Without much influence to play the sport, Rolf Wagschal carved a path into hockey built on passion and enjoying the process of getting better.
“It goes back to loving the work,” Wagschal said.
Growing up in North Toronto, hockey wasn’t an immense commitment for the new Under-10 ‘A’ Scarborough Ice Raiders head coach. Hockey was more of a pastime than something he engaged in an organized way, mainly playing shinny locally with friends and neighbours. A spark of passion for hockey came through a book series called Value Tales, which paired a historical figure (many Canadian) with characteristics exemplifying individuals from the past including scientists, activists, and a few athletes.
“My absolute favourite of those [books] was the one about Maurice Richard and the value of tenacity,” Wagschal shared the book called The Value of Tenacity: The Story of Maurice Richard.
His passion for the game has been anchored to him since. As his teen years approached, he was able to start playing organized hockey at the house league level. It was a self-driven commitment during his teen years without any parental pressure to continue progressing. Wagschal instead, pushed himself, however; the drive wasn’t because he was comparing himself to other players he’d face off against.
“What sparked the passion of the game for me was the opportunity to stick with it, to really challenge yourself,” Wagschal explained.
In his childhood, other sports took up the time that hockey would have. While hockey entered the picture later, it was sailing that took up the most time for Wagschal.
“Hockey was always just in the background. It was always something that I loved,” Wagschal shared. “My primary sport, and the thing that got me into my professional career, was the sport of sailing.”
He was introduced to sailing through summer camps and started to take it to competitive levels. Progressing through the ranks from local circuits to provincial competitions, Wagschal eventually graduated to national championships.
“There’s so much more you need to know and consider,” Wagschal shared, adding that sailing is a sport where you’re always thinking. “There is absolutely technical knowledge, and then there is tactical knowledge.”
Each sport is vastly different, including the structure of a competition day. Sailing can often bring on a much bigger time commitment with longer race times and successive races. Rolf would spend full days with his sailing partner, meanwhile they would also be together at overnight stays, travelling to competitions, and sharing meals together.
“That’s one of the things I love about hockey is that variability,” Wagschal said of the contrast to sailing. “You have all those personalities in the room.”
Another contributing factor when he started skating was just being able to have access to a sheet of ice nearby along with no pressure to compete at a higher level.
“You can pick up a pair of skates and especially here in Toronto, we are spoiled with the opportunities. You get on the ice and push yourself. Growing up, there was zero expectation on it,” Wagschal said.
Wagschal continued to play wherever he went – continuing to play the game recreationally through his undergraduate degree, he also had to decide with his sailing partner if they wanted to compete at the Olympics, requiring a significant amount of time and resources. Ultimately, they opted to end their competitive sailing career, which created more time for hockey. He completed his undergraduate degree in Switzerland, followed by a Masters and PhD in the United States. Working toward his Masters in Arizona, this ended up being the place he was around the game the most.
“Ironically, I played more hockey there than ever in my life,” he said. “I was probably on the ice between four and five nights a week.”
He also credits different styles of recreational hockey available at high quality facilities in Arizona. One facility was specialized for three-on-three hockey. His play continuously improved during the years spent in Arizona, which boded well when he moved to Philadelphia to continue studying. As he reached a higher level of education, he also reached the highest level of hockey he had ever played.
“I worked my way up to [D3] club hockey, which was a lot of fun,” Wagschal said.
For Wagschal, there were steady improvements that led to a strong body of work on the ice.
“There were nights where I’m working on a paper, I just need to clear my head. I’d scoot over to the rink at [one in the morning] for a quick skate. It was a great opportunity to just play.”
After finishing school, Rolf became a mental performance consultant, working with high performance athletes to contribute to the mental side of sport. Competitive sailing sparked his interest in this side of sports, and he worked to build the education needed to carve a path as a consultant.
“What goes on between our ears has such a profound impact on how you’re ultimately able to compete.”
Over the past few years, Wagschal has started to coach at the house league and select levels. He feels like he can contribute as a coach in the GTHL by enabling youth hockey players to understand what the season is all about, with a lot of what he learned when steadily improving to higher levels of hockey.
“I think the biggest thing is learning to define success in a way that transcends what your win-loss column says at the end of the season,” Wagschal shared.
The goal for Wagschal as a coach is simple: allow kids to love the game and enable them to improve.
“I want to make sure that kids love the game, have a passion for it, and making sure that the programs are developmentally appropriate.”
