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Subject: Women-in-Hockey Digest V1 #339
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Women-in-Hockey Digest Sunday, January 3 1999 Volume 01 : Number 339
In this issue:
Jen Botterill
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Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 09:39:25 -0800
From: "Phil & Debbie Cottrell"
Subject: Jen Botterill
Botterill's in clover with the Crimson
By RANDY SPORTAK -- Calgary Sun
It was just like old times for Jennifer Botterill.
Botterill helped Canada capture the Christmas Cup title
in Germany
this week as a member of Canada's National Under-22
team. Canada
finished the tournament with a4-0 record.
But prior to leaving, Botterill was more excited about
reuniting with
some old friends than playing overseas.
"I think about them all the time," says Botterill of
her former Olympic
teammates, including Calgary's Hayley Wickenheiser.
"That's why
I'm really excited about the tournament."
After winning a silver medal at the Nagano Olympics
with the
women's puck squad, Botterill returned home to
contemplate her
future.
After all, she was 18 at the time, and had to move on
with her life --
mainly move on to post-secondary school.
She knew she had opportunities, it was just a case of
choosing which
way to go.
But after some thinking, the direction seemed clear for
the former
Winnipegger who calls Calgary home. She decided to
pursue her
education and play hockey at Harvard University.
"It was a last-minute decision," says Botterill, who
was also actively
recruited by Brown University. "It's a great hockey team
and when
that's combined with a great education, it's too much to
pass up."
Now the Harvard Crimson have made the rest of the U.S.
women's
hockey teams green with envy.
Aided immensely by their rookie, who graduated from the
National
Sports School at William Aberhart high school, the
Crimson are
ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Sure, U.S. Olympians A. J. Mleczko and Angela Ruggiero,
as well
as Canadian national team member Tammy Shewchuk, are
also with
the team.
But Botterill is the marquee player, who leads the team
in scoring
with 10 goals and 20 points in eight league games.
Botterill has the sport genes. Her father Cal is one of
the top sport
psychologists in the country. Her mother Doreen competed
in the
1964 and '68 Olympics in speed skating, and her brother
Jason plays
for the Dallas Stars.
Still, she refuses to take too much credit, pointing to
"a lot of great
people to play with. That's made the transition easier."
Plus there's the fact the increasing popularity of
women's hockey
accelerated immensely after the Olympics.
"The hockey is really good. It's improving really
quickly down here,"
says Botterill, who is studying math, chemistry, biology
and creative
writing before choosing a major. "The Olympics really
opened a lot of
people's eyes to women's hockey. There's a lot of
interest in the
game in general. I'm pretty fortunate to get all these
experiences."
Like playing university hockey in a vibrant and
exciting city?
"It's the kind of thing I dreamed about. My brother
played at the
University of Michigan and he had a great time and
thought I'd love
it," says Botterill. "He was right. It's a lot of fun."
But it pale in comparison to her ultimate goal --
winning an Olympic
gold medal at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City.
"That's my ultimate goal. That's what I'm going for."
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End of Women-in-Hockey Digest V1 #339
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