HEALTH INDOOR FITNESS | SAVE A LIFE | COLD FACTS | WHOLE HEALTH MAKEOVER
The Power of Play Four-time Olympic gold medallist Hayley Wickenheiser says the key to staying active is starting young.
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FOR HAYLEY WICKENHEISER, it started when she was a little girl. After spending hours with her dad watching the Oilers, a lifelong passion was ignited. “I asked my dad if I could play, too,” remembers the nowfamous hockey player. So Hayley’s dad built a rink in the backyard of their Shaunavon, Sask., home, and soon, her younger brother and sister and all the neighbourhood kids joined the five-year-old on the ice for games, sticks in hand. “I loved hockey right from the start,” she says. “It was such an exciting game. Every time you stepped out there, you could do something different.” As a kid, Hayley was always outdoors, being active. She had some key role models close to home: Hayley’s dad played hockey and her mom curled, taught phys-ed and led aerobics classes. But they never pressured their kids to get involved in any particular activity. “My parents always said, ‘We don’t care what you do, but you’re going to have to do something,’ ” recalls Hayley with a laugh.
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BY JILL BUCHNER
PHOTOGRAPHY, DAVE HOLLAND
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Join our Twitter chat about kids in sport with Hayley Wickenheiser! Follow @canadianliving on Dec. 17.
JANUARY 2015 | CANADIANLIVING.COM
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