from a family-including my extended family- and a community where everyone is super-supportive and excited for me.鈥�
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