All images supplied by Yan Huckendubler
Sourisseau’s world class profession involves an finish
Natalie Sourisseau mentioned she thrives most when put in uncomfortable conditions. The Girls’s Nationwide Staff veteran described the moments of problem throughout her profession to be probably the most rewarding and those most contributing to her success.
After a 15-year profession of representing Canada on the worldwide stage, the veteran midfielder has formally introduced her retirement from the Girls’s Nationwide Staff. A dynamic presence within the midfield and a pacesetter each on and off the sector, Sourisseau leaves behind a legacy of relentless pursuit of excellence and going through challenges head on.
From Kelowna, BC, Sourisseau performed all sports activities rising up. Kelowna is just not a standard hockey hotbed so when she began to pursue hockey at a better stage in highschool, it took assist from all sides to assist assist her journey. She mentioned her highschool coach taught her learn how to be a excessive performing athlete and displays on her dad driving her into Vancouver on a weekly foundation to pursue hockey at a better stage. It’s these moments of drive and pursuit which have outlined one of many biggest hockey careers in Canadian historical past.
Sourisseau made her senior debut in 2011 in a check match in opposition to USA and shortly grew to become a mainstay within the Canadian lineup. Over the course of her 15-year profession, she earned 184 caps (putting her inside the highest 10 cap getters in Canadian ladies’s hockey) and competed in among the sport’s most essential occasions, together with three Pan American Video games, two Commonwealth Video games, and the 2022 World Cup. Reflecting on her profession, she highlights some main moments on the sector that she identifies as essential milestones.
“The 2019 Pan Am Video games, after we beat the U.S. to advance and we wound up successful silver. It was the very best we had completed in fairly some time. That stands out and once more, after we beat USA and certified for the [2022] World Cup. These moments stand out,” Sourisseau mentioned. “2015 Pan Ams [in Toronto] was particular too. It’s so uncommon to have the ability to play at residence in Canada on the senior stage, particularly at a significant video games. All of us had household within the stands in order that was an incredible expertise as effectively.
Like many outgoing athletes, the on-field performances are just one side of an extended profession and sometimes play a secondary function when reflecting. Sourisseau mentioned the relationships she constructed domestically and worldwide with coaches and teammates is the most important takeaway from a 15-year profession.
“The issues that persist with me aren’t actually the scores or no matter occurred on the sector. It’s the relationships with teammates. It’s having this different household. I’ve so many reminiscences of ridiculous issues taking place between bus rides and dancing within the changerooms, being on the motels. It’s these issues that I bear in mind clearly.”
One second she’s having fun with a brand new metropolis the world over, the subsequent, she’s in China with Brie Stairs in a Tuk Tuk on the best way native hospital. For Sourisseau, the particular moments usually are available in between matches and outdoors the match grounds altogether.
Earlier than her senior group debut, Sourisseau was already turning heads on the college stage. She was named CIS Rookie of the Yr in 2010 and helped lead the UBC Thunderbirds to 3 consecutive nationwide titles from 2011 to 2013.
“I at all times discover the conditions the place I develop probably the most, are the conditions the place I’m challenged probably the most.”
Her pursuit of enchancment and problem took her abroad, the place she competed within the elite Dutch league with SCHC in Utrecht (2017) and THC Hurley in Amsterdam (2018–2020). These worldwide experiences helped elevate her recreation and convey completely different views again to the Canadian squad. This was one other second when Sourisseau cites that she felt the stress and comfortability of being in a brand new scenario. She mentioned, with no hesitation, that this took her recreation to a brand new stage.
“There’s a home ceiling in Canada, at a sure level. You’ve most likely been the celebrity of your highschool and college group. I used to be exterior my consolation zone, I needed to carry out each single day, each single follow. That simply makes you higher, and raises the ceiling of what you’ll be able to obtain,” Sourisseau mentioned. “Apart from the on discipline, you additionally simply develop as an individual, dwelling in a special nation by yourself, having to determine all of it out. I at all times discover the conditions the place I develop probably the most, are the conditions the place I’m challenged probably the most.”
Recognized for her fierce competitiveness and tireless work ethic, Sourisseau was usually described because the engine of the Canadian midfield. Her consistency, imaginative and prescient, and management made her a task mannequin for youthful gamers and a trusted presence for coaches and teammates alike. She was usually probably the most dynamic and harmful participant on the sector, for both group.
“Like many, I began out tremendous not sure of myself, by no means wished to do something mistaken. However as time went on, I discovered my place and located my voice with this group. I at all times ran a ton and labored actually exhausting on the sector,” she mentioned. “I’ve at all times been passionate and intense and attempt to play each recreation with numerous vitality, which will be contagious on your group. I might simply merely attempt to play with numerous ardour and vitality.”
Sourisseau performed her ultimate worldwide match in February 2025 on the Nations Cup in opposition to Korea, closing the chapter on a exceptional profession that helped encourage a era of recent Canadian hockey gamers. She was really a one-of-a-kind dynamo on the sector. She now shifts her gaze on her medical profession, getting into into her third-year clerkship and shifting ahead with additional education and work in the direction of turning into a health care provider. For now, she’ll be departing from the hockey scene. She mentioned she’ll be cheering on the group from residence.
Discipline Hockey Canada wish to thank Natalie Sourisseau for her years of dedication, ardour, and management. Her affect on this system shall be felt for generations to return.
