Jessica Campbell hosts first Prairie Built fundraiser
July 28, 2025, 9:55 am
Kevin Weedmark
Jessica Campbell was back in her home area last week, where she was the star attraction at a fundraiser in Rocanville for her Prairie Built Scholarship Foundation, attended the opening of Pro Hockey Life in Regina, and attended a fundraiser in Elkhorn along with Travis Sanheim and Sheldon Kennedy.
Kevin Weedmark interviewed Jessica in Regina on Sunday. The complete interview follows.
You are here on the Prairies, among other things, to kick off your Prairie Built Foundation with a fundraiser which seemed to go well. Where did the idea come from for the foundation?
There was a lot of inspiration. I think the biggest thing for me was bringing it full circle. I’ve done a lot of reflecting this past season and obviously any time I come home to Saskatchewan or think about my hockey journey it takes me full circle back to where it started, and obviously that’s Rocanville and Melville and home here to my Prairie roots, but I was very fortunate to receive a financial aid academic scholarship from the Potash Corp in high school, which allowed me to go to Cornell University and if I didn’t receive that yearly commitment scholarship from the mine over my four years, I wouldn’t have been able to go to Cornell and wouldn’t have ended up where I am so I think that’s a barrier, sometimes financial barriers are real for anyone, so to able to be someone who is able to bring a community together and have a platform to rally people to invest back into growing opportunities for kids out of the Prairies. That’s what I want to do, to give back and never forget where I am coming from and the communities that helped me get here, so it’s come full circle.
How will the foundation work? Will it help young hockey players right across the Prairies?
“Yes, boys and girls, all Prairie based communities between Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, obviously local initiatives even Rocanville and surrounding areas, just further youth sporting initiatives, but to start the scholarship fund will be awarded in the new year to a recipient who had a same type of story and someone who is trying to reach the next level and needs the financial step up.
That must have been a great first step, with the fundriaser in Rocanville. Any idea how much it raised in total.
“I don’t know exactly, but definitely over $80,000 if not closer to $100,000. We just need to tally it up now.”
You were in Rocanville last night, you’re in Regina today, you’re in Elkhorn later this week. How did all this come together.
“It’s been a bit of a prairie tour. Honestly it was all kind of a close connection type fit. I actually was planning my event with Travis Sanheim, and then we bumped ours up a weekend earlier. He had a wedding conflict so he wasn’t able to come last night, but I committed to going to his on Thursday, and I skated and grew up in Elkhorn a lot so for me to go there with Sheldon Kennedy was special. We skated a lot with the kids, we were all the same age and spent a lot of time at that rink, and Sheldon Kennedy I worked for, in Calgary and did a lot with his foundation. I’m excited to get to be part of that panel and join those guys to also raise money for Elkhorn Minor Hockey.
How connected do you feel to the Prairies? Did growing up on the Prairies make you who you are?
“I think every piece and person you meet, coach, volunteer, anyone who has sacrificed anything. My hockey journey is a big piece of getting me to this position so I don’t ever take for granted where I am coming from, the people that have lifted me and that’s Saskatchewan through and through, so I am still very much connected and love coming home, this is where all my family still is.
How does it feel coming home now that there’s a highway sign coming into Rocanville and your quote is the first thing people see walking into the rink?
“It’s crazy, it’s emotional for me because it’s not something you ever picture for yourself. So to feel the town pride and to feel honoured in that way is more motivation for me to keep going and to keep chasing because I know at the end of the day it’s beyond sports, it’s beyond hockey, its about growing the game and growing the opportunities for others. For different backgrounds to come to the table and so when I see the sign I know it makes my parents proud and I know they get excited to show it to friends and family coming through. It’s another motivation factor and it makes me proud.
How does it feel to be able to make a difference in getting this foundation going.
“When you’re afforded the opportunity to have a platform and a reach, which I have now been able to build that momentum, I think it’s really important to do something with it because if you don’t, what’s the point? At the end of the day, I am here to coach hockey and be a part of what I love doing every day, but there’s also a greater opportunity to give back and to give other kids that same motivation and whether it’s a stick or a signed puck or a picture, it doesn’t matter what it is. I always said when I started working with NHL guys, there is no player too big or small and that was always my guiding principle and I just follow that. You never know where that player, kid, pro is going to go and just leave them better then you found them. That is my approach to this whole thing and just bettering community all around.”
When you were growing up did you ever think you would make it this far in hockey.
“I believed in crazy things, I was very much a dreamer of working at the highest level and maybe not seeing myself behind the bench in the NHL, but I thought I could play in the NHL when I was playing boys hockey, and when Team Canada became real for me that’s when the dream shifted and then when I finished playing and started coaching it was very interesting because there were a few moments a long the way that were the ‘Aha’s’ and when I started my business there was obviously no other woman behind a bench doing what I was doing and so I think the voice inside me was there telling me I could do it. I believed I had the passion and the skill set to do it, but obviously there’s a lot of outside noise and critics that maybe didn’t see it the same way I did and the voice was a lot quieter, but it was real in me and when the NHL players started to show up and walk through the door of the house that I built for myself. That was very formative for my confidence and I think the step that I needed to know that I could do it, I was doing it on my own and why couldn’t I do it on a team level and I just continued to follow the path and every opportunity that came my way was another step.
Who locally contributed to your development as a hockey player. Is there anyone in our area when you look back you realize made a real difference.
“There’s so many volunteers and coaches. I grew up in Rocanville Minor Hockey and Melville Minor Hockey. Leo Park who was my first competitive boys coach on a AA team. He taught me so many lessons, some of which I shared last night and how to be a competitor. He treated me equally just like one of the boys and that’s how it should have been right from the start, and he planted seeds early in me to demand and set a standard of excellence and discipline and be truly competitive, so that tough coaching style was good for me and my development and I cherish that mentorship he gave me and he is still a huge mentor for me, even now and is a great family friend. So, we cherish those coaches.
What message are you trying to get across to young people and young girls especially in hockey?
At the end of the day there is a place for everyone in hockey, we’ve been a part of the game for as long as we’ve been tying them up and now it’s just growing more opportunities for girls in sports. Obviously, the visibility is there now behind the bench which I didn’t know I could do because I couldn’t see it and so visibility matters for girls and when you have it, you can see it, you dream it and you can believe in it and that’s really important, but I also now that I am a part of a long list and late on a long list of remarkable women already in the game, in the NHL, in management and scouting, and player development, analytics you name it, media that are doing a heck of a job and I give so much credit to them because I always say breaking barriers is through mutual trust and building trust and respect and when you have that, that’s what breaks the barriers and at the end of the day for young girls hearing this message it’s believe in anything you see for yourself and even if you don’t see it in the world around you, still have permission to believe in it and chase after it.
When you look back on your career to this point what do you look back on with the most pride?
I take most pride in all of the things I have done in the community or gotten to part of in a community whether it was Sheldon Kennedy and the Child Abuse advocacy, mental health initiatives with DIFD foundation. Those were the most memorable moments because my teammates showed up, my coaches showed up and brought together, what really hockey is about. It’s a team sport, it’s about pulling on the same rope for the same goal and so anytime I’m able to do things in the community and come to things like this and Pro Hockey Life obviously and see the kids that are all falling in love with the game at their own pace and the parents that are there sacrificing. That’s the beauty of sport and hockey and coming out of the Prairies it’s even more special.
Looking forward where do you see your own career going and where do you see women’s hockey going?
Women’s hockey is on a great pace that its always been pushing towards and now the sustainability infrastructure is there to make it a league they’ve always deserved, the product has always been there. I think the opportunity and visibility and now having an option to play professionally and make a career of it is going to just explode the growth of the game. I already see how many kids are buying PWHL jerseys and falling in love with their new favourite player because they can see that player on TV. Those things matter, that’s what inspires kids to come in here and buy skates and beg their parents to walk away with a stick. It’s huge, I’m so excited for the momentum, and they’re on their way. As for my journey I’m very happy where I am at. I work for an incredible organization and I want to win the Stanley Cup. I just want to win, be a great coach and who knows what’s next. I mean if Head Coaching is in the cards for me someday, then I would love to continue to work to be a better coach and see where it takes me.”
You’re part of this grand opening ad Pro Hockey Life today, what does it mean for hockey players to have a store like this in Saskatchewan.
“It’s amazing, I was just saying sometimes when you come out of smaller towns you lack resources that are maybe there for the city centres and to have this now in a one stop shop spot in Regina where everybody can access it. You don’t have to try to go everywhere to figure it out and to me that can be a barrier and so I experienced that myself, not having something like this, but to be able to not just access resources, but the best of the best products that’s what also helps further development and it’s not about that, but it’s important to have the opportunity. I’m excited for the kids in the city and surrounding areas and the families.”
During your visit back home are you able to make some time to visit family?
“The next few days I’m going home to hang out with my nephews and chase them around with hopefully water balloons.
When you come home is there a sense of being just Jessica again?
Yes, it’s so refreshing. I ran into Jess Moskaluke last night. When you’re under the microscope and you’re doing something that’s public facing you feel the pressure of always being on and when you come home to the Prairies you can go to the grocery store and say hello to a few people and take pictures, but it’s different because we’re all just the same at the end of the day. I’ve been afforded a very incredible opportunity where now I have to do something special hopefully for others to benefit from and I think when I come back it always grounds me. Family, people that have been supporting me always fuel me and refill my cup, it’s awesome.”
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