Podcast: ‘She Plays’ panelist, Stettler’s Jesse Jack, talks perseverance to pro hockey

The event starts at 3 p.m. inside the Margaret Parsons Theatre at Red Deer Polytechnic, and will run about 90-120 minutes between the panel, questions, and autograph time. It is free to attend, but organizers are asking you to register by emailing info@centralsport.ca.

For Jesse Jack, her story is not just one of showing girls they can achieve great things despite inequality in sport, but a tale of substantial perseverance.

Still just 24, it was as a 15-year-old that doctors found a tumour on Jack’s spine. A surgery that year didn’t work, and about a year later, a first-of-its-kind procedure in North America was done on the youngster at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.

“In a phone conversation [beforehand], they actually used the word ‘Guinea pig,’ which was a little alarming. But it was that or they were going to remove the vertebrae,” she shared with rdnewsNOW and The Everything Red Deer Podcast.

“Playing hockey and sports was going to come to an end. I took a huge risk.”

Two weeks later, she was back on the ice.

She went on to play 82 games over four seasons at Olds College, scoring 13 times and adding 18 assists. In 2023-24, she attended Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, and contributed 13 points in 28 games.

All while taking a mish-mash of courses, including business and sports management, as well as agri-business. At MacEwan, she’s taken psychology.

But looking back to her minor hockey days in Stettler, starting at the age of five, what stands out challenge-wise was having to play with the boys.

“Women’s hockey was growing, but it wasn’t quite as big as it is now,” she said. “After a couple years, my mom decided she didn’t want us to play with the boys anymore, so she started a girls hockey program, and that’s when my love for the game really took off.”

And looking back, she’s glad she went through the challenges, be it in her much younger days, or even the health issues as a teenager.

This summer, Jack will head to Sweden, where she’s signed with IF Troja-Ljungby of the NDHL, which is the country’s second-highest league.

“It’s so important especially for younger girls to be able to see female pro hockey players, and know that’s an opportunity for them,” she said, noting she’s looked up to women such as Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacy.

“I would love to play in the PWHL one day; that’s a huge goal of mine. I don’t know when or how I’m going to get there, but it’s the same as any other goal I’ve achieved — I’m here, my goal is over there, and the only thing between me and that spot is a bunch of work. I just have to do the work, keep believing in myself and not give up.”

Trevor Thomas, CEO at Central Sport, which provides support to local sport organizations, works with Tourism Red Deer on local opportunities, and also has a volunteer bank for event organizers, says She Plays builds off the momentum of a very successful event in Calgary.

“In March, I was fortunate enough to be in Calgary for the Sport Congress, and Catriona was part of a panel that talked about girls in sport, and the aspects that go into leading healthy, happy lives, and how sport can help girls as they progress,” he said.

“For girls to have these role models, be it in basketball, the Olympics, hockey, it’s really neat to see and for them to understand they have equal opportunity.”

Thomas added that on the other side, sport helps people build mental fortitude and often the skills to be a team player, which mesh well with professional opportunities outside sport — and especially as more women are taking on higher profile and higher ranking roles.

More information on She Plays can be found here.

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Podcast: ‘She Plays’ panelist, Stettler’s Jesse Jack, talks perseverance to pro hockey

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