RED DEER – Olds College Broncos female hockey team assistant coach Allyson Bendfeld played an important role on Team Alberta’s women’s hockey team, which won the gold medal during the Canada Winter Games.
The Games were held Feb. 15-March 3 in Red Deer.
Bendfeld was the video coach for the team.
“It’s still sinking in. It’s amazing,” said Bendfeld. “I don’t know if you asked me a year ago, that this would happen, but it’s fantastic to be a part of it and to do it at home. There’s no words to describe it.”
They were part of the most successful Team Alberta in the history of the Canada Winter Games, which saw Alberta finish in third place overall with 100 medals, including 36 gold.
Team Alberta earned their gold medal after downing Team Quebec 2-1 in one of the final events of the 2019 Canada Winter Games.
It was not an easy feat, said Bendfeld.
“We didn’t do it the easy way. We lost our first game to B.C. (6-1). We went to a shootout with Nova Scotia and won that game and then we lost to Ontario,” she said. “Then we started to hit our stride and we beat Manitoba 3-0 in the quarter-final, we beat B.C. yesterday (Friday) in the semifinal and today we beat Quebec.”
She noted how her work as video coach with Team Alberta's women's hockey team helped provide some inspiration for the athletes.
“We did a lot of teaching with the video this week. I hope that it was one of the things that helped get us here,” said Bendfeld, noting the team effort. “Our coaching staff did an amazing job with them and we improved every single day.
“The girls did a great job of coming together as a team and by the end of this, we were most definitely the best team out there, whether we won gold or not,” she added.
