KENOSEE LAKE - The folks at Kenosee Lake donned their jerseys, made signs and waved their flags to make an uplifting video to show their support for Micah Zandee-Hart, daughter of Mick Hart of Kenosee Lake, who was named to the Olympic Women’s Hockey Team.
Because the girls on the team have been in a bubble since January 12th, and will continue to be until the end of the Olympics, Hockey Canada requested that family members send in short clips for the girls to watch during their downtime.
Kenosee went one step further and brought much of the community together for the video.
Zandee-Hart, who hails from B.C. but has the obvious local connections, is set to make her Olympic hockey debut at Beijing, fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian more than two decades after her first encounter on the ice.
Zandee-Hart's love of skating began back when her dad laced her up in a pair of skates at age four.
"She was very nervous at first, hanging on to my hand and going 'round and 'round," says Zandee. "It didn't take too long until she just left me in the dust."
"From the time she started playing hockey when she was six, she had to play on a boys’ team because there was no girls’ team where she lived."
"She could skate circles around most of the guys and I think that helped with her development. She worked on her stickhandling and shooting," explains Mick.
"She's very, very dedicated to her sport and yes she loves it."
Zandee-Hart grew up playing on various boys teams up until the age of 15. She then moved away from home and attended a Hockey Academy at Penticton, B.C.
She was recruited to an U18 national program for two years, going to Budapest and winning a gold medal there. She captained the U18 team in Buffalo and they won a silver medal.
She's been over to Germany twice playing in tournaments. She was also on the bronze medal-winning Team Canada entry that went to Helsinki, Finland.
She then moved up to the U22 program and on to the senior team, playing defence.
She attended Cornell University for four years while still playing for the national team, graduating in 2020 when the pandemic hit and the last two games of the season were cancelled.
"Now I'm here," says Zandee-Hart as she sums up her hockey career.
Zandee-Hart says that a lot went through her mind when she was informed that she made the Olympic team.
"Talking with my mom, a lot of things from my childhood went through my mind, little things I did with the hopes I would get to this point one day."
"I thought a lot about family, inspiration of players who came before me and the thought of putting the jersey on and inspiring the next generation … just as I was inspired when I first watched the girls in the Olympics a long time ago."
"A lot goes through your mind and it's kind of an elated feeling of hearing that your dream is about to come true."
"We're looking forward to getting over there (Beijing) and get settled and we want to play. We're very excited and grateful that the tournament is going forward despite COVID-19."
"It's finally sinking in that we're really doing it."
Zandee-Hart explains that she may be from B.C. but because her parents are both originally from Saskatchewan and have a lot of family here, she feels she's a Saskatchewan person on this team.
"I feel like I kind of grew up in Kenosee, spending many summers there with my dad," says Zandee-Hart, a “Saskatchewan girl at heart.”
Zandee-Hart played a lot of other sports growing up including basketball, volleyball, soccer, rugby and competitive baseball and softball.
At the age of 15 she realized that hockey was probably going to be the sport to get her to the Olympics, so that was her main focus.
"I loved the idea of the Olympics, bringing athletes of different disciplines from all over the world to one area to have this massive competition."
"I love competing," admits Zandee-Hart. "Just ask any of my family members."
She says she enjoys the teamwork aspect of hockey.
"Now as I'm older and I look back on my career, some really amazing things that hockey has given me is the people that I've met, the coaches, the players, friends I made are still lifelong friends. The mentors throughout my hockey career and all the places I've been to with hockey. The experiences hockey has given me through tournaments that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise."
Zandee-Hart was asked where she sees herself 10 years down the road. Will she still be involved with hockey?
"For sure I will still be involved with hockey. I definitely love the game."
"I want to encourage more girls to stay in the game and have that experience I had with hockey, and spread the messages than I've learned over the years.
"Ten years from now, if I'm done playing at that point...I'll probably be coaching somewhere."
"I was coached by former gold medalist hockey player Gina Kingsbury and she was the person that made my dream really come to life and made me realize that I could do what I wanted to do. I definitely want to be that person for the next generation.
"I'm the only one from B.C. on our national team roster so for me it's just giving back to all the communities that I was a part of in B.C. and hoping to get more girls from that province on the national team."
The Women’s Hockey Team headed out for Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 26 to take part in the Olympics which are held from Feb. 2-16.
Mick Hart comments:
"If it wasn't for COVID, we'd (all parents) be going to Beijing as well."
"Making it to the Olympics has been my daughter's dream for many years. Most of her life actually."
