Vicky Sunohara

Vicky Sunohara (born on May 18 1970, in Scarborough, Ontario) is a female ice hockey player, playing for Canada's national team. She is of Japanese-Ukrainian ethnicityFact|date=July 2008.

Once considered the best female ice hockey player in the world, Vicky won an Olympic silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and was idolized by Japanese seeking a hero in ice hockey. She continued with an Olympic gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah U.S. and another gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Vicky has been the captain or alternate captain of the Canadian national team since 2001. Besides the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, she has represented Canada in numerous international ice hockey competitions. Vicky has won 7 gold medals at the World Championships, the first one coming in 1990. In total, she has won 16 gold medals and 3 silver medals as a member of Canada's national team.

When not involved in international competition, Vicky is captain for the Brampton Canadettes Thunder, a team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. In 2002, she was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame.

Vicky attended Northeastern University in Boston on a full ice hockey scholarship and was named to the NCAA All-American All-Star team. She also attended the University of Toronto. While at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Ontario, Vicky was a standout on the women's ice hockey, field hockey, soccer, and flag football teams. In 2006, she was named an inaugural member of the Scarborough Walk of Fame.

Well-known for her affable manner and engaging personality, Vicky is a respected leader. A former Team Canada teammate, Sami Jo Small, was quoted as saying this about Vicky: "I have had the privilege of playing with some pretty amazing people but none have struck me as born leaders like Vicky Sunohara...She rallies the troops in desperate times and tells funny jokes when the pressure is mounting...She's always there for her teammates and always willing to do whatever it takes to win. She makes those around her not only better hockey players but also better people...in the ten years I played on the team I never saw another player touch as many people in such a positive way as Vicky Sunohara."

Vicky donates a considerable amount of time to charitable organizations. She served as Spokesperson for Youth Assisting Youth. Vicky is credited with helping to expand female ice hockey in Canada, having trained and mentored many young girls in the sport.

External links

* [http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/16980/la_id/1/ss_id/5830/nr_id/19040.htm Hockey Canada article - "Scarborough's Vicky Sunohara - A Firsthand Look at the Growing Game of Female Hockey"]
* [http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/200565 Toronto Star article - "Sunohara to get last laugh as Canadians Think Pink"]
* [http://www.canoe.ca/SlamNaganoColumns/feb23_buffery.html Toronto Sun article - "Sunohara's Nagano reunion"]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DB163BF931A35750C0A966958260 New York Times article - Sunohara described as "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey"]
* [http://www.hhof.com/html/wmspla05.shtml Hockey Hall of Fame profile of notable women hockey players]
* [http://lifewise.canoe.ca/Style/2005/02/11/928318.html Sunohara's beauty makeover]
* [http://www.vickysunohara.ca/ Sunohara's website]
* [http://www.bramptonsports.ca/inductee.php?pk=102 Sunohara's biography on Brampton Sports Hall of Fame's website]
* [http://www.bramptonthunder.com/bio.php?k=61 Sunohara's biography on Brampton Thunder's website]
* [http://www.standupscarborough.ca/walk/inductees.htm Scarborough Walk of Fame]
* [http://www.baycrestproam.com/home.html Baycrest International Pro-Am Hockey Tournament website]