Peggy Assinck
- Head Coach of GB Women’s Para Ice Hockey Program
- Assistant Coach of GB Para Ice Hockey Program
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge
- Twitter: @peggyparasports
- Facebook: Peggy Assinck
- Instagram: @pegylation
Peggy’s Athlete Background:
Peggy was born with spina bifida and had subsequent non-traumatic spinal cord injuries associated with her original diagnosis and started playing Para Ice Hockey at the age of 11.
She has played for many club teams during her career including the Kawartha Blazers (Peterborough ON), Niagara Thunderblades (St. Catherines ON), and Surrey Eagles (Surrey BC). Peggy currently resides in the UK and currently plays for the Manchester Mayhem (Manchester UK) club team and Team BC Provincial Team in addition to her role on the Canadian Women’s Para Ice Hockey Team.
Peggy has been a Captain or Assistant Captain on the Canadian Women Para Ice Hockey Team since its formation in 2007 and is an active member of the team even while living in the UK.
Peggy’s Coaching:
Peggy has been involved in facilitating and coaching roles for Para Ice Hockey for many years in Canada prior to moving to the UK in 2017.
She won the City of Vancouver Accessible City Award in 2016 for her work facilitating the City of Vancouver Para Ice Hockey Program and helped facilitate Para Ice Hockey Programs with SportAbility CP Sports of BC and the City of Surrey for many years. She was also involved in producing a Para Ice Hockey Coaching Resource which has been used all over the world.
Since moving to the UK, Peggy has taken on the assistant coach role for the Great Britain Para Ice Hockey Team and accompanied the team to the 2019 Pool B World Championships in Berlin. In response to the IPCs call for more Women’s Para Ice Hockey Teams, the British Para Ice Hockey Association has prioritized facilitating the GB Women’s Para Ice Hockey Program moving forward.
Peggy will take on the head coaching position for the Women’s GB Para Ice Hockey Program which will start preparing for the upcoming IPC sanctioned World Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Challenge planned for 2022.
Peggy’s Academic Background:
Independent from Hockey, Peggy completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brock University (Ontario, Canada) and went on to complete her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia.
After her PhD, Peggy moved to Scotland and started a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship in the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh where she studied regeneration in context of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Peggy was recently awarded a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research on MS at the University of Cambridge, England.21