This past Wednesday (5/6), students attended a leadership workshop with three-time Olympic medalist Kacey Bellamy. Bellamy is a hockey player for Team USA. Throughout the session, she shared her journey from youth hockey in Westfield, MA, to the University of New Hampshire, the U.S. National Team, and professional hockey. She highlighted how leadership helped guide her through the challenges she faced with immense amounts of pressure and how she learned valuable life lessons from her hardships. Competing at the highest level in sports is challenging, but Bellamy proved she could not only handle the pressure, but earn three medals to show for it.

During the experience, Bellamy touched on all aspects of her hockey career, from boarding school to coaching professional hockey now. Her key point? Work ethic is the most important thing. She claims she likes to lead by example. Although it seems cliche, it really is true that the best way to lead is to be yourself and keep a strong work ethic, even in the midst of challenges. 

After Coach Pace’s questions to Bellamy, they opened the discussion up to students with any questions. In response to a question about the differences between being a coach and a player, she states that being a coach is very different, but similar to being a captain. 

Another key point of Bellamy’s talk was servant leadership. She believes one individual person must serve the team just as equally as anyone else and help assist ones team, not focusing on solely individual gain.

Girls varsity hockey coach and assistant girls varsity lacrosse coach, Courtney Turner, invited Bellamy and facilitated the interaction. She invited the hockey and lacrosse teams to come listen to Bellamy’s powerful story. 

Reflecting on the workshop, sophomore Caroline Allen says, “I thought her talk was very motivational and gave me a new perspective to look through during sports, especially hockey in the upcoming season.” 

Along with the hockey and lacrosse teams, various student leaders were also invited to attend the experience. Various captains, class officers, and team leaders congregated on the half day to listen to Bellamy speak and share her insight.  

Ellie Bellew, a sophomore and rising hockey captain, concludes that, “The experience provided me with a lot of valuable insights into perseverance, teamwork, and strengthening a team. I felt that I could resonate with what she was saying and apply it to our own team in the coming season!”