Flexman Catching Olympic Fever

February 27, 2010

Tyla Flexman’s been diagnosed with a fever. Olympic fever. And she doesn’t want it to go away.

The senior national team member and a number of her hockey mates are volunteering at CAN FUND House in Vancouver. “So far it’s been really fun,” said the UBC grad and former CIS Canada West Player of the Year.                              

“So many of the kids think we are famous winter athletes when we walk around outside in Canada gear. They run up to us wanting pictures and autographs even we though we repeat, ‘We are FIELD hockey not ICE hockey players.’ They still want to know us. How flattering!”

The experience in the Olympic environment has fuelled the former CIS All-Canadian’s engine. “Being surrounded by Olympians – however distant the contact – has motivated me to arrive at an Olympic Games myself," said the national team centre midfielder.

“Every time I drive by the Olympic Village I get shivers down my spine. I want more than ever to one day be sitting in the village preparing to compete with the best of the best.”

Training has taken on a whole new meaning for the Canadian national. “I am definitely more motivated in the gym because what always seemed like a distant dream (the Olympics) is now all of a sudden very obviously right in front of me," said the engaging national.

“It’s like a very small taste of what it’s like and I just keep thinking about all the hard work the athletes who are here have put in. It takes so much but, it just seems worth it.”

The former national junior team member is swallowed up by the sea of red and white. “As a Canadian athlete it is inspiring to see so many Canadian flags popping up everywhere on cars, houses, and business windows. I have been re-surged with an immense sense of Canadian pride.

“It has been incredible seeing Vancouver transform into a bustling city that screams Canadian pride.”

Nationalism has hit a fever-pitch in Vancouver. And Tyla has caught it.