Women's Worlds: Canadian Gold Medallist Coaches Czechia During a Pivotal Chapter

As coach, Carla MacLeod helped Czechia win their first medal at last year's women's World Championship. The team continues to build their new chapter in 2023.

Prior to last season, Czechia had only appeared in six of the 21 women’s World Championship tournaments all-time, never finishing higher than sixth. 

It was a program looking for success but without a clear direction. When two-time Canadian Olympic gold medallist and world champion Carla MacLeod agreed to step behind the bench with Czechia, the nation found that direction.

In her first season as coach of Czechia’s senior national team, MacLeod guided the nation to their first-ever World Championship medal, a bronze at last year’s tournament. Their 4-2 win over Switzerland was historic, but Czechia hoped it was only the beginning of a new chapter. With MacLeod at the helm, it seems like a certainty.

“The game is growing in stages in Czechia, but the women that have come before this team and the women that are on this team just keep plowing through and breaking down barriers to enable the next generation to be able to play, which is a big part of growing our game,” said MacLeod.

“We lived (that growth) here in Canada in the 1990s and for decades earlier, but it boomed in the ’90s, and they’re just on the verge of a boom in Czechia.”

It’s growth that Czechia forward Tereza Vanisova recognizes as well. Vanisoza recently finished her first season playing professional hockey in North America, winning an Isobel Cup with the PHF’s Toronto Six, scoring the overtime-winner. Vanisoza, 27, has been a member of Czechia’s national team since 2013.

“Women’s hockey is definitely growing in Czechia,” she said. “Over the years, we’re getting better and better.”

Following MacLeod’s retirement as a player in 2010, she began coaching internationally with Japan before returning to Canada. She coached Edge School’s prep program for four seasons and then became the coach at the University of Calgary. 

While at Calgary, MacLeod was hired by Czechia. Since joining the Czechian program, MacLeod has seen growth at all levels of the game for women in the country, including a stronger connection between the U-16, U-18 and senior national programs.

“The next step in the process for all of us is teaching us how to be consistent enough to find ways to win,” MacLeod said. “Winning isn’t easy, and I think in Canada, we take that for granted because we have so many veterans around us. When you come in as a young person, you just think winning is what you do. In Czechia, we’re still learning to be confident enough to believe we can win, but when it clicks, it’s going to be pretty special.”

With the wave of youth entering Czechia’s program, including two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds already competing on the senior national team, Czechia’s moment to join the elite nations of women’s hockey is getting closer. 

Vanisova and several other members of the senior national team were also teammates a decade ago playing for Czechia’s U-18 team, who took bronze in 2014, defeating Russia. Now, they’re helping to usher in a new generation guided by MacLeod.

“I think they’re pretty skilled; obviously, it’s their first time. I know they were a little bit nervous, but so far, they’re doing great,” said Vanisova of her young teammates. Those players include 16-year-old stars Adela Sapovalivova and Tereza Plosova, as well as 17-year-old players Tereza Pistekova and Michaela Hesova.

“You look at these young players and see they’re able to come up to this level and hold their own, it speaks volumes to where they’re at…and where our future is going to go, and that’s incredibly bright,” said MacLeod.

The future is definitely bright for Czechia, but MacLeod and her team are not looking into the future just yet. For now, they’re focused on challenging for a medal again in 2023. 

After beating Japan to open the tournament, Czechia faced off against MacLeod’s home nation, Canada, in front of a large home Canadian crowd. Despite falling to Canada 5-1, MacLeod was thrilled with how her team played in their first game facing Canada.

“I’m one proud coach,” she said. “We came into a big-moment game, a new moment for all of us, and we came in with the confidence and a desire to compete and play, and I was really really proud of our effort.”

Following their win over Czechia, Canada's veterans saw the growth of Czechia and acknowledged MacLeod’s impact.

“They played great,” said Canadian blueliner and assistant captain Jocelyne Larocque. “They had a ton of energy. They were physical. It was a great game. I was happy with how they played.

“(Carla’s) done a great job with the team. They were really hard to play against, so that’s something that shows a lot about how they played and the way they were coached.”

On a night when Marie-Philip Poulin scored her 100th and 101st career goals with Canada, the captain and future Hall of Famer took time out to acknowledge the impact MacLeod has had on the developing hockey program in Czechia. The two played together at the 2010 Olympics helping Canada win gold. It was Poulin’s first Olympic Games and MacLeod’s last.

“I knew she’s such a great mentor for those girls,” said Poulin. “She put this team on the map, the way they play, they play for her, they play for each other. It’s amazing what she’s done for this program.”

When the final buzzer sounded and the Canadian anthem was played, MacLeod stood alongside her team to recognize Canada and to share in the experience of playing the reigning World and Olympic champions. For MacLeod, it came with mixed emotions.

“It didn’t really hit me until I got to hug all of them at the end, and you realize they’re all your friends, and many were teammates and others I’d coached,” said MacLeod of facing Canada. “I was just really proud to be in that moment and get that experience.”

It was a game MacLeod called a “measuring stick” for Czechia. Despite losing to her former Canadian team, MacLeod said she believes she’s in the right place and that big things are destined for Czechia internationally. On the path to bigger things, MacLeod feels lucky to be where she is.

“I was on the right bench – I knew where my heart was,” she said.

“This sport is so great, the international piece is so special. I'm probably the luckiest one on the planet – I got to be a player for Canada, and now, I get to coach Czechia…I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’ll just take it and run.”