It was a last-minute decision that might well have changed her life. With just a few weeks to go until the start of hockey season last August, Danielle Rancourt remained uncertain of her plans.
The College Notre-Dame graduate had spent two years with the Sudbury Lady Wolves Midget AA team, following a solid career within the Nickel District Hockey ranks, toiling on the blue line of the Copper Cliff Redmen AA boys teams.
But with her sights set on taking a shot at Division I (NCAA) hockey, the youngest of two children in the family was uncharacteristically uncertain of her next move. For years, the trademark of her play had been making the right decision, and knowing where to move the puck next.
“I didn’t know if I stayed here, if I could get the scholarship that I wanted,” Rancourt said. “I needed to get noticed.”
Fortunately, Rancourt and her father, Bernie, had been in touch with David Roy, founder and director of the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy.
For years, the trademark of her play had been making the right decision, and knowing where to move the puck next.
In a span of six days, Rancourt jumped from making initial contact with the British Columbia institution to boarding a plane bound for Kelowna. “I remember their e-mail reply that said ‘We still have room, if you can make a decision quickly,’” Rancourt said, with a laugh.
Now, many might debate whether the 18-year-old blueliner with an offensive slant to her game might still have garnered the interest of NCAA scouts while pursuing other hockey options in Ontario.
But there is no debate that the Pursuit of Excellence tournament team would be watched by scouts. With former U-18 Team Canada skaters Jessica Campbell, Christine Bestland and Brigette Lacquette as teammates, there would be US universities in the stands for a large percentage of their games.
The opportunity left the Rancourt clan convinced that this path could potentially pave the way. Roy, who is a well-respected skating instructor, had been working with players who were attending a Prospects Tournament in Toronto, with hockey’s most basic skill set.
“He noticed I was leaning forward too much,” Rancourt said. “By having a higher angle to my back, I could get more blade into the ice, which should make me faster.”
Rancourt will be the first to admit that the trek to western Canada was a “hockey first, academics second” venture. Always an outstanding student through her time at CND, she had easily secured her high school diploma, looking to pursue a degree in biology at the post-secondary level.
With a daily routine that merged a two-hour on-ice session, two one-hour off-ice workouts and three hours of classes daily, Rancourt kept a busy schedule. All of which was provided within an almost fairytale setting in the interior of British Columbia. “I had never been west of Ontario,” she said. “It was so pretty, everywhere around you is the mountains. And there wasn’t much snow — and no potholes.”
Still, she waited patiently for interest south of the border, well into the second half of the hockey season.
A three-week road trip in March, complete with tournament stops in Saskatoon, Ottawa and Washington, would prove to be the difference. “Washington was one of my best tournaments all year — especially the final game,” Rancourt said.
It was complete chaos in the weeks following the tournament as the young defenseman garnered the attention of both Union College (New York) and the University of Vermont.
“Vermont did not contact me during the two-week March break, while Union invited me for a visit. The very next day, Vermont e-mailed to inform me that an Easter visit had been planned.”
With her gut feeling steering her towards the pristine Burlington, Vermont campus, Rancourt made a decision that now sees the Catamounts as home to a pair of Sudbury student-athletes (Kristine Lalonde is entering her sophomore year with the women’s basketball team). “I hung out with Kristine while I was there for my visit, and I made some new friends during the freshman orientation in June,” Rancourt said.
Like most who proceed through the countless steps of pursuing an NCAA scholarship, Rancourt said she is relieved that the decision has been made.
But the whirlwind week that would set the wheels in motion for Vermont, the dizzying time span which saw her cross the western Ontario border for the first time last summer, easily provided a setting not unlike that which she is about to experience.
