The Gander Flyers made some history over the weekend — and while it involved someone on the Central West Senior Hockey League team’s bench, it wasn’t a player or a coach.
The Flyers opened their 2016-17 CWSHL season with the first female trainer in the team’s history.
Stephanie Winsor is no stranger to hockey at the Gander Community Centre. She is president of the Gander Minor Hockey Association after 12 years of involvement with the organization, in addition to being a certified trainer. She has also been a nurse for the past 22 years, including time working in emergency rooms.
Winsor suggested she brings a different aspect to her job with the Flyers.
“I’ll be bringing a nurturing role, clinical skills role and energy, while highlighting the fact that there is room for females in that venue,” she said. “It’s trailblazing for women, and that’s something I’m very proud to be a part of.”
With Winsor taking up the position as trainer, Janice Fitzgerald being appointed the Flyers president and Rebecca Russell being the head coach of the Clarenville Caribous, she said, it puts a few cracks in the glass ceiling when it comes to hockey.
“We are really trying to grow female hockey in Gander, so having that visibility, at that level, truly moves it forward in leaps and bounds,” Winsor said.
“It shows there is more to hockey than testosterone.”
The Gander Beacon
