Melody Davidson (born 1962 or 1963) is a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach. She served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Canada women's national ice hockey team The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada in women's hockey. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and participates in international competitions ...

, leading them to a gold medal at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

and

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. A graduate of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, she was also the head coach of the

Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey The Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey program represents Cornell University and participates in Division I collegiate hockey in the ECAC Hockey conference. They play at the Lynah Rink in Ithaca, New York. The Ivy League announced in July 2 ...

team. Previously the head coach of the Connecticut College Camels women's ice hockey team. Davidson was inducted into the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

in 2024.

Early life and education

Davidson was born in

Coronation, Alberta Coronation is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Paintearth No. 18. It is located at the intersection of Alberta Highway 12, Highway 12 and Alberta Highway 872, Highway 872, approximately west of the Saska ...

but moved to

Oyen, Alberta Oyen is a town in Southern Alberta, Canada near the Saskatchewan boundary and north of Medicine Hat. It is on Highway 41, south of its junction with Highway 9. Early name, Bishopburg, was changed in 1912 to honour Andrew Oyen, an early settle ...

after grade 3. After high school, she attended

Red Deer College Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), formerly Red Deer College, is a public polytechnic institute of approximately 10,000 students in credit, non-credit and apprenticeship programming located in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. In 2021, Red Deer College was c ...

, where she earned a degree in physical education, and the

(U of A). With her bachelor's degree, Davidson accepted a position as a recreation director before attending the National Coaching Institute at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

Career

Davidson began coaching her brothers hockey team in 1978 and eventually graduated to women's hockey in 1989. As a coach, she led Team Alberta at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 Canada Winter Games. As a result, she was asked to be an assistant coach for the Canadian national women's hockey team at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

. After her Olympic Games experience where Team Canada won gold, she had caught the attention of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

who offered her a coaching position. As head coach at Cornell, she was appointed Head Coach of Team Canada for the 2004–2005 season, the

, where Canada won another gold medal, and at the

. Her role in the Olympics earned her various honours including being inducted into the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum w ...

and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. She was also awarded the 2010 Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award and named to the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity's most influential women list. Subsequently she served as director of the Canadian women's team that won gold at the

2014 Sochi Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. She was inducted into the builder category of the

at the medal ceremony of the

2024 IIHF World Championship The 2024 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Czechia from 10 to 26 May 2024. It was held in Prague and Ostrava, and organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was the most attended Hockey Championship in history with a total atte ...

Coaching record

Cornell University

Managerial

On July 26, 2018, it was announced that

Gina Kingsbury Gina Kingsbury (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current general manager for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Playing career Besides hockey, Kingsbury participa ...

would take over Davidson's role as General Manager of the

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

. Davidson stated that she left the position after eight years to focus on scouting. In 2022 she joined the professional women's

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

as director of league and hockey operations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Melody 1960s births Living people Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees Canada women's national ice hockey team coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Connecticut College Camels coaches Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Alberta IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Year of birth missing (living people)