Off-Campus: From laboratories to the ice rink

When Jaydee Cabral first started playing ice hockey in her 30s, never in her wildest dreams did she think it would lead to representing Aotearoa on the national stage.

Jaydee, a Research Associate Professor from the Department of Microbiology, traded her inline skates for ice skates when she moved to Dunedin in 2008. By 2017, she’d been selected as a reserve player for the Ice Fernz.

“I was well into my 40s then and couldn’t believe they picked me to be a part of the team. It was a nice surprise.”

A native of California, Jaydee didn’t spend much time on the ice before moving to Ōtepoti, unlike her husband Dr Bret Dougherty who grew up playing ice hockey in Minnesota.

“An ice rink featured high on our list when picking a city to move to. Dunedin, with its natural beauty, good schools, the University, and the ice rink, ticked all our boxes.”

Bret, who works with Student Health as a Clinical Group Leader for GPs  and is NZ Ice Hockey Federation’s Medical Officer, started coaching their sons in ice hockey and Jaydee soon joined in as assistant coach. She moved on to becoming the head coach for the U14 Dunedin Thunder in 2017 and they won a bronze medal in the NZ Peewee Ice Hockey League, she says.

Alongside coaching, Jaydee also played for Southern Storm*, a team in the New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL).

“Players from the NZWIHL are selected to represent New Zealand on the world stage for our U18 team and senior women’s team, the Ice Fernz.”

Jaydee was an Ice Fernz reserve till 2019. Since then, she has gone on to coach the New Zealand women’s U18 ice hockey team to a gold medal.

The team won the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship (Division II B) event in Sofia, Bulgaria, competing against teams from Iceland, Belgium, Mexico, Bulgaria, and South Africa. Jaydee accompanied the team to Sofia as their assistant coach.

“This is the first time a New Zealand women’s U18 team has ever won gold in ice hockey on the world stage. It was such a proud moment, and I will never forget seeing the captain lift the trophy up.”

One thing she realised from the experience was that “you need to learn how to win”.

“If you’re used to always being the underdog, it takes a bit of learning to understand what winning means and how to process it.”

So how does she balance a life between sports and academics?

“It’s really full on, working your regular job and coaching. You just do it. The calendar gets packed, but you look ahead, you plan.

“I also like that it’s using a different part of your brain, it’s a great release from stress, especially if you’ve been desk-bound all day.”

Jaydee is no stranger to switching between different disciplines though.

Armed with a PhD in biomedical sciences and a master’s in chemistry, Jaydee started out as a post-doc in Otago’s Department of Chemistry. A little more than a decade later, she made the switch to microbiology, with a focus on 3D bioprinting and medical device development.

“My field is quite diverse, with chemists, clinicians, material scientists, and biologists working together towards a common goal. The skills I fostered in sports, like being a team player, coaching and public speaking, I use in my work every day.

“We’ve always told our players that the skills we’re teaching them are life skills. The resilience, teamwork, believing in yourself and learning from your mistakes translates to all aspects of life,” she says.

When she’s not researching the latest in 3D bioprinting or coaching the national team, Jaydee is the assistant coach for her former team, Dunedin Thunder Women*, who compete in the NZWIHL.

“There is a mentality switch from being player to coach. The continuity is the mutual respect and trust that I built with the players. The team knows inherently that I have their best interests at heart.”

Dunedin Thunder Women have a few games coming up at the Dunedin Ice Stadium in June and August, Jaydee says.

“Listening to your fans cheering you on makes a big difference when you’re on the ice. We’d love to see more people come to the games and support our team.”

~ Kōrero by Sandra French, Adviser, Internal Communications.

*Southern Storm comprised of players from the South Island’s southern region combined to form a single team. In 2020, it was decided to split the Southern team in two, resulting in the Dunedin Thunder Women and Wakatipu Wild joining the NZWIHL.