Any hockey fan who has spent time in a sports bar or ice rink has likely heard of Tom Renney, current president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. Behind every high-profile executive is a hard-working executive assistant, and since January that role in Renney’s office has been dutifully filled by former Powell River resident Jen Crawford.
After the position became available last year, Crawford jumped at the opportunity.
“It was definitely something that caught my eye, being sports-related,” she said. “I had the background and experience.”
Crawford also had the passion. “I’ve played sports my whole life: soccer, baseball, volleyball,” she said. “And I’ve always loved hockey, so it was kind of a natural fit.”
Crawford now works out of Hockey Canada’s headquarters in Calgary, where she has lived since 1998. In addition to duties assisting Renney and the organization’s board of directors, she often has the opportunity to travel, sometimes with her family in tow.
“We were able to go to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship in Kamloops in April and it was such an amazing tournament to watch,” said Crawford. “We brought our daughter, who is 12, and she loved it. She’s not really into sports, she’s more into dance and the arts, so for her to be affected by that was a really great experience.”
Crawford does not recall many girls playing professional sports in her own youth, though she notices a definite flourish in her daughter’s generation.
“You see a lot, especially with the Olympics on right now and the women’s rugby team and the soccer team,” she said. “They’re doing fantastic.”
This holiday season, Crawford and her family will be off to Toronto and Montreal for the IIHF World Junior Championship.
“It will be a different Christmas, for sure, but what an opportunity,” said Crawford. “You watch those games at home on Boxing Day, so to see it live will be amazing.”
Although she misses Powell River’s ocean views and looks forward to returning each summer to visit, Crawford has not yet decided whether she might come back full time.
“My husband and I talk about it,” she said, adding that her dream job makes for a pretty unbeatable life on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, at least for the foreseeable future.
“To go to work and talk hockey all day and be paid for it,” said Crawford, “you can’t get better than that as a Canadian.”
