UBC women's hockey team to retire jersey of goalie lost to suicide

Jan 7 2017, 7:23 am

It will be an emotional night at The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on Friday night, as the UBC women’s hockey team honours a fallen teammate.

Laura Taylor was a goaltender for the T-Birds last season, helping her team to a Canada West Championship and an appearance in the CIS national championship game.

Taylor was bipolar and dealt with depression. Tragically, she took her own life just days before her 34th birthday last April.

Not only did Laura excel in competitive sports, she was in med school, and was planning on becoming a doctor.

More information about her from her memorial page:

Laura passionately pursued many interests including top level sports such as soccer, ringette and most recently CIS Hockey as a member of the UBC Women’s T-Birds silver medalist hockey team. In her younger years, Laura coached young players in various sports and volunteered to assist challenged young people in most of the communities where she resided. Laura loved being outdoors; hiking, skiing, kayaking or cycling. She had an appetite for learning about anything and everything and was keen to share this knowledge. Her caring attitude naturally led her to UBC medical school where she thrived on the new learning experiences and developed great skills.

Approximately 60 members of Laura’s family from her hometown in Kelowna have made the trip in for UBC’s game – dubbed a ‘Mental Health Awareness Game’ – against the University of Alberta Pandas where UBC will retire her #29 jersey.

Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear green to help stimulate a conversation around mental health issues.

To make a donation in memory of Laura, please visit her memorial page on the UBC website.

Rob WilliamsRob Williams

+ Offside
+ Hockey
ADVERTISEMENT