Valerie Bouillon came to a struggling Carleton Ravens women’s hockey program and became the heart of the defence for the last three years
“Val is the perfect example of someone who came here knowing it was going to be tough,” Ravens head coach Pierre Alain told The Charlatan. “She helped this program to grow and we’re so happy having her for the last three years.
Bouillon brought her physical game, leadership and heart to the Ravens back end after finishing her Cégep career with the Saint Laurent Patriotes. She played 60 games in the Ravens black and red while posting four points, one goal, three assists and 34 penalty minutes
Bouillon spoke to The Charlatan about her career as a Raven and what’s next in her future
The Charlatan (TC): When did you start playing hockey
Valerie Bouillon (VB): I started in novice. I played with boys for a long time. I was the first girl in my hometown [Victoriaville, QC] to play competitive hockey with boys. At one point there was a coach who didn’t want me on his team because I was a girl so, I went to play with girls. I played peewee, bantam, and midget with girls before going to Cégep and playing with Saint Laurent for three years. The best time of my life really. We won the provincial championship. Our team was great. I know a lot of the girls in the RSEQ league because I played there, I know pretty much all of them. Then I came here
TC: What went into the decision to come to Carleton
VB: I had other places where I could go but I always put school first. I wanted to be bilingual too because my hometown doesn’t speak English, no one speaks English at all. I knew in my field, criminology, I would need to be bilingual. So, I choose criminology. In the meantime I really wanted a challenge because I really love being challenged and I will come in this program and try to build it with Pierre and the other players
TC: The Ravens when you came were really a struggling team, how did you see that as a challenge
VB: I saw that challenge and I signed up for it. Pierre was really happy and said that he was glad that I was ready to get that challenge. He always tells me that I’m the one who made a promise and kept it till the end. I was aware that it was going to be tough. We struggled recruiting and winning. But I know that we improved a lot. A lot of teams are aware that we improved. How many games have we lost by one goal? It was so close all the time but we were not able to seal the deal all the time. It was a great challenge and I’m really proud of me to come here. It was hard at some point and I was like “will I be able to do it,” but what is it to sign in a place you know you’re going to win a championship. I think it’s better to sign somewhere where you know you’re going to have a challenge. That if you win in the end and if it is an improvement in the program that you’ll be like that’s a part of me. I’m proud of that
TC: How did you feel that you grew as a person and as a player over the three years?
VB: There was a lot of adversity being here dealing with people that don’t have the same passion as me. I’m someone who is really passionate and intense, so, I had to deal sometimes with people that are not as passionate and don’t want to win as much as I do. In my third year, this year, so many people have the same passion as me and we can see it on the ice. We were better than other years even though we struggled a lot. My first year so many people didn’t care and it’s hard for me to see people that don’t care because my decision to come here was so important to me. It’s such a big part of my life. I grew so much as a person. I don’t know how to explain this but now I can speak English. The fact that I know what I’m going to do in my life, so many things happened too. My teammates were there and I have friendships that will last forever now too.
TC: Do you have a favourite memory as a Raven?
VB: When we won against McGill in my first or second year. They had 65 shots on [Katelyn] Steele but we still won 1-0. It was against Melodie Daoust, Gabrielle Davidson and so many good players. The fact that we were a great challenge to Universite de Montreal was a great memory. My teammates are my greatest memories seriously. I love them, and we had so much fun in the dressing room. They managed to make it more no easy but the fact that we were losing, my teammates managed to make it easier to accept.
TC: What’s next for you?
VB: I applied for a master’s in sociology at [the University of Ottawa] and was accepted and so I will go there. We’ll see what’s going to happen with hockey I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I hope I can play hockey again. Maybe someday. Too, maybe have a recruiting spot on this team because Carleton is my first love. I will always feel like a Raven and if I can do something to help this program I would be really happy to it. Maybe not now but in the next few years if I can do something for this team I would be really happy to do it.
