Samantha Holmes (born June 23, 1977) played for the Canadian national women's ice hockey team from 2000 to 2005. She is also the founder of the

Strathmore Rockies The Strathmore Rockies were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). The team played its home games in Strathmore Family Center Arena, in Strathmore, Alberta, Canada. History Their first season in the WWH ...

ice hockey team.

Early life

As a child, Samantha Holmes-Domagala attended the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

in Calgary, Alberta. Upon her arrival, she was disappointed to learn that there would not be a women’s hockey tournament. After the games, she became involved in activism, beginning a letter writing campaign to get women involved in ice hockey. She wrote to her local newspaper,

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

mayor

Hazel McCallion Hazel McCallion, (; born February 14, 1921) is a Canadian businesswoman and retired politician who served as the fifth mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, from 1978 until 2014. She is the first and current chancellor of Sheridan College. McCallion ...

, Canadian Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

, and IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Playing career

As a member of the Team Ontario contingent for the 1995 Canada Winter Games, her teammates included Jayna Hefford and

Sommer West Sommer West (born April 24, 1978 in Houston, Texas and raised in Bowmanville, Ontario) was a Canadian Olympic softball player at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In addition, she was a former member of the Canadian national women's hockey team. She was ...

. Holmes played NCAA hockey for the University of

New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to 2009. The Wildcats have more win ...

program. On January 19, 2000, the Wildcats played an exhibition game against the United States national women's team. Although the Wildcats lost 8–2, Holmes scored both goals for the Wildcats. During the

2000-01 NWHL season The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

, she competed for the Brampton Thunder. She moved to Calgary in June 2002 and played hockey for the Calgary Oval X-Treme. She competed in two international tournaments for her country, but never participated in the Olympics. Holmes played for the X-Treme when they competed in the 2003 Esso Women's National Hockey Championship (held on March 16, 2003). Holmes scored two goals to secure a 6–3 win for the X-Treme and the Abby Hoffman Cup. After she left the Oval X-Treme, she formed her own team. Her team was the Strathmore Rockies and they joined the Western Women's Hockey League. The idea stemmed from the fact that there were many elite hockey players in Calgary, but not all of them had the opportunity to play for the Oval X-Treme. Holmes also handled the day-to-day tasks of running the Strathmore team. Part of her accomplishments included player scouting, sponsorship and marketing campaigns to operate the team. She is also captain of the Rockies and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.

Retirement

Holmes runs local skills clinics in Calgary for young women's players. In April 2011, Holmes joined the sponsorship division of the CWHL and manage the Alberta expansion team for the 2011-12 CWHL season. In July 2012, she gave birth to a daughter.

Career stats

Hockey Canada

CWHL

Awards and honours

*1999-2000 New England Hockey Writers Association Women's Division I All-Star Team selection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes-Domagala, Samantha 1977 births Brampton Thunder players Calgary Oval X-Treme players Canadian women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Alberta Living people New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey players Sportspeople from Mississauga Strathmore Rockies players