Volunteer Spotlight Series: Denyse Roussel and Laval Women’s Hockey
For the past six seasons, Denyse Roussel (Claims Adjuster, Laval) has been volunteering as a Hockey Health and Safety Officer (HHSO). She has become something of an “adoptive mother” to the women’s hockey teams of the Laval Women’s Hockey Association!
“I love this role because I’m right in the heart of the action. I love being behind the bench and watching the girls play. It gives you a completely different perspective on the game!” explains Denyse. “I mainly deal with minor injuries, I wipe away tears when things go wrong, and welcome smiles when everything goes well!”
“It all started during my daughters’ second year of hockey. Since I was going to be at the arena anyway to watch practices and games – often for more than two hours each time – I figured I might as well make myself useful and get involved rather than just sit in the stands.”
To begin, Denyse completed the mandatory training courses offered by Hockey Canada and Hockey Québec. “One focuses specifically on injuries and concussions, and the other on Respect in sports, covering everything related to bullying, whether it comes from teammates or coaches. Because yes, it does happen. ”
Denyse explains that a regular season of minor hockey (double-letter division) consists of 22 games. There are also exhibition games at the start of the year (about four) and tournaments throughout the season. In total, Denyse estimates that at the end of a season she has attended 35 hockey games and at least 60 practices. Including away-games as far as Val-d’Or, and tournaments as far away as Rimouski. That’s a lot of kilometers traveled.
“Volunteering in this role is a major time commitment. During the 2024–2025 season, I looked after two teams, one of which had two people sharing my role. Even so, I calculated that I had volunteered more than 300 hours in a single season. It was enormous! This year, I took on only one team, but I was on my own. Without calculating my hours, I’d easily estimate at least 200 hours.”
“What great times for hockey in Quebec! Victoire de Montréal won the Walter Cup, and the Montreal Canadiens went far with a very young team. On a smaller scale, one of my daughters’ teams was selected to play a game at the Bell Centre, on the Montreal Canadiens’ home ice! Her team was also selected to participate in the first Greater Montreal U15 International Tournament, which welcomed players from as far away as Switzerland, France, and Korea!”
Let’s celebrate the growth of women’s hockey across the country – and the volunteers like Denyse who contribute to it!
About the Volunteer Spotlight Series
During Canada’s Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 19–25, an Insider article invited our people to share their volunteering stories. Six stories were chosen to be promoted in this summer series so that their contributions and the great work of their organizations could be recognized by a larger audience. This is profile 2 of 6. The next article in the series will be posted on July 27 for a little Monday Motivation.