Jessymaude Drapeau chosen for coaching program

She becomes the third Stinger selected since 2021

SportsJared Lackman-Mincoff — Published October 1, 2024 0 minutes

Concordia Stingers women’s hockey forward Drapeau is one of the nine players country-wide who will take part in the Creating Coaches program, U Sports announced on Sept. 19.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Drapeau said. “There aren’t a lot of people who have access to this training, so I’m really happy to have been chosen.”

The program runs for two years. Drapeau will receive training through the end of the 2025-26 season. Stingers head coach Julie Chu and associate head coach Caroline Ouellette approached Drapeau about applying for the program over the summer.

“[Drapeau] has continually shown how dedicated she can be […] as a student-athlete and I have no doubt that she will be that as a coach,” Chu said.

Drapeau becomes the third Concordia Stinger selected for the program since its inception in 2021. Boulanger was included in the program’s inaugural cohort in 2021, and is now an assistant coach at Bishop’s University. Fecteau was part of the 2023 cohort and was selected 31st overall by New York in the 2024 Professional Women’s Hockey League draft.

“The fact that we’ve been able to have three really great people and candidates within our program that are interested in coaching and really want to put that extra time and effort into it, it’s really special,” Chu said.

The program usually selects eight women’s hockey players from across Canada, two from each of the four conferences. However this year, nine players were selected, with Drapeau being the only representative from the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec.

“By stepping into coaching roles, they are helping to build a stronger, more inclusive sports community across Canada,” U Sports chief executive officer Pierre Arsenault said in the Sept. 19 press release.

Drapeau will undergo her training with the under-13 Lac St-Louis Warriors, a peewee double-A girls’ team in Montreal. On top of her student-athlete schedule and regular meetings with other members of the program, Drapeau’s responsibilities with the Warriors include attending one practice per week and being behind the bench for at least three games per month.

“[Creating Coaches] knows that we’re university athletes,” Drapeau said. “School and our hockey come before this, so they try to be accommodating to our schedules.”

Drapeau has been coaching since she was in CEGEP. She coached midget under-18 and she coaches during Concordia’s summer camps alongside Ouellette.

Chu said she is excited that Drapeau’s selection will give more exposure to the Stingers program, and that it will also help her better understand the many aspects of coaching and how the game is different from a peewee level up to the university level.

“[Drapeau]’s going to love it, and she’s going to be very excited to be able to grow in those capacities,” Chu said.

Drapeau said she is looking forward to being an example for young athletes to follow, on top of sharpening her own abilities.

“I’ve started to understand more in recent years that the more women role models they have, the more young girls will want to stay [in hockey],” Drapeau said. “They’re going to follow your example as well.”