"Fourth year no fear" for StFX hockey player Daley Oddy
/Oddy to represent Canada in Khazakstan
Oddy and the StFX X-Women in action. Photo Credit: David Morash
January 28th, 2017 X woman, Daley Oddy and fellow CIS hockey superstars will take on team China, in Almaty Khazakstan at the International University Sports Federation’s 28th Winter Universaide. Commonly labelled as FISU, the International University Sports Federation hosts an international sporting and cultural festival, staged every two years in different cities. The event rotates between summer and winter sports, reflecting the trade off exhibited by its parent tournament, the Olympics. This year the Winter Universiade is hosting collegiate international competitions in men and women’s hockey, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, short track skating, cross country skiing, biathlon, nordic combine and ski jumping.
Serving as head coach to Canada’s women’s hockey team is University of Guelph’s Rachel Flannagan, who will be assisted by Western’s Kelly Paton and Waterloo’s Shaun Reagan. The roster is largely composed of talent from central Canadian universities including forward Kelly Gribbons who currently leads the OUA in points and goaltender Valerie Lamenta. Regardless of the strong Ontario presence Oddy, who currently leads CIS women’s hockey for overall points alongside St. Thomas’ captain Kelty Apperson is certain to make an incredible impact at the tournament on behalf of AUS.
When asked what steps were taken in the off season to prepare for her final year on ice and ultimately contributed to the performance at FISU tryouts Oddy responded with: Extra training, two workouts a day (6am and 7pm), I became very aware of what I was putting in my body nutritionally, I always remained hydrated and water was the majority of what I drank.”
The steadfast mentality and resiliency executed this summer transitions into the school year, the only difference being the timing of the workouts as well as post game video and revision of her own play. Although confident in herself and extended team, Oddy stated, “Hockey wise its hard going to a big competition for a short period of time and playing with people I’m not used to however because of camp this summer it will make things a lot easier” she continued on to say, “I’m mostly nervous about school, sixteen days is a long time to miss that much class.” Absence in lecture is a challenge all of the 22 player roster will face.
Although earnest in the completion of her training, come game time Oddy greets the competition in a much more relaxed fashion, “I like to have fun and joke, I don’t like to take hockey too seriously; once it becomes too stressful and loses fun I’ll quit. I do focus but not by being alone or thinking about the game its more like right before I step on, then I am 100% aware of what I’m doing.”
The balance between a calm aura and intense work ethic has manifested itself into 21 points so far in the regular season and an opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage for Oddy. The fervent love of hockey, her teammates and winning has evolved the X-woman to an international level athlete and will continue to drive her towards an AUS championship in the post-Christmas break season.
