Jocelyn Forrest had a sparkle in her eye and a grin from ear to ear after chatting with former Canadian Olympic hockey player and three-time gold-medalist Jennifer Botterill.
"She really inspired me to work really hard, practice and go even further," said Forrest. "It was so cool to see all her medals."
Botterill, and her four Olympic medals - three gold and a silver - are in Prince George this weekend for the second annual YMCA Champions Weekend. Botterill will speak to the sold-out crowd at Saturday's banquet, where former NHLer Ryan Walter will host.
But, Friday it was a group of young female hockey players who had the opportunity to chat with Botterill and get some tips, while skating at Kin 1 with her. Before the Harvard honours graduate took to the ice for a session with a group of atom and peewee girls, Botterill took some time to chat with the Prince George WIC Female Bantam Tier 1 Cougars after their on-ice session.
Forrest was pleasantly surprised when Botterill told the 15 girls that she played ringette before switching to hockey as a teen.
"I started with ringette and I joined girls' hockey when I was 12," said Forrest. "It was really neat because that's how she started to."
The 14 year old was even happier to learn Botterill participated in high school sports until Grade 12 - Forrest plays volleyball and soccer at Duchess Park Secondary School.
It's Forrest's third season playing with her current teammates - she played with them for two seasons in peewee hockey, but didn't make the cut in first-year bantam.
Stewart Malgunas, coach of the Cougars, said Forrest worked hard to improve her off-ice training to make the team this season.
"She got more serious about hockey and it shows on the ice," said Malgunas.
Another common bond Forrest has with her hockey hero is they both play centre and get satisfaction from picking up assists.
"She was always so fast and helping her teammates," said Forrest. "I just really look up to that."
When Don Knopp, co-coach of the Cougars, asked Botterill if she remembered her favourite goal, the Olympian recalled being on the ice in Vancouver for the first goal in the gold-medal game, a 2-0 win, when she picked up the assist.
"To me, to make a good pass is more rewarding," said Botterill, as she maneuvered around hockey bags strewn around the dressing room, signing autographs for the girls.
Botterill encouraged the girls to "send that email or make the phone call" if they're really interested in pursuing their dreams, whether it's with Hockey Canada on the under 18, under 22 or the women's hockey teams, or to a post-secondary institution.
Malgunas said it was an awesome experience for the girls to skate with an Olympic hockey star and ask her questions about the decisions she made when she was their age.
"It was just an unbelievable experience for these young ladies," said Malgunas. "Anytime you can get any advice from a person like Jennifer Botterill - who has gone as far as she can in the women's game of hockey.
"We've got some girls here that, if they want to really dedicate themselves to the game of hockey, they can take it as far as she did as well," he added. "It's a huge commitment, but there's also huge rewards."
