Women’s hockey player Sarah Bestic joins Hockey Canada’s Creating Coaches initiative

Bestic one of 12 players named to the fifth cohort of the program

In a world where women’s representation in sports is minimal, Creating Coaches, a program designed to encourage women athletes to take positive and impactful coaching roles on the ice, has named Waterloo-born fourth-year defensewoman Sarah Bestic as one of the 12 U Sports athletes joining its staff.

Entering her 18th year playing hockey, Bestic began her U Sport career at Laurier before transferring to UW in 2023. She’s the third UW hockey player to join the program, preceded by forward Keiara Raitt.

An amateur power skating coach, she jumped at the opportunity to “give back to [youth girls hockey players] and create a safe environment where they can learn from [her].”

Already a week in, she’s attending practices for a local girls’ team where she helps with team organization and drills. She also has weekly meetings with other coaches in the program, where they discuss improving their coaching and creating an impact on their communities through hockey.

“It’s amazing,” Bestic said. “I’m hoping to continue and coach university teams at some point, and the experience I’m getting here is valuable.”

The representation is refreshing and crucial for young athletes, especially in a sport where, by the age of 14, girls are quitting twice as much as boys. Girls often cite positive team dynamics and positive coaching as factors that make them stick with it, which Creating Coaches aims to provide.

Bestic herself demonstrates how far these positive experiences can go. She scored three points in her first season as a Warrior. Last season, a year later, she scored 14. She credits the team dynamic for the improvement.

“I trust every girl in the locker room, we’re like sisters. We can always talk about anything. Everyone’s friends, and we coordinate when we’re having a bad game or practice,” she says.

The women’s hockey season kicks off Oct. 10 in Ottawa against the Carleton Ravens. They’ll be looking to take it all the way this year after winning silver in last season’s U Sports National Championship.