Episode Details

🏒 How do young athletes develop the desire to win — without losing their love for the game?

In this episode of Our Girls Play Hockey, Lee Elias and Olympic gold medalist and PWHL Walter Cup champion Hayley Scamurra dive into one of the most important conversations in youth sports: how girls hockey players can build competitiveness, resilience, and a healthy will to win.

Winning matters. Competing matters. But for young athletes, especially in youth hockey, the scoreboard can’t be the only thing that defines success. Lee and Hayley explore how parents and coaches can help players cultivate effort, passion, and confidence while still keeping the game fun, meaningful, and development-focused.

✨ In this episode, we discuss:

•  🏆 Why the desire to win is a skill that develops differently for every athlete 
•  💪 How Hayley’s competitive mindset grew through hockey, soccer, tennis, and sibling rivalry 
•  🗣️ The difference between criticism and constructive criticism 
•  🚗 Why the car ride home should not become a coaching session 
•  ⏳ Hayley’s “24-hour rule” for parents and athletes after emotional games 
•  🥈 What losing an Olympic gold medal game taught Hayley about resilience 
•  🎯 Why process goals matter more than obsessing over one final outcome 
•  🤝 How parents, coaches, and teammates can help young players take the next step after disappointment 

Hayley shares powerful perspective from the highest levels of the game, including the emotional weight of winning and losing on the Olympic stage and in the PWHL. Her message for young players is clear: losing hurts, but it can also prepare you for the moments you’re working toward.

This episode is a must-listen for hockey parents, coaches, and girls who want to compete hard, grow through adversity, and understand what it really means to build a champion mindset.

🎧 Listen now and share this episode with a hockey family, coach, or player who needs the reminder that winning big starts with learning, losing, growing, and showing up again.

📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Building the Will to Win: What Girls Hockey Players, Parents, and Coaches Need to Know

Have a question or episode idea? Email us at team@ourkidsplayhockey.com or use the link in the episode description to send us a message.

#OurGirlsPlayHockey #GirlsHockey #YouthHockey #HockeyParents #WomenInHockey #HayleyScamurra #HockeyMindset #YouthSports #HockeyDevelopment #PWHL #TeamUSA #HockeyLife #FemaleAthletes #Resilience #ChampionMindset

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