Abby Webster: Territorial Pride

Abby Webster has always been proud to represent the Northwest Territories, and in a couple weeks, she'll have another chance to sport her territory's colours.

The fourth-year Bronco from Hay River will be part of the coaching staff for the Northwest Territories women's hockey team at the upcoming 2023 Canada Winter Games, which will be hosted on Prince Edward Island beginning Saturday and running through March 5, with women's hockey taking place in the second week of competition.

"It's definitely been different going from being a player, where the coaches are looking after you, and now I'm in that role of looking after the players," said Webster, who will be helping to handle the defence. "You definitely see the other side of it where you're helping them develop as players and seeing where they fit best in their roles on the team where before, that was mostly being told to me."

Webster brings plenty of experience to the bench, having competed at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C. before serving as team captain as an overager at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, as well as having competed in three separate Arctic Winter Games.

The opportunity stemmed from the Women in Coaching Canada Games Apprenticeship Program, an initiative from the Coaching Association of Canada with the intent to build capacity in underrepresented populations in coaching, such as women and Indigenous coaches.

Desmond Bouteiller, Sports Management instructor at Olds College, was the initial point of contact in regards to the program in October 2021, and he identified Webster as a good fit for the program.

"Abby personifies the characteristics of a leader and a learner, and any investment in Abby (such as the coaching mentorship program) will have a significant payoff," Bouteiller said. "I look forward to seeing how this furthers Abby's knowledge and presence in her ascension in the sporting world."

Webster admitted that it took her a bit of time to find her coaching voice as she was starting out in the program.

"Being an apprentice coach, you have to limit your involvement," she said. "You don't want to overstep on things, and you're there to learn from your mentors, so I think it's trying to be involved as much as I can, but also knowing where I stand within the coaching staff and taking that step back sometimes and not wanting to be overbearing."

Through all the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, Webster has been encouraged by the commitment of the group of players she's worked with.

"I've seen our group get back involved and be involved in those programs again, so it's nice to see that their dedication is still there, and we can still develop female sport in the north, which I think is really important," she said.

While her involvement has been mostly remote on account of her commitments to the Broncos and her academics, Webster is grateful for how the Hockey NWT staff has integrated her into the team's operations throughout the apprenticeship process.

"They made me feel really involved with it as if I'm just a regular coach, and it's something I'm really thankful for," she said. "I don't think a lot of other apprenticeship coaches are getting that same experience, so I definitely like how involved I am with everything we've done, and getting the whole experience has been really important to me."

Beyond the Canada Games experience, Webster has ambitions to remain in coaching, having identified the Arctic Winter Games as another event she'd like to get involved with in the future from a coaching perspective.

"Without this program, I might not have been involved with the team at all, and CWG isn't for another four years, so I definitely wanted to get started coaching with these major short-term competitions, and I thought this was a great way to get involved," she said.

Webster has always been proud to represent her territory, and is happy to be part of helping the next generation of athletes.

"There's even girls I'm coaching now that I played with at the last (Canada Winter Games) because they were so young, and just seeing that they're still involved in hockey and they've grown so much as players and as people, it's really beautiful to see, and I love being part of that," she said.