“If they can do it, I can do it too”: Soccer Olympians inspire a community as part of Teck Coaching Series

“Everyone’s dream starts at the grassroots level, right?” 

That is Team Canada Olympian Melissa Tancredi’s simple answer to why community sport is so important. It’s also why she and teammate Steph Labbé were so excited to lead workshops for both youth coaches and players as part of the Teck Coaching Series.

For the last 10 years the Teck Coaching Series, a partnership between the Canadian Olympic Committee and Teck, has been supporting sport participation and athletic excellence in local communities. The 2024 event took place in Kamloops, B.C., as the series prioritizes providing kids in smaller communities face-to-face time with Canadian Olympians.

Tancredi is a three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016 with Team Canada’s women’s soccer team. Labbé is a two-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medallist, overlapping with Tancredi at Rio 2016 before backstopping Canada to its historic gold medal at Tokyo 2020.

Both Tancredi and Labbé are products of smaller communities, with Tancredi hailing from Ancaster, Ontario and Labbé growing up in Stony Plain, Alberta. With their backgrounds and decades of experience on the national soccer team, the two had a wealth of advice to convey to the coaches and kids of Kamloops.

The morning started with a coaching workshop for minor sport coaches and parents, during which the focus was on understanding and respecting the impact that a coach can have on a young athlete.

“I think for me, the biggest theme was just treating everybody as individuals,” said Labbé. “Every athlete out there is going to learn in a different way… understanding that we all come from different backgrounds, we all have different home lives, we all have different experiences that brought us to that place. So it’s just making sure that we can understand and see each individual–how can we impact that person on their journey?”

Labbé also thinks that as much as coaching is about teaching athletes, it’s also important for coaches to remember that there is so much that they, in fact, can learn from youth athletes. That includes herself and Tancredi during the Teck Coaching Series.

“A lot of people think that we come out and teach them, but they also teach us. They remind us why we got into sport, and that’s because of the joy and excitement that it brings,” said Labbé.

For the skills clinic part of the day, the focus was on just that–having fun while learning something new. It was also about making the Olympic dream seem accessible because, well, you’ve got two athletes who came from a place just like you, right in front of you.

Tancredi and Labbé wanted the kids to really imagine themselves in their shoes, so they first took them through a very similar warm up to the national team’s.

“[We wanted to] get that heart rate up and that excitement of having them feel like– ‘this is what the national team does, and I can do it too!’” said Labbé.

Next up were some shooting, passing, and dribbling drills, with a focus on trying new things and being okay if they don’t work right away. 

The day ended with some super special moments–when the kids got to hold some Olympic medals.

“That was really important–for them to touch the Olympic medals, and basically know that that’s out there for them,” said Tancredi.

It’s great to see your role models on TV, or read about them in the media, but those in-person interactions like those facilitated by the Teck Coaching Series are irreplaceable.

“These interactions are what spark dreams,” said Labbé. “They’re what give that kid confidence to think, ‘You know what? This person is right beside me. They’re a real human being. They came from a place like me. If they can do it, I can do it too.’”