Latest / Rinkside Rundown / Margot Page on Olympic Lessons, Transitioning from Player to Coach, and the Growth of Women's Hockey
Transcript
- speaker-0: And I remember just stand like on the bench and watching and just looking at every kid and the smiles. And I was just like, that's what it's all about is seeing them succeed and realizing that your job as a coach is enjoy your own journey, but make sure that everybody else is enjoying theirs and still growing and developing and feeling good about it. speaker-1: Hello and welcome back to Rinkside Rundown, the podcast that brings you inside the world of women's hockey one story at a time. I'm your host, Chris Sinclair, and today I am thrilled to be joined by Margage, head coach of the Brock University Badgers. Margot, welcome to the show. How you doing? speaker-0: I'm doing outstanding. Thanks for having me, Chris. speaker-1: Absolutely, yes. glad you're doing so well. ⁓ we have so much in this conversation to cover. So I want to start as we always do on this podcast, and that's right back at the beginning. Throughout your or at least early on in your journey, you have mentioned about how ⁓ you were really inspired by your brother to get into the game and the passion that he had for the game. You found that same passion. But you found or you were going into a game that wasn't ready for you yet. Could you take us back to that and what you remember about that period again of wanting to play a game before the game was ready for you? speaker-0: Yeah, like it it's kind of funny because I started really loving the game and it's a very typical Canadian story where, you know, we'd frozen lake, northern Ontario, New Liskerd, and we'd walk down to the lake, clear it off and and play. And it was my brother and myself and my older sister. I was the youngest. And that's how I started loving it. And then my brother played the game and I would follow him into the rinks and I'd just sit there and I wasn't one of your typical kids, you know, running around the rink, going all over the place, playing other things. I sat and watched and absolutely loved it and I wanted to play. And that was probably when I was about seven, eight, nine years old, right? So pretty young. ⁓ and at that point in time, my my parents were for were from Holland. And so they came to Canada and they just didn't think hockey was for girls. And there was no girls team there and they didn't even think I I wanted to register for hockey and I went up to the desk and they wouldn't let me. And my parents said, see, they don't have girls hockey, so you can't register. And I'm like, okay. So I went into gymnastics and started doing other sports and loved my sports, but hockey was always on the back of my mind. My dad, ⁓ he was a bank manager, and so he traveled like moved every four or five years. And I remember him coming home when we were in New Liskerd and saying, think I was eleven at the time, and saying we were moving again. And I was pretty upset because I had friends and everything like that there. And you know, you're at the age where you're like, no, I have to make friends again. But then he told me that he had done some research and where we're moving to, there were some girls' hockey teams I could join. And I'm like, let's go. Like, let's get out of here. Let's go. And we moved down to King Cardin, Ontario. And I started playing for a little team called Tiverton, which was just on the outskirts of Toronto, where the Tiverton Big Reds. And that was my first real I had a team to play, an organized team. ⁓ you know, we had players on on the ice that were anywhere from twelve years old, myself to thirty-two years old, but we were all one team playing senior women's hockey. And, you know, we had the bomber jackets with big red on the back. We had big red gum in our pocket, and we were pretty cool. yeah, and that was sort of the beginning and I I haven't stopped since. ⁓ and I've been very fortunate to play girls' hockey throughout my youth and w and women's hockey as I started getting older and ⁓ you know, i it it's been phenomenal. I had the opportunity to switch over and and play for the boys and made that decision not to and and stay stay with my friends and enjoy the game. And it continued to grow and you know, stay involved the whole time and now it's my career being a coach, right? So it's pretty pretty cool when you start seeing that whole whole plan, that whole journey through. speaker-1: Yeah, and I guess especially early on, do you think that having to wait for your opportunity to play again with especially girls? ⁓ do you think that fueled your passion even more for the sport? Or did you ever feel discouraged saying, you know what, I really want to play this, but there just doesn't like the landscape, there's no spot for me. So I maybe I shouldn't maybe it isn't something that I should pursue. speaker-0: I s I s yeah, not when I was living in New Liskerd when I didn't have a team to play. I was just like, okay, well that's the way life is. I didn't know any better when I was young and I f I found other avenues in in the way of sport. Like I played everything. I did track and field. Everything that you could do, I did. So I was pretty immersed in everything else and never thought about it. I just always thought, Okay, I I wish I could do this and I didn't know there was women's and girls hockey until we moved down into you know, southwestern Ontario. So then it was like, ⁓ holy cow. And then it was, no matter where I go, I'm going to play. This is I I love this sport and I'm going to play. And and I think from my standpoint, I was very fortunate because there was never a time where I number one couldn't find a team to play for or or that I was told I I couldn't play. Like so I I was pretty fortunate that way. But I also I think one thing that's really neat is It was always smaller communities that I played for. It was never large large cities or or l large organizations. It was always the smaller communities that I played for. And for some reason they always made sure smaller communities had had a team. speaker-1: Now you had mentioned there about ⁓ also playing multiple sports. And it's something that really fascinates me about being an athlete. And for you, that also includes winning gold in field athletics, which is ⁓ obviously ⁓ incredible. ⁓ thinking back to your experiences playing multiple sports, especially now as you're a coach, what do you tell what do you tell? ⁓ young players who may feel either pressure to specialize into hockey or maybe wondering and and enjoying a lot of different sports at the same time and wondering if they should specialize. What do you tell them about maybe the benefits to not specializing, or maybe how good it is to be able to focus on one thing and be so good at that one thing? speaker-0: I think there's sort of a a point in time and every athlete is different where if you want to be a high level national team athlete or ⁓ you sport athlete or d or an N C double A athlete, division one, like I think there's a point in time where you have to specialize. ⁓ and and probably specialize not just sport but position in your sport. But I think the foundation is developed when you're younger, where you're starting to develop not just the skills of the sport, because you you can work on that at any point in time, but it's the whole athletic sense, the athletic ability, the athletic IQ that you're getting from other sports. Because I don't know about other coaches, but I steal a ton of drills from basketball. I steal steal a ton of drills from soccer, right? And any kind of training mentality or commitment you have to make and track and field because you have to really it's more individual and you have to really get inside yourself to be able to think about, okay, this is me, but I'm also part of the team. But I have to perform in this one thing. ⁓ so basically I I talk to athletes about when you're young, do as much as you can. Don't specialize. Try different things. Try goalie, try four, try D, try soccer, try and I even like lacrosse is phenomenal for hockey if you're If you're looking for some later things. So ⁓ I constantly encourage it. ⁓ I think at some point in time, once you sort of look at, I really love hockey and this is where I want to go, and you're, you know, 16, 17, 18, then you have to start saying, okay, I need to start making some decisions. And I want to do this, but I also still want to do soccer. How can I make both of those work? And then you have those honest conversations with. whether it's your trainers or your coaches or whatever as to how to do both. Like I still have athletes on my team that in the summer play high level soccer. I have a player on my team right now. She also does Brock rugby. So, you know, and I will never say no to that. You know, you you you kick yourself when they get injured and they come in, they're like, coach, I'm out for a couple weeks and you're like, but ⁓ still like it just makes them better. And ultimately if you love it, just keep moving forward. That's how I decided myself to play hockey and continue hockey at university. ⁓ a lot of my own coaches and teachers were pushing me towards basketball and volleyball. And I was like, okay, so I was gonna try out and do that because they said, ⁓ you know, hockey's really not gonna take you anywhere because that was back in the 80s, right? The late 80s. So it's like, ⁓ hockey's not gonna take you everywhere, anywhere. And I'm like, ⁓ okay. So, you know, it's in my head and then ultimately before going in, I'm like, you know what? No, like I gotta do hockey. Like I I'm sorry. Like that's what I love. I'm passionate about it. And if it doesn't take me anywhere, I'm gonna be happy. And then I also in university I continue doing track as well, right? So or field field more, you know, ⁓ as well. And that kinda helped me out a lot in just keeping grounded. But like if I didn't have the hockey, like I I don't know, I wouldn't be me now, right? Like I just wouldn't be me now and I kinda I kinda like me now, so speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And I I think that it's ⁓ the reason that I like to ask that question. I mean, there are a lot of reasons I like to, but it's about understanding the the value. There's a tremendous value ⁓ with the transferable skills between the different sports, right? And how those transferable skills end up ultimately making you, in this case, a better ⁓ hockey player for sure. And I I think of course there are always those exceptions. The first one that always comes to mind is the McKenna Websters of the world where she's been able to be a fant an absolutely fantastic hockey player and somehow at the same time an equally fantastic field hockey player. ⁓ again, transferable skills there. But I do I do understand the importance of, you know, at some point focus, but get as much of that experience and lead up to making that decision. And that's a valuable, ⁓ that's valuable advice. speaker-0: Yeah, and I think it's not just transferable skills too. Like like those skills are really important. What I see lacking at the university level are the concepts, the athletic concepts, like how you support a past, how you move into open space, right? Like those sorts of things that are so important, like that I don't think get taught well enough now. And people are so worried about, you know, just getting getting games in and not developing the skills and tactics and concepts that, you know. In soccer, it's you know, supporting passes. How do you do that? You do a great job with with stuff like that. So it's yeah, I I agree. Like it's something that transferable skills, the concepts of it, build as much foundation as you can. And then, you know, you know, depending on the athlete you are, some people do have to completely focus. But I as I said, like I have a couple athletes that are dual sport and they're they're still doing okay in university. So speaker-1: It's again, it's remarkable because I can barely do one thing really well and yet here they are doing a bunch. ⁓ so let's talk about your coaching. ⁓ of course, that's where you're at now. That's what you've been doing for quite some time. ⁓ and I really want to pick your brain around that, but I also want to understand what that journey's been like for you. and I guess first of all, what made you decide, you know, coaching is how you feel. Either you feel like you can most contribute or maybe you're most passionate, you're more passionate about teaching the game. ⁓ what led to the decision to switch from being a player to being a coach? speaker-0: Well, I I was a teacher for eight years. So I I taught for eight years and ⁓ I wasn't really thinking anything but that I'd be a teacher because I loved I love teaching. I love seeing kids learn. I I love seeing being involved with them. I love seeing their development. and, you know, I just didn't like being on a set curriculum and being on a bell and saying, Okay, we're done now when you can see kids struggling and they need some extra help or You needed something left up, like a lab left up, but there it has to be taken down. And like I just didn't like that part of it. So ⁓ I I was thinking, what else did I want to do besides teaching? And coaching at that point in time, it wasn't anything that you had a livable wage on. It was like, I don't know what to do. I want to coach. I love it because I loved coaching in high school. Like I was a coach in high school and I loved coaching basketball and track and all that kind of stuff. And Love the interactions. And Niagara University, ⁓ they were looking for a coach. And I ⁓ someone called me up. ⁓ Cassie Phillips, I don't know if you remember that name from back in the nineties, a goalie. ⁓ she called me up and said, Hey, would you be interested in interviewing for this job? It's in the US, it's division one, da-da-da-da-da. And I'm like, ⁓ I can't do teaching and go she goes and and do this coaching and travel over the border and somehow make this w I said, I just can't, Kathy. She goes, No, no, no, no. It's like a full time job and I'm like, What? Really? And so I I went over and I had the interview and ⁓ they asked me on the spot if I would if I would be the first coach of the program and I took a huge pay cut but I was able to stay in Canada and just ⁓ commute back and forth for the whole time and ⁓ loved it and just continued to grow and went, yeah, this is definitely my calling. This is definitely it's a different lifestyle, but it's definitely more me. It's definitely more me. And ⁓ that's how I ended up starting coaching is is just really loving that. speaker-1: Yeah, and I I'm gonna get to more of that experience and maybe what that experience or how that experience has obviously ⁓ influenced your current role with Brock in just a moment. But I do also want to talk about playing on the biggest of stages because that's something that you have done at the world championships. You've ⁓ no big deal, won some gold medals. ⁓ pat on the back for that one. ⁓ also you were on the ⁓ the coaching staff at the Olympics. ⁓ back in Torino. Yep. Again, no big deal. Gold medal. ⁓ so lumping those experiences together, of course, as a player and as a ⁓ as a coach, what experiences or what do you take from those experiences that you feel you've been able to bring first, of course, through Niagara, but now ultimately to Brock? speaker-0: It's just like the amount of work you actually have to put in to be able to get to that level and then succeed at that level. And it's just not about you, it's about everybody else. And that's all the way from the therapist through the players to the coaches to the admin. Like there's a ton of work that gets put in to be a successful team. And the things that I learned as a player and a coach are incredible. You know, h being humble. i is one thing because you might think you're a great hockey player and then you go in there and you're a fourth line player and you may or may not play and you still have to be there for your teammates. And this is stuff like right now we're going into playoff season and those are the same messages I'm giving to players here and I get it because I was one of those players with the national team. I wasn't always playing, you know, we have the Angela James's and Geraldine Heaney's and Haley Wickenheisers of the world. You know, I'm not even close to them. So it was more, hey, I'm just kid going to the net, you know, like that's that's me. And it's ⁓ it's it's neat to be able to as a coach learn that as a player because you can kind of feel for them, right? You you can you can definitely feel for them as to what they're going through. I think the other thing as a coach is you start looking at more of the intrinsic than extrinsic things. Like everybody ⁓ keeps asking me as a coach, you didn't get a medal back then. I said, no, we didn't And they're like, wow, like that's so sad. And I'm like, no, like the experience, the journey was one of the best things I've ever had because we had such a good group of people, like our coaching staff, you know, Mel Davidson was my my head coach, and I was with Tim Bothwell and Peter Smith. And wow, like I just learned. I w I was a sponge and I learned and we all had our roles and I learned how to professionally run things. But the best point was when we won gold and coaches, you can't. Players can go on the ice, but ⁓ all staff have to stay off the ice for safety reasons. And and I remember just stand like on the bench and watching and just looking at every kid and the smiles. And I was just like, that's what it's all about is seeing them succeed and realizing that your job as a coach is enjoy your own journey, but make sure that everybody else is enjoying theirs and still growing and developing and feeling good about it. And So I was there and I was just looking at it going, ⁓ yeah, they enjoyed their journey. Just look at them. And I was just so proud of everybody and obviously representing Canada as well, right? And the people that are behind you, you can feel the whole nation behind you. You can feel that wave pushing you up, going, Well done, you know? So that's pretty cool too. But just watching everybody and the smiles and tears and hugs. And I'm just like, ⁓ my God, that's why you do it. That's why you coach. speaker-1: Yeah. And it ⁓ as you were sharing that, I immediately felt as though it's obvious just how much at your core you are a teacher, right? Because that's about it's about setting them up. It's about setting them up for their future and supporting them in every step of the way. And that's exactly the core message that I took away from ⁓ the stories that you just shared and just how important that is to you is to, you know, it's great to have individual success, but it's even better when you see other people reaching their the the their goals and their milestones and being able to celebrate with them along the way. speaker-0: Well, and I think it's also identifying yourself as a coach and and what you do well and what you don't do well and what you know, like I could never imagine myself being in Mel Davidson's shoes during those Olympics as a head coach. I'm a really darn good assistant coach at that level. At the university level, okay. I'm a really good head coach. I don't know if I could be a really good assistant coach. My assistant coach is a great assistant coach. He's my lead assistant, Mike McDonald and He's awesome, right? Like it's just you start seeing, and so I started using that as well when I'm talking to coaches and mentoring coaches is just, you know, be happy. You don't, everybody doesn't have to be a head coach. You know, everybody doesn't have to be an assistant coach. At different age group levels, you're gonna be in different roles and being successful and helping in different ways. Bottom line, no matter what, you're you're part of the journey, but you're part of helping them through to their through their journey to be successful, right? speaker-1: Mm-hmm. I want to talk about the the growth of ⁓ youth sports women's hockey specifically. And the reason ⁓ there are a lot of reasons I want to talk about that. But I think one of them is that, you know, the opp I've had many opportunities to speak with players both on the American side and the Canadian side, ⁓ throughout throughout ⁓ episodes of the show. And often it's N C double A was their goal. That's like when they were growing up, it's N C double A. And even as as Canadians, they aren't necessarily thinking about U Sports being a viable option for them. So as someone who's been in USports for as long as you have, maybe share how you've seen from when you started to now the growth of USports, ⁓ the growth of women's hockey, the excitement there. Maybe from a coaching perspective, could you share what you've seen in in the growth over the last decade? speaker-0: Yeah, for sure. 'Cause I've been a decade at Brock, so I can almost get part but also too, it's it's funny because I also was in OUA U Sport as a player and ⁓ quite different back then too, like even then. But as a coach over the last ten years, it's it's crazy. ⁓ the the way programs are run now, it's more of a hockey Canada level professional level where many teams have a full-time head coach and a full-time assistant coach, and you have all the resources in the world. We do have scholarship money, but not as much. Our in the OUA, it's a little bit less. ⁓ but any kind of resources are there. The funding is obviously the little thing. We don't get the funding compared to NCAA, but the funding is improving and increasing. One perfect example is myself. ⁓ when I started coaching, I was making a couple grand and a cup of coffee ⁓ in you know, ten years ago. And now I have a livable wage and I have an assistant coach, not a complete full time but full time seasonal assistant coach now. ⁓ so I'm fine and with you know with benefits and everything like who would have thought that would have ever happened. ⁓ our resources, because you're at the university level, there's many different creative ways to get resources, but you know A typical week is we're we're on the ice every day but one. We practice, we have two games. We have a lead therapist, we have a lead strength and conditioning instructor, ⁓ we have ⁓ a mental health navigator so that they can actually help from general stuff. We have a sports psych person, you know, we have a quit a full time equipment manager. We never had any of those things, any of those things throughout the time. Do we have to Rev Gen and and generate funds? Absolutely. But we also get funding from the schools. So it's it's way better than you think, right? So therefore not. Like when we when we're here, like we get everything covered, we get our equipment covered. ⁓ the only thing is skates and some internal equipment. ⁓ they get fed on the road, they get hotels, you know. Before, I still remember when I first started helping out here at Brock. We stopped at a Tim Hortons for our pre-game meal and I'm like, ⁓ okay. Like I'm hopping off and they're and everybody's like lining up and pulling their wallets out. And I'm like, ⁓ like this is really like our pregame meal at Tim Hortons. They're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everybody bought themselves. Now it's completely different. We're like, no, we're buying your meal. We're having, you know, chicken and pasta and salad and water and like it like just things like that. It's just it it it compares to the NCAA from the standpoint of the program run. The funding, you may have to fundraise a little bit more. ⁓ your staffing, you may have to be creative with it, but you still get what you need. ⁓ but still the better players go down because the scholarship, they can get full rides, they can do that. The competition, their resources are still a step up. But if you come to a U Sport program, I can tell you your experience is is going to be incredible. ⁓ we have a lot of ⁓ NCAA athletes coming back to Canada now and going to various Usport teams. And and that's their comment to me going, I didn't know that it would be like this. It's sometimes it's even better. Like they're they're surprised. I'm a big fitness person with our team. So strength and conditioning is a priority. And they're like, I can't believe we work out this much in season. Like then you know, it's like Yeah, and like we have someone running it and a professional running it. So it's not like me going, Yeah, go for a run. It's like, no, very serious they're like, This is just completely professionally run. They were surprised. And I'm like, Well, pretty much every team runs like this in in new sport. So speaker-1: Yeah, and it's it's something that ⁓ I've ⁓ I've had a conversation with a few different youth sports players and that's exactly what they said was that the the level of competition, the level like even just off ice stuff, ⁓ it was not necessarily that it was ⁓ I mean, sometimes it's surprising to them that it's at the level that it is because again, it's that perception that if you're gonna pursue hockey, there's one way to go. Whether you're in Canada, the US, it's you gotta go N C double A when you don't really need to. Like of course, if that's what Is in the cards for you? Sure. But as you've explained, there are a lot of reasons to either stay in Canada or come to Canada. speaker-0: And I think that's the thing too. Like people have to really look at themselves individually and not really try and keep up with the Joneses or think the grass is going to be greener and I or I'm going to be able to do this. Look at how big a school you want, how far you want to go away, ⁓ your finances, are you gonna play there? Do you like your teammates? What's the coaching philosophy for when you're there? Like all of those things come into play. What happens if you get injured? You know, do you have are you gonna have a good relationship with your staff and your coaching, ⁓ coaches, you know, those sorts of things are so incredibly important that you wanna have a really fun four or five years of your life and you wanna enjoy it and you wanna grow as a human. You know, and our like at Brock, like I know that I it's a recruiting thing, but like like you wanna win championships and you wanna win games, but we wanna Like big picture, you come in, by the time you graduate, we want strong, confident, independent young women that feel empowered and have a voice. That's our recruiting thing. And I think most schools should be looking at that because hockey's just the journey. Like that's that's the ⁓ that's the conduit that brings you all of those things because you're gonna learn those things. ⁓ so and if we win championships, fantastic, right? Like, but that's the biggest thing that I see. That's your job when you're out of university. You're not you're you're not there for anything else, but making sure those kids grow and develop into great humans that are ready for life after university. speaker-1: And I feel like that's a great segue into ⁓ one of the last things I want to talk to you about today and and that's ⁓ the growth of women's hockey. And I think ⁓ of course you're you're in it is ⁓ very heavily, of course. So you have a a a perspective from that there, but also your own journey going from a time where women's hockey there wasn't. There was nowhere to sign, there was nowhere to play, to now where we have Of course, we've we've had the the SDHL to play professionally. Now we have of course the PWHL. So I want to get from your perspective how you're feeling, how optimistic are you? And what are your thoughts on the growth and the trajectory of women's hockey, where it started to where it is now, to where it could go? What do you what kind of ⁓ comes to mind when you see the the the path that women's hockey is on? speaker-0: ⁓ gosh, I have so much to say about this. Okay, so first starting, did you know that ⁓ first national team night ⁓ 1990, we had to pay to try out like for our national team. Yeah. So so it's come a long way. ⁓ which is which is really neat. I I am so excited to see where it is now. ⁓ obviously there's so many people even before me and my era and the next era that have worked so hard. To be able to get it to where it is now. And it's so exciting because kids playing now, high school and that sort of thing, ⁓ and young kids when they are nine years old, they just they want to go to U Sport or NCAA and they want to be on the national team and now they want to play on the PWHL. So it's incredibly exciting. And I think if the PWHL continues to add slow and grow. They're going to be very successful. I would just like to see a thought put towards there's your NCAA U Sport, and there's Senior Women's Spear League, and there's PWHL. And I would just like to see some sort of link between the two of them so that more people who still want to be competitive coming out of the NCAA and U Sport can still be. Look to develop because women in hockey excel at a ⁓ much older age. So you're gonna see people that are probably in their prime, late 20s, early 30s. You're not seeing at 22 and 23. And so I wish there was something happening in between where those ones who are maybe not able to get drafted and play on a PWHL team. They have somewhere to play to still have that dream in three or four years with a somewhat livable wage or somewhere where they can still train, play, and and do those things, get maybe some Sport Canada funding or some s something from their their own countries and be able to then maybe in three or four years step into one of those instead of it's gonna be the best from the NCAA that are going to be drafted into the PWHL and And I can tell you right now, a lot of those PWHL players, they're gonna be few and far between retiring over the next little while, right? So I think that's one thing. ⁓ but very exciting. And I I'm I can't wait to sit back and and see it all happen. I think the other thing is the growth of women's hockey, not just in Canada and US, but but other countries. And and for me, I I I haven't done as much research in the past, but I just know that. The funding and the acceptance of the women's game is still quite low in a lot of other countries, whether it be Czechia or China or Finland or Sweden. You know, I I just wish that there would be a way for government funding, ⁓ sport funding for those countries, support for those countries to be able to grow and develop and and work on their foundation, working on. I guess just that more the perception that this is something viable that women can pursue and to to back it. And I'm still not seeing it, ⁓ which is very sad. And you can see it by, you know, just people on the bench from different countries, ⁓ very male dominant. you know, very like I think at the Olympics they're saying there's like twelve different ⁓ staffing that are on different countries, like Why are we not developing our staff as well and our females as well ⁓ in those countries to be able to, you know, contribute back to their game and to grow and excel in their game? So I think that's the other thing I'd I'd really like to keep an eye on as to what's happening there and how that's going to grow and develop. And and is there any way that we can help? I know in the past, ⁓ Hockey Canada and USA hockey, ⁓ we did a mentorship program where we started helping, and that's how myself, Carla McLeod and a bunch got involved with ⁓ other countries to try and help them grow and develop. And, you know, I I don't know, I just wish there was something there. Or even just their government getting a kick in the butt and saying, Hey, come on, like, like it's it's, you know, 2026 right now. Let's get going. Like get women involved here. speaker-1: Yeah, and I mean, we've seen the success, right? When people buy in, when people see the sport, it it does not take long for people to recognize the skill level, the entertainment value, all of those different things. But they just need to be able to to to be in that spotlight. And that's a part of that, of course, is funding. And I agree with you. And I also agree with you in terms of the devel ⁓ development league or some sort of some step between the PWHL and ⁓ collegiate hockey, because I think that's That's a huge missing link, and I certainly hope that's something that they're gonna invest in. ⁓ we have one final segment of today's show. And this segment is called the final buzzer segment. And typically I do this with players. You're the very first coach to ever go through this. So I think it's gonna be really unique to hear your perspective on some of these questions because they are very similar and I intentionally made them very similar to the players because I wanna get to into that mind of a coach on game day. I'm very speaker-0: I'm very excited. I'm very excited about that. I don't I I don't remember the questions, but I'm I'm excited about that. That's okay. speaker-1: Okay, great. Yeah, well I appreciate Okay, that's okay, 'cause they're coming right at you right now. So we're gonna start with the same one I always ask every player is ⁓ from a coach's perspective, what are you eating on game day? What's your go to pre game meal? speaker-0: My go-to pregame meal is always leftovers because I have no time on game day to make any. So if I'm having stir fry the night before, it's stir-fry pregame. I'm yeah, it's very set. And then lots of coffee. speaker-1: Fueled by coffee. Yeah, that's fair. That's that's her tagline, Margot Page, fueled by coffee. Yeah. ⁓ I want to also know of course, ⁓ players are often listening to music or often like they're doing something to kind of get into the zone, ⁓ kind of maybe escape and and to block out the noise. As a head coach, and of of course a former player, but as a head coach, what are you doing to get mentally ready for the game? speaker-0: I play my guitar. Before every game? Yep. I have my guitar and my staff have to listen to me and my kids are down the hall and they can hear me. And so I I have my guitar here and I have a guitar at home. Just started taking lessons for a couple of years. I am terrible at it, but I pick up the guitar and I strum it. And if I'm stressed in between periods, my staff know because I pick up the guitar and I start just strumming it. So yeah, I no playlist because I can't really play much. Like I can play under the boardwalk and Harvest Moon and some of those things. But yeah, I I play my guitar. speaker-1: Wow, that's not the answer I was expecting. So I love that. I love that. ⁓ what do you think hockey has taught you about yourself that maybe you didn't expect? speaker-0: ⁓ life is more about ⁓ being kind to everybody else because I think you need to look after yourself, but you need to be kind to everybody else. And sometimes I wasn't very good about that. I was very into myself as a player. so I think that's probably the biggest thing is what you give is what you're gonna get back. And if you give love, you're gonna get love back. If you give respect, you're gonna get respect back. speaker-1: ⁓ good answer. I like that. ⁓ if your players had to describe you in one word, what do you think that word would be? speaker-0: One word, hey, that's really hard. ⁓ speaker-1: It can be a couple of words if you need it to. That's fine. speaker-0: Yeah. Intense demanding. Okay. Yeah, I think intense. speaker-1: Okay. last one for you. When you think back all those years ago to playing on the outdoor rink, quintessential Canadian origin story to your hockey story, what do you think you would tell yourself about the journey ahead? speaker-0: It's gonna be like a roller coaster. ⁓ a lot of ups, enjoy them, a lot of downs. You're gonna be able to get through them no matter what. Enjoy the ride because it's gonna be fun and it's gonna be worth it. speaker-1: ⁓ that is such a great way to end the final buzzer segment and this episode. Margot, this has been an absolute blast. Time flew by, which is always a good thing. ⁓ I just want to say once again, thank you so much. Of course, it's busy for you. You still found a way to spend some time with me today. ⁓ share your story. I'm leaving this feeling awfully inspired and ready absolutely to root for Brock University. So thank you once again for joining today's episode. speaker-0: Thanks for having me, Chris. speaker-1: And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your fellow hockey fans. Your support helps me to keep bringing you stories just like this one from around the world of women's hockey. I'm Chris Sinclair. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll catch you next time on Ringside Rundown.