Jessica Campbell: A Pioneer for Women's Hockey
The late Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britian, once said “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” Laying the controversies of her political tenure aside, Thatcher was the embodiment of this witty remark: she knew how to get things done, and she did so with efficiency and skill.
Jessica Campbell and Her Inspiring Career
Women for all of history have exhibited remarkable resilience and resourcefulness and some of the most beloved authors, famed athletes, and successful artists of all kinds have been women. Yet despite the fame of some, there are far more women who are unsung heroes—people who live their lives well and carry out their work skillfully but with little to no attention for their efforts. This makes it especially exciting when we see stories like this one. Last week, Jessica Campbell made history as she walked up to the bench at her first game as the first ever female full-time assistant coach in NHL history.
Prior to serving as assistant coach to the Seattle Kraken, she was hired as assistant coach to the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. And before even coaching, she had a successful hockey career, playing for high school and college teams. She ended her playing career on the Canadian women's national team. When confronted with the success of people like Jessica Campbell, it can motivate us to pursue success and to seek ways that we, too, might give back to our respective communities. For us, part of this mission involves helping female athletes to excel. But why do we place such an emphasis on women’s sports?
Why Woman’s Sports Matter
The subject of women’s sports has been heavily researched, and the data is in: sports have countless benefits for women of all ages. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, participation in sports increases levels of self-esteem and confidence and even has the ability to lower levels of depression. Women who participate in sports have a more positive body image, and sports can teach young girls many of the skills necessary in a corporate environment. Finally, sports provide a vast number of physical benefits for both men and women. It's safe to say, then, that women’s sports matter. But what are we as the Casper Warbirds doing to help promote the many talented women athletes in our community?
The Warbirds: Promoting Women’s Sports
Since our founding, we at the Casper Warbirds have been especially concerned with promoting women’s sports in every way we can. For us, this meant establishing a training initiative called Women’s Hockey Development, a program dedicated to advancing the women’s game by emphasizing skill development, leadership, and sportsmanship in a positive environment. Within the last several months, we hired a very skilled and experienced player and coach, Caitlin Gilligan, to be the Vice President of the initiative, and we could not be more pleased at the prospect of working with her over the coming days. She has the skills that it takes, both as a hockey player and coach, to help these young women become the best platers—and people—that they can possibly be.
We look forward to helping young women develop their hockey skills in Casper Wyoming, and we can’t wait to see the ways that more women, like Jessica Campbell, gain the opportunity to show the world their hard-won abilities, both on and off the ice. It is our hope that the Warbirds can play even a small role in making that vision increasingly more of a reality.