Interview with Cassie Campbell-Pascall

By Eric Rumble

Long before captaining the Canadian Women's Hockey Team to gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic games, Cassie Campbell-Pascall was helping aspiring young players take larger strides. As a Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey spokesperson, Campbell-Pascall has helped to implement its unique blend of skill development and social principles into an engaging and highly effective format. With a degree in sociology from the University of Guelph, and a vast portfolio of philanthropic work, Campbell-Pascall has proven to be an excellent role model for just about anyone.

Campbell-Pascall's athletic credentials are also exceptional. She's been a member of the National Team since 1994 and she helped her team earn gold five times at World Championship tournaments. She was also part of the silver medal-winning team at the Nagano Olympics in 1998. Campbell-Pascall has been included on All-Star teams in the National Women's Hockey League and the Ontario Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and has shown uncompromising grit and versatility while playing forward and defense at different times in her career.

Motion asked Campbell-Pascall what all her successes and experiences have taught her about playing the game of hockey and-more importantly-passing on its finer points to the next generation of players.

Why did you get involved with Chevrolet Safe & Fun?

I got involved because of stories I was hearing in hockey about parents beating up other parents and referees - crazy stories that haven't happened in the women's game, but will one day be a factor I think. I just didn't like the way the game was going, and I wanted to promote that kids should be having fun out there. I just love what the program stands for.

What issues does the program try to address?

I think we make hockey too much of a priority at a young age, and we're missing the point in how much practice time is important for the kids. You have kids in the Metro Toronto Hockey League that play over 100 times a year. When do they have time to do other activities? Parents are spending so much money to keep their kids in hockey for one year, let alone 10 to 15 years. Everyone has to have matching outfits and there are all sorts of tournaments and travelling. It's so professional at such a young age that these kids are missing what the game is all about. We have to make sure that we're not living our dreams through our kid's dreams, and I think in hockey that happens a little too often.

Why are Chevrolet Safe & Fun's principles so important?

The kids just want to go out and play, whether they show up eight times a week or twice a week they're going to have fun. I think the best thing about Chevrolet Safe & Fun is that we're giving the parents a voice, a tool. We've given them a definition of what their real role should be in minor hockey, we've given them ideas and avenues to make sure the environment of hockey is safe for their children. And with that, the parents will start to have fun too. A lot of parents are too afraid of rocking the boat because of the consequences for their child. Chevrolet Safe & Fun has allowed them to have a positive voice and an active role in the direction that hockey takes.

In what direction do you think minor hockey is going?

I took a coach's clinic this year and saw a video of a coach reaming out a kid because he lost his man in the defensive zone and it resulted in a goal. This child ended up being benched and the parents didn't say anything about it. I think parents have to realize that they have a voice and that they have to step up and be responsible for the people that they allow to be around their children. I think in some cases, parents are too afraid to say, "so and so is doing this" because they think it will affect their kid's ice time.

Do girls in minor hockey face different challenges than boys?

Young girls playing hockey are not seen as the next superstars yet, so they don't have as much to live up to and there's not as much monetary gain at this point. Eventually I see it happening if the girls are being pushed and pressured. You think of Eric Lindros being hounded by the media and sponsors at age 14, and that just doesn't happen in the women's game. We're dealing with these issues on a smaller scale, but you still have parents yelling at their kids from the stands and the girls are starting to play a lot more games because there are more teams. We're always fighting for exposure but with that many negative things come too.

Does the game lose anything when you try to take the emphasis away from competition?

I've been in arenas where parents are yelling at their kids during the game: "Pass it, shoot it, do this." And the coach is doing the same thing from the bench. I think it's okay to teach kids to have a competitive spirit, but I think they have to learn to be competitive with themselves and set personal goals. We're so focused on the team goals because hockey is such a great team sport, but we forget about individual goals. Each year a coach has to put together a package of small goals that are realistic and achievable, and that itself teaches kids about competitiveness and challenges.

What do parents get out of Chevrolet Safe & Fun?

They become part of the team in trying to promote the goals of the program, and learn to be a good role model for their children. I think parents are really on board when they leave the program knowing that their kids have had a great time and have been influenced by great players.

If kids take one thing home from a Chevrolet Safe & Fun Festival, what should it be?

Jokingly, they should get autographs from Orr and Bossy. They sign everything for the kids, from their shirts to their books. But what a kid really gets out of the Festival is a chance to have fun and to meet other kids that they don't play with or against. At the same time they're learning to be better skaters and stick handlers without even noticing. They learn that it's important for them to clean their equipment and air it out and help their parents carry it, and they understand it's not right to hurt other people and opponents and to be respectful of their coaches. We have all kinds of fun things for them to do, and it's a fact that they learn two things: respect and responsibility.

How do you know the message is effective?

We teach the kids about checking-how to check, the consequences, not to check from behind-and you can see it when the little kids are playing three on three during the course of a weekend. They're stopping instead of hitting someone. When we have classroom sessions with them, they answer questions and listen. In some cases the kids are the teachers in this whole thing because they know this stuff and can speak up in front of an entire group about it. They understand that Tie Domi can go and fight in the NHL, but that at a young age it's not a responsible action that it doesn't show respect for your teammates.