The Prince Albert Raiders hosted the second annual “This Girl Can” night on Wednesday celebrating girls and women in sport, business and the community.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Brittany Hudak and Olympic referee Cianna Lieffers spoke to teams and companies about how sports have shaped their lives.
Hudak and Lieffers signed autographs and took pictures with fans while sharing advice and encouragement.
For Hudak, who went from cleaning the lounge to captivating audiences from the podium, one piece of advice she got stands above the rest.
“Attitude is everything, and that resonated so well with me because even from a young age, I always had a different attitude on my physical disability in general. I never saw it as a limiting factor, I just chose to decide for myself what I was going to do.”
Lieffers says one skill she’s developed the most as a referee is the ability to communicate.
“Everybody is quick to yell at the referee, because it’s an easy thing to do, and with communication I can now approach that situation calmly, talk them down and talk them off that ledge and end up having that positive interaction.”
Lieffers and Hudak both shared the importance of mindset.
“Whether you’re the first one the tenth one or the hundredth one to do whatever it is that you’re pursuing, just go for it. If you have that mindset, you totally can,” Liefffers said.
“Many years later in my career I always come back to what kind of attitude do you want to have today, knowing the power of your mindset and what that can do, I think that really is what works for me,” Hudak said.