Recently, the first female coach in the NHL has been appointed in the male-dominated sport. Coach Jessica Campbell of the Seattle Kraken is an inspiration for women everywhere. Here’s what this means for hockey and women as a whole.
Unlike many other professional sports, hockey has been slow on the uptake to appoint women as a part of their coaching staff. The male-dominated sport has many fans among men and women around the world, but few women have seen a representative behind the bench. This has all changed with the appointment of Jessica Campbell as an assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken. As Hayley Baker of Western University says, “The game was a pivotal turning point for gender equality and coaching in the NHL. Campbell’s appointment as a full-time assistant coach shows there’s a path forward for women who aim to coach at the…professional level.”
Who is Jessica Campbell? She is a Saskatoon, Canada, native and comes from a hockey family. Jessica played hockey at Cornell in college, on the Canadian national team, and in Sweden professionally. She originally taught girls high school hockey before starting her own club, JC Power Skating, where she taught a handful of NHL players in the offseason. She then moved to Germany to be the first woman assistant coach for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers and the German national team in the Men’s World Championships in 2021. Most recently, she became the first female behind-the-bench coach in the AHL, with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, before moving up to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken with her head coach Dan Byslma.
Throughout her journey, Jessica’s older brother, Josh, was a role model for her. He sadly passed away when Jessica was very young, leaving her and her whole family in mourning. In a YouTube interview with CBC, Jessica said, “He unlocked really the dream and I know that the gift I have now in front of me and the privilege of the work and the role and getting to be here and experience not only my dream but live out his dream of playing in the NHL and now me working in the NHL…it’s for him and it’s for our family we all get to relish in it and get emotional thinking about how he’s impacted me and how our family is now able to celebrate this and know he’s watching over it all.”
Coach Emi, a freshman rowing coach at CCHS spoke about how she felt regarding Jessica Campbell’s breaking into the male-dominated field of hockey while also breaking gender barriers: “You should never let… a supposed barrier affect your ability or desire to do something…I was a woman in the commercial real estate industry, I do crew, which is a male-dominated sport…So…it shouldn’t matter at all. And in fact, a lot of times it helps you bring more to the table.”
Through Jessica Campbell’s actions, a new generation of young people are being taught that women have an equal opportunity as coaches in any sport. Campbell’s hard work and dedication to her beloved sport is proof that if you work hard, your biggest dreams can be accomplished.
