'Hockey mom' Katherine Henderson eager to take on challenge as new leader of Hockey Canada

Katherine Henderson understands there are going to be challenges ahead as Hockey Canada's new president and CEO, but says she's ready to meet the moment and lead the organization in a new direction through her experience in business, sport and having been a hockey mom for years.

Henderson's appointment was announced Tuesday. She spent the past seven years as CEO of Curling Canada.

"I can't comment on what's going on at Hockey [Canada] right now, but I know I'm going to a place with a really great and committed board," she told CBC Sports. "I have a very long personal experience with hockey that's gone over my whole life as quite an intense hockey mom.

"I spent four or five nights a week at the Don Montgomery Arena watching the Scarborough Ice Raiders. It's brought a lot of joy to my life as well. So I'm really excited about where I'm going."

Hockey Canada has been heavily scrutinized for more than a year over a number of issues. Restoring and rebuilding trust in a Canadian institution and pastime is now the challenge facing Henderson and she isn't shying away from it. 

"I'm really looking forward to working with the board and looking forward to working with the stakeholders and sponsors," she said.  "They've got member associations very similar to curling, so that will be great. We can talk in a while after we've seen what kind of impact I make there."

Many prominent sport leaders across the country have taken to social media this week congratulating and complimenting Henderson on her new role, saying she's perfectly suited for the job. 

"It's daunting when people say that," she said. "I'm really excited about where I'm going. I've had the opportunity now to meet some of the senior staff. They are impressive people and it's a wonderful sport."

Hockey Canada has made sweeping changes since last summer, including its president and CEO, board of directors and interim chair resigning. The national sport organization was under fire for months over its handling of sexual assault allegations.

There were headlines for weeks about the toxic hockey culture that existed in this country leading to the federal government and sponsors withdrawing funding. Just hours after Henderson's hiring Bauer reinstated its partnership with Hockey Canada.

Henderson is no stranger to controversy and adversity. In her time at Curling Canada she's had to weather a number of storms, including Canadian curlers falling to reach the podium in the four-person game for the first time at the 2018 Olympics. 

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Questions since then have been raised about Canada's place in the curling world and Henderson has made herself accountable in answering them. She recently initiated a high-performance review to look at how curlers from this country can better perform.

Henderson also guided Curling Canada through the pandemic, effectively pulling off Briers and Scotties in a bubble in Calgary. And most notably, Henderson brought pay equity to the men's and women's national championships in 2019. Gender equity in sports and investing in women's sports is a priority for Henderson as she moves to Hockey Canada. 

"This is a shoutout to anyone who is thinking about investing in women's sport. I can tell you as an executive it works and it pays back," Henderson said. "I've been a female executive and I've worked with a lot of tremendous people. But I've certainly over many, many years felt that my access to certain pieces of power or certain economic benefits … I've had to work very, very hard for that."

Henderson has held frequent symposiums on women in sport and says she understands that sport leaders in this country, specifically in curling and hockey, need to do more to bring in more diverse communities. 

"There's so much more to do from a lens of sport for all. That's really important because I realize there are major disparities in terms of access to sport and in terms of treatment in sport," she said. 

Henderson says listening to the athlete's voice is more important now more than ever, perhaps learning from a recent issue in curling regarding limiting pregnancy exemptions, a decision that was overturned after a number of curlers spoke out. 

"Thank you to all of the athletes who have ever reached out and who are engaged," she said. "And I will say in curling, there's a lot of incredibly insightful, thoughtful athletes who can give me perspective.

"A lot of perspective, I think, gets you to better decisions. I think having them listen to one another has been really important too, because it creates a kind of collective voice that is an all-things-considered voice rather than one voice that thinks we should do things one way because it benefits a part of the sport."

Henderson will stay on as Curling Canada's CEO until the end of August. That national sport organization has undergone immense change in the last number of months, including hiring two-time world champion David Murdoch as the new high-performance director.

"It's going to be critically important to get this right," Henderson said. "I'll be there to tell them what I know and where the sport is going in the future and what needs to get done. The board members are going to be the ones that are going to do the search ultimately, and they're going to have to pick a person that's going to take them where they need to go.

"I will tell you from all my past seven years working with curling, it's got a hugely bright future."