Vicky Sunohara

Vicky Sunohara (born May 18, 1970) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. She was once described as "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey".[1] She is currently the head coach of the University of Toronto women's hockey team.

Vicky Sunohara
Vicky Sunohara (2009)
Born (1970-05-18) May 18, 1970
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
ECAC
CIAU
CWHL team		 Northeastern Huskies
Toronto Lady Blues
Brampton Thunder
National team  Canada
Playing career 1990–2008
Website http://www.vickysunohara.ca/
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Women's ice hockey
Olympic games
2002 Salt Lake City Tournament
2006 Turin Tournament
1998 Nagano Tournament
IIHF World Women's Championships
1990 Canada Tournament
1997 Canada Tournament
1999 Finland Tournament
2000 Canada Tournament
2001 United States Tournament
2004 Canada Tournament
2007 Canada Tournament
2005 Sweden Tournament

Personal life

Sunohara was born in Scarborough, Ontario. She is of Japanese-Ukrainian ethnicity.[2] She is a graduate of the University of Toronto.

Sunohara gave birth to twin boys in 2009, following her retirement from international hockey in 2008.[3][4]

Hockey career

Sunohara began to play hockey as a small child and the love of the game came naturally to her as her late father, David Sunohara, was a hockey enthusiast who played with the Ryerson Rams in Toronto, Ontario.[5][6] Sunohara's late father built a backyard rink in the winters and introduced his daughter to skating at the age of two and a half. "My mother said that from the minute my father introduced me to hockey, I wouldn't do anything else," Sunohara commented. "I just loved it." She began playing organized hockey on a boys team at age 5, but was eventually banned from the boys' leagues due to her gender.[7][8] She ended up dominating every level of girls' competition.

Sunohara attended Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Ontario, where she was a standout on the women's ice hockey, field hockey, soccer, and flag football teams. Following high school, she received a full scholarship to Northeastern University in Boston, which is part of the NCAA Division 1 in ice hockey. While at Northeastern, she guided her team to win the ECAC Hockey championship, was awarded the ECAC Rookie of the Year, and was named to the NCAA All-American All-Star team.[9] Sunohara also played hockey for the University of Toronto, where her team won the Ontario university championships in 1990-91 and 1991-92. She was named the Ontario university women's ice hockey Rookie of the Year in 1990-91.[10]

Sunohara won an Olympic silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. She continued with an Olympic gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., and another gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Vicky Sunohara (2008)

Besides the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, Sunohara represented Canada in numerous international ice hockey competitions. She won 7 gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships, the first one coming in 1990. In total, she won 15 gold medals and 3 silver medals as a member of Canada's national team. Sunohara finished her career with Team Canada with 119 points (56 goals and 62 assists) in 164 games.[11]

Vicki Sunohara as Coach of the Brampton Thunder (2009).jpg

When she was not involved in international competition, Sunohara was the captain and assistant coach for the Brampton Canadettes Thunder, a team in an elite women's league, the Canadian Women's Hockey League (formerly the Brampton Thunder of the National Women's Hockey League). Sunohara has participated in several national championships. She was named the top forward in the 2005 national tournament[12] and her team, the Brampton Thunder, won the national title in 2006.

Sunohara also played in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League with the Scarborough Firefighters (1990 to 1994), Toronto Red Wings (1994 to 1996), and the Newtonbrook Panthers (1996 to 1997).[13]

Coaching and leadership

Sunohara is credited with helping to expand the popularity of female ice hockey, having trained and mentored many young girls in the sport. Along with instructing at several hockey camps and clinics, she served as an assistant hockey coach at the Team Canada Under 18 and Under 19 evaluation camps.

In 2011, Sunohara was named head coach of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team. "This is a dream job for me," said Sunohara. "I played here at U of T, I went to school here and graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education and Health and now I have a chance to give back to one of the most prolific women's hockey programs in North America. This is a great opportunity for me and I look forward to the task at hand – making the Varsity Blues a national contender."[14]

Well known for her affable manner and engaging personality, Sunohara has been described as "one of the nicest people in all of hockey."[15] During her tenure with Team Canada, Sunohara was counted on for her veteran leadership. She was the assistant captain of Canada's national team from 2001 until her retirement in 2008 at the age of 38.[16]

A former Team Canada teammate, Sami Jo Small, was quoted as saying this about Sunohara:

I have had the privilege of playing with some pretty amazing people but none have struck me as born leaders like Vicky Sunohara...She rallies the troops in desperate times and tells funny jokes when the pressure is mounting...She's always there for her teammates and always willing to do whatever it takes to win. She makes those around her not only better hockey players but also better people...in the ten years I played on the team I never saw another player touch as many people in such a positive way as Vicky Sunohara.[17]

In 2009, Toronto's former mayor, David Miller, remarked:

Not only is Vicky one of Canada's elite female athletes, she is a Torontonian and the granddaughter of immigrants representing the city's diversity which is one of our most important strengths. Vicky is well respected in our community and has worked tirelessly to help the youth of Toronto -- especially young girls -- develop their skills and fulfill their dreams.[18]

Sunohara makes frequent appearances as a guest speaker and donates a considerable amount of time to charitable organizations. She served as Spokesperson for Youth Assisting Youth.[19] In 2010, Sunohara was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario, a non-profit organization committed to assisting high-performance athletes and coaches achieve excellence in international competition.[20]

Other accomplishments

In 2002, Sunohara was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame.[21] In 2006, she was named an inaugural member of the Scarborough Walk of Fame.[22]

At the age of 36, Sunohara was named Ontario's female athlete of the year for 2006.[23]

Sunohara has been acknowledged by the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the notable women ice hockey players of all time.[24]

In 2009, Sunohara was selected by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to be Toronto's final torchbearer as Toronto welcomed the Vancouver-bound 2010 Olympic flame on its cross-country journey. She lit the cauldron before thousands of spectators at Nathan Phillips Square.[25][26][27]

In 2018, Sunohara was inducted into the Toronto Sport Hall of Honour.[28]

On 11 September 2019, Sunohara was appointed Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, a Primary Reserve regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, based in Toronto.[29] “I was shocked and humbled,” said Sunohara. “What came to my mind was ‘not worthy.’ But obviously I have a tremendous amount of respect and gratitude for those who serve our country. To be able to contribute in some small way is quite rewarding.”[30]

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References
  1. "No Rough Stuff Allowed". New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  2. "Sunohara's Nagano reunion". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  3. Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Sunohara's Nagano reunion". Toronto.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. "Ultimate hockey mom expecting to repeat feat". thestar.com. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. Joe Pelletier. "Women's Hockey Legends: Vicky Sunohara". Womenshockeylegends.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. Archived October 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Biography - Vicky Sunohara". Vickysunohara.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  11. Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  12. Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  13. Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Volume 4, p.430, Bob Ferguson, Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd., Markham, ON and Allston, MA, ISBN 1-55041-855-6
  14. "Vicky Sunohara to coach U of T women's hockey". Physical.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  15. Joe Pelletier. "Women's Hockey Legends: Vicky Sunohara". Womenshockeylegends.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  16. "Vicky Sunohara". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  17. Joe Pelletier. "Women's Hockey Legends: Vicky Sunohara". Womenshockeylegends.blogspot.com. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. "SIRC". Sirc.ca. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  19. "Yay". Yay.org. Archived from the original on 24 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  20. "Sunohara appointed". Bramptonguardian.com. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  21. Archived March 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  23. Archived October 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  24. "Notable Women Ice Hockey Players". Hhof.com. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  25. Archived January 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  26. "Olympic flame lights up downtown Toronto". Toronto. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  27. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/10/27/three-time-hockey-medalist-t-o-s-torchbearer.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-27. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. "Sunohara Inducted into Toronto Sport Hall of Honour". varsityblues.ca. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  29. "Sunohara, Vicky". The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archives. 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  30. "An extraordinary honour for Blues coach Vicky Sunohara | UofT - Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education". kpe.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
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