Coach Tara Chisholm beats cancer, wins silver medal

SKIEN, Norway – Tara Chisholm, one of Canada’s most dedicated coaches to Para sport, made her return behind the bench this past weekend after recovering from cancer.

Chisholm guided the women’s Para ice hockey team to the silver medal at the Women’s World Challenge which concluded Monday, the most important tournament of the season and a showcase for possible Paralympic Games inclusion.

On Monday, with first place in the tournament on the line, the Canadians fell 3-0 to the USA, their only loss of the tournament.

In their other three games, they shut out their opponents each time: 10-0 over Great Britain, 12-0 over Team Pacific, and 4-0 over Team Europe.

Chisholm was absent for Canada’s previous games this year as she underwent treatment for her cancer.

“On September 26 I was told that I didn’t have cancer cells in the biopsies that they did,’’ she said. “So my doctor that day, the oncologist, cleared me.

‘’I feel very grateful to be here.”

Chisholm, head coach since 2013, was diagnosed in February with lymphoma. The Medicine Hat, Alta. resident made the three-hour trek by car to Calgary for her chemotherapy and other tests for several weeks.

“I tried to keep a pretty positive mindset,’’ said Chisholm, who is married to Derek Whitson, a Paralympian who was part of Canada’s Sochi 2014 bronze-medal winning Para ice hockey team and also a cancer survivor.

‘’I had some really good physicians, oncologists, nursing staff, all the rest of it. My cancer had a high cure rate, so that obviously let me have that optimistic mindset.

“I think the hardest part for me, honestly, was the unknown.”

While there were five teams at the World Challenge, the tournament featured players from 12 countries. The hope at this time is that women’s Para ice hockey will be able to hold its first world championships, perhaps as early as next season, and ultimately be included in the 2030 Paralympic Winter Games.

‘’There are not yet World Championships, just because of the number of countries,” Chisholm said. “We need at least six countries to be considered for worlds and right now Norway seems ready to break away from Team Europe. But having a worlds is the critical element.”

Chisholm started coaching as a volunteer at the University of Alberta and was introduced to Para ice hockey in 2008 and then hooked up with the women’s program in 2013.

‘’I was hooked right away and was excited about being involved in this community and support any way I could.”

With her husband, she founded Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport and Recreation in 2014.

As for this past week’s tournament, Chisholm was pleased to see the progression of Canada’s skill set. There were 15 team members in Norway, 13 returnees from the squad that also won silver at last year’s edition in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“We wanted to take all the skills that we have worked on, both technically and tactically this year, and put them on the ice,’’ she said. ‘’We got to play some other countries besides the United States, and we put in play some of the skills and strategies we had been working on in practice leading in.’’

Aubree Clements of Bowmanville, Ont. led the Canadian offence with seven goals and two assists over the four games including hat tricks against Great Britain and Europe.

Alyssa White of Winnipeg scored four goals, Raphaelle Tousignant of Terrebonne, Que., the only woman on Canada’s 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships team, had two goals and three assists, and Christina Picton of Fonthill, Ont., a winter Paralympian in 2022 in Para nordic skiing, had two goals and two assists.