Sami jo small biography of gandhi
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Sami Jo has been speaking professionally since she started with the National Team in 1997. Growing up with Spina Bifida and being in a wheelchair has meant he has had to overcome many obstacles in pursuit of his goals.
Teamwork and Change
Through her keynote address, Sami Jo focuses on helping the individuals in the crowd to be motivated and inspired to help those around them.
Sami Jo shows you that you can flourish in your own role, you just need play that role positively. With her learnings she has shown audiences all over the world that, “we don’t always get to choose the role we play, but we always get to choose how to play it.”
Sami Jo currently trains full-time in Toronto and just recently helped start the Canadian Women’s Hockey League where she plays for the Toronto Furies.
When many of her teammates shied away from the microphone, Sami Jo was quick to share stories about the team. As the all time leader in points in all the world in the sport of sledge hockey, Billy adds a unique perspective. She has honed her message about teamwork after more than 20 years in the industry using stories from one of Canada’s most successful teams, the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team.
She joined the Canadian National Team in 1997 and was attending Stanford University on a track scholarship and playing hockey with the men’s team when she was called up a reserve player with the 1998 Canadian delegation to the Winter Olympics. She has since won five World Championships and has twice been named Championship MVP. She is a three time Olympian and has been a member of two Olympic Gold Medal Winning teams including Torino, Italy.
- Manager, Marketing Partnerships, Canadian Olympic Committee
Sami Jo was terrific. Humorous and thought provoking.
Dynamic Duo
Sami Jo is married to one of Canada’s most successful Paralympians, Billy Bridges. She accepted a scholarship to Stanford University for track and field to throw the discus and javelin.
Her dream of participating in the Olympic Games flourished until injury plagued her career and she consoled her feelings of failure by returning to the game she grew up loving.
In 2002 she was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame.
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Sami Jo Small
Sami Jo SmallSami Jo Small
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Although she did not appear in any games, it was the first time she had ever been on a woman’s team and she did make appearances with the national team when they took gold at the 1999, 2000 (two years where she was named the tournament’s top goaltender) and 2001 World Championships, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympics. Beginning with her experience as a rookie at the first-ever women’s Olympic hockey tournament in Nagano in 1998 and culminating with Canada’s third straight Olympic gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, the veteran goaltender gives the reader behind-the-scenes insight into one of the most successful teams in sports history.
This book honours the individuals who sacrificed so much of their lives to represent Canada on a world stage and celebrates their individual contributions to the team’s glory.
Her speech really hit home for many of our attendees at our AGM and Awards Banquet.
She also recently published her first book, a best-selling memoir, The Role I Played – Canada’s Greatest Olympic Hockey Team and launched her new Podcast, “Sami Jo’s Podcast” on the Sport Illustrated/Hockey News platform.
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Audience reviews:
Sami was a total professional from start to finish - she was very prepared to speak to the group of coaches at our event on her Olympic experiences, insights to coaching, and how leadership has affected her career.
She would go on to earn Pac-10 MVP honours while working towards her degree in mechanical engineering.
Small was also a member of five world champion teams and was named the top goaltender at the IIHF World Women’s Championship in 1999 and 2000.
A co-founder of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Small currently plays for the Toronto Furies.
She would later accept a track and field scholarship to Stanford University but when an injury stalled that career, she returned to hockey and began playing for Stanford’s men’s team. While bringing the personalities of her teammates to life, Small takes the reader into the dressing rooms and onto the ice for an up-close glimpse into the ups and downs of athletes pursuing a sport’s highest achievement.
Samantha “Sami Jo” Small has been a goaltender since the age of five, when she played Midget AAA hockey in St.
Vital, Manitoba. Hockey became her passion again as she played on the Stanford Men’s team even garnering PAC-10 MVP honours while earning her degree in mechanical engineering.
Her childhood dream became a reality when she accepted a spot on the 1998 Olympic Games team traveling to Nagano, Japan. The Role I Played is a memoir of Sami Jo Small’s ten years with Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team.