Cassie Campbell, former captain of Canada's gold medal women's hockey team, visited three Yukon communities on Tuesday, October 3. Children and community members in Mayo, Pelly Crossing and Carmacks had a chance to visit with the hockey star, ask questions and hold her gold medal from the Torino Olympics.
In Mayo, Campbell played floor hockey with students. In Pelly Crossing, she participated in the community's Canada Games Torch Relay event, helping light the torch and then joining the community for a meal. Later in the day she visited Carmacks where she spoke to students, answered questions and displayed her gold medal.
Campbell told children and community members about the impact the Canada Games had on her career. She said her experience playing hockey at the 1991 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island pushed her to pursue hockey even further.
Cassie Campbell has been the captain of the national hockey team since 2001 and is known as one of the most successful female hockey players of all time. She won Olympic gold in Salt Lake City and Torino, and she also holds six world championship titles. She announced her retirement from the team at the end of August. This fall she is starting a new career in broadcasting, and is one of the newest faces on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.
Visits by professional athletes to Yukon communities happen through the 2007 Canada Games Community Partner program.