Silver lining on the ice
Mount Allison Mounties Women’s Hockey Head Coach Addie Miles-Abbott served as assistant coach at the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games, which took place from Jan. 13–25, 2025 in Torino, Italy.
The FISU World University Games are an international multi-sport event for university athletes, organized by the International University Sports Federation (U SPORTS). The Winter Games are held every two years, featuring sports like skiing, ice hockey, and figure skating.
Miles-Abbott joined Carleton University's Stacey Colarossi as an assistant coach, with Kelly Paton from Wilfrid Laurier University serving as head coach.
For Miles-Abbott, it was a full circle moment to be back at the FISU Games. In 2011 she had been selected to play for FISU representing Canada in Erzurum, Turkey. Colarossi, now her coaching partner, had been the assistant coach of the team during that same year.
“The main difference moving to a coaching role is realizing how much work happens behind the scenes to make this event special for the athletes,” she says. “As an athlete I was always appreciative for the experiences I was a part of but never truly understood the time and energy commitment to make those things happen. Obviously, the venues were completely different from Turkey to Italy, but they were both amazing host cities!”
Team Canada played strongly throughout the tournament. In their first game against Great Britain, they scored four times in the first five minutes.
“The athletes acted like professionals,” she says. “They handled everything in stride from media to time restraints to larger crowds. This group of athletes handled everything amazingly.”
Team Canada advanced to the gold medal game after defeating a tough Team Japan 3–0. In the end, they earned the silver medal after a hard-fought game against Czechia.
“We knew the main teams we were looking to compete against. Some countries have put a ton of time and effort into their teams and knew we couldn’t underestimate them,” she says. “Czechia and Japan were two teams that we knew would be a big test for us. Ultimately losing in the final to Czechia was unfortunate, but the girls battled hard and it just wasn’t our night.”
Miles-Abbott says she learned a lot from both the athletes and other coaches. Each coach brought their own unique experience to the table, as well as insights from coaching clinics they had attended in the past.
“It was truly amazing to be in the room with them, witnessing their experience and discussing hockey. That’s where true coaching growth happens, in my opinion.”
She says that attention to detail was key in every game and practice.
“We knew our opponents well and understood our game plan with a lot of attention to detail. With the Mounties, I am excited to incorporate more of the pre-game preparation into our games.”
One of the highlights for Miles-Abbott was watching the athletes receive their Team Canada jerseys and wear them for the first time.
“That is a once-in-a-life-time moment,” she says.
The experience in Torino made her proud of her work as a hockey coach.
“The community of university athletics is so small and to be there representing our country filled me with pride. It also made me very excited about the talent and future of hockey in this country.”