What is the connection between women’s ice hockey and dragon boats?

They are activities that both recipients of the 2024 Memorial University of Newfoundland Pensioners’ Association (MUNPA) Tribute Awards participated in pre- and post-retirement.

Retirees Liz Ohle and Bruce Whitelaw received the award at a special ceremony hosted by President Dr. Neil Bose at Signal Hill Campus in December.

Members of the Memorial community along with nominators and friends and families of Ms. Ohle and Mr. Whitelaw attended the event.

The MUNPA Tribute Awards were established to recognize significant post-retirement service and/or achievement by retired faculty or staff. The service may be volunteer or remunerated in three categories: service to the university; service to the community; and significant achievements in other areas that exemplify the ongoing contribution of the nominee.

Ms. Ohle retired from Memorial in August 2018 after 19 years as a standardized patient educator with the Faculty of Medicine.

In 2006 she established Liz’s Game to introduce beginner women, young and old, to hockey. Through the years, about 200 women have been welcomed into a safe and supportive environment to develop skills and confidence in a sport they may have never played because of family commitments or being new arrivals to Canada.

The difference in Liz’s Game is Ms. Ohle’s emphasis on new player development with no fixed positions and no scorekeeping. When women have progressed and found another game, they move on, leaving room for a new participant. Others remain as mentors.

Many participate in the Sunday afternoon hockey game, not just for fun and fitness, but also for the one hour a week for themselves and for the camaraderie of the game to see them through significant mental and emotional challenges. The impact has been significant and was featured in a six-part documentary film called The Golden League.

One young woman said the game gave her the confidence to enrol in a health profession program and announced that she had graduated at the film’s first viewing with pride. Several women have used the focus and friendships to help them through physical challenges including prolonged cancer treatments. The daughter of one of the women joined the game, as well, and after her mother could no longer play she continued to attend to watch her daughter play.

Women’s ice hockey is just one of many areas in the community where Ms. Ohle is involved.

Mr. Whitelaw retired from the Marine Institute in 2009 after 29 years as an instructor in the naval architecture program and has been involved with the Avalon Dragons for almost 20 years.

The Avalon Dragons are a group of breast cancer survivors who get together to paddle dragon boats, an exercise that has been shown to be a good exercise for breast cancer survivors.

Mr. Whitelaw oversaw the construction of the group’s first dragon boat.

For 18 months, the group met three nights a week and Sunday afternoons to work on the boat and on May 28, 2007, a keel laying ceremony was held at MacDonald Drive Junior High School in St. John’s, the site of the Avalon Dragon Boating “boat yard” and it launched in September 2008.”

Since his retirement, Mr. Whitelaw has continued his involvement with the Avalon Dragons.

He has trained new paddlers and was a steer-person on the water, which meant he spent many evenings and weekends getting the boats on the water and helping each new team feel comfortable in the boats.

His involvement led to a story on CBC News, “Slay the Gander” and he is now on the board of the Avalon Dragons as membership/outreach chair, at large director and technical advisor.

“Bruce is willing to lend a hand or to lead when required, whether it is a presentation to the Breast Cancer Survivor Conference, planning outreach to provide the opportunity to experience dragon boating to the West Coast, participate in the training program, making the decorative heads and tails for the boats, repairing a dragon boat or coaching at our practice,” Alice Mannion, chair of Avalon Dragon Boating, wrote in an endorsement letter.

Mr. Whitelaw likes all kinds of boats and has been involved with other groups in the boat-building community.

For more information on the MUNPA Tribute Awards and how to nominate a deserving individual, visit here.