Week 13: Melissa Carty

Tell us about yourself.

For as long as I can remember sports has been some part of my life. It has been a space where I have had some of my biggest moments, where I have faced my toughest challenges and where I learned what I was truly made of. I began playing field hockey in high school, I had quit swimming and was looking for something to fill the time. I had never played before and like many was introduced to it in gym class. I was so excited to go out for my try-outs, and it was here that I learned one of my first lessons in sport, how to take being cut from the team. I was devastated; I had never been cut from a team. I became determined to prove to the coach that I should have been on that team. This became my love affair with a sport that I ended up playing all the way to university and beyond. Field hockey also gave me my first heartbreak, but introduced me to other sports like Football and Ball Hockey. All of my adventures in sport have led me in amazing directions; I have met some incredible people, some who have become dear friends. It has also allowed me to share this love of sport with others and I have been the most fortunate to get to work with some incredible young ladies at St. Augustine High School and have gotten to coach them for the past 3 years.

How has sport helped you develop skills for your work today?

Sport has been a valuable part of my skill set or tool belt as I like to call it. Sport has taught me perseverance, team work, dedication, communication skills and how to dig deep. In my job, I need all of these things, each and every day. As a Detective Constable in the Integrated Domestic Violence Unit with York Regional Police, I wear many hats and sport has taught me how to adapt, how to work as part of team, how to communicate and push through things that are tough.

How has sport helped you be a better leader? How do you define leadership?

I think leadership is what you bring to the table each and every day. Leadership is not something you have to stand up and yell “hey I’m a leader”. It’s your actions, it’s what you bring to the team and it is something that others can see in you without you opening your mouth. One of the ways I choose my captain is doing a suicide drill. I am not looking for the fastest person; I’m looking for the person who doesn’t leave a teammate behind. I think that is something that defines a leader.