By Tracey Duguay
The advice Canadian Olympic hockey gold medalist Cheryl Pounder imparted to a packed house of students at the Sudbury Arena on Tuesday was to ?light the fire within? and never give up on their goals.
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Cheryl Pounder poses with some local students who attented her speaking engagement |
Around 3,500 students from Sudbury, Capreol, Espanola and Massey came out to hear Pounder speak after being invited by the Investors Group, Sudbury, who organized the event.
?We saw Cheryl speak at a business gathering and we knew right away she would be excellent for children to hear as well,? says Lyle Van Every, associate regional director for Investors Group, Sudbury. ?Her motivational talk about goal setting will strike a positive chord with the elementary and secondary students participating in this fun event. We are thrilled to have so many students involved.?
Pounder and her team won a gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah this past February.
The hockey player tried out for the 1998 Olympics but didn?t make the cut. She says she spent a lot of time, at first, blaming other people but ?didn?t really get any better until I looked at myself.?
Pounder made a vow she would never again purchase another item of Olympic clothing, but rather would wear it ?only if I earned it.?
The road to Olympic gold wasn?t smooth when she made the cut four years later. She talks about the physical training that was so tough she almost thought about quitting but says ?something deep inside? of her refused to give up.
Aside from the demanding training, the team itself needed a lot of work and in the year leading up to the Olympics, the national women?s team went on to lose eight games to the U.S.
The team decided during their losing streak to work even harder and demand excellence from themselves and from one another.
?Practice doesn?t make perfect,? explains Pounder. ?Perfect practice makes perfect.?
The team made it to Salt Lake City but in the semi-finals found themselves down by two goals at the end of the second period. Pounder credits their eventual win to hard work and practice and a big dose of national pride as well.
?We found out about the ?lucky loonie? in centre ice,? Pounder says. ?We knew in that moment we were going to do it.?
She spent the night before the big game ?tossing and turning? and worrying about messing up somehow and causing her team to lose. But when the morning arrived, Pounder?s nerves and fears were gone because she knew she was prepared for the challenge.
As the saying goes, the rest is history, and it?s a moment Pounder will remember forever, especially the image of her brother running down the stadium stairs screaming, ?that?s my sister.?
?It was the most unbelievable feeling of my life,? Pounder says. ?It made all the sacrifices and workouts worthwhile.?
She thinks everybody should have an ?Olympic moment,? and before wrapping up her speech, told the crowd that when opportunity knocks, ?grab it, set your goals, and go after it.?
