Playing to Win

Jessica Zelinka

Hometown: London, ON
Sport: Heptathlon, 100m hurdles
At Smith: MMIE’18

Jessica Zelinka, two-time Olympian, says she enrolled in Queen’s Master of Management Innovation & Entrepreneurship program in part because she finds the team environment similar to athletics. “The faculty, students and network are my new support team that will enable me to ‘go for it’ knowing failure is a part of the journey, just like in track, and it's about resilience.”

Jessica, 36, aims to launch her own business following a long and impressive track-and-field career. A former Canadian record holder in the heptathlon, Jessica competed at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, finishing 5th in the heptathlon in Beijing, and 7th in the heptathlon and 6th in the 100m hurdles in London. She also won gold in the heptathlon at the 2007 Pan Am Games and twice earned silver at the Commonwealth Games.

The heptathlon — seven events, from javelin throwing to hurdles — is described as among the most gruelling of Olympic events. Physically it’s a grind, yes, Jessica says, but mentally and emotionally it’s even tougher. “It’s a roller coaster. You might have had a bad hurdle run but you have to put your head down and clear your mind for the next event. You have to be able to compartmentalize, switch roles and leave the bad behind.” Sounds like the skills every great business leader needs, too.

Anne Fergusson

Hometown: Carleton Place, ON
Sport: Sitting volleyball
At Smith: GDB’17

Ask Anne Fergusson to explain how sitting volleyball differs from regular volleyball and she’ll first point out the obvious: players sit rather than stand. Next, because the net is lower, the ball travels a shorter distance between opposing teams, and so the game is faster.

Anne played all types of sports growing up: basketball, soccer, badminton, track. Then in high school her volleyball coach told her about sitting volleyball. Anne, who was born with no left hand, had never heard of the sport. “I YouTubed it and decided it was the coolest thing ever.”

Today, at 22, Anne is on Canada’s national team. She was there in 2015 when the team won bronze at Toronto’s Parapan Am Games and she hopes to compete in the upcoming World Championships in the Netherlands.

Last year she graduated from Queen’s with a degree in mechanical engineering, then got her Graduate Diploma in Business at Smith. One thing Anne especially liked about the GDB program was its teamwork approach. That’s also her favourite part of volleyball. “Many of my teammates have faced a lot of adversity in their lives,” she says, noting that several have had limbs amputated. “So, for me, the exceptional people I play with is what’s special.”

Nathaniel Miller

Hometown: Kirkland, QC
Sport: Water polo
At Smith: EMBA’19

One of Canada’s most decorated water polo players, Nathaniel Miller traces his roots in the sport back to, of all things, a blip in government infrastructure spending. For Canada’s centennial, in 1967, a bevy of pools was built on Montreal’s West Island. Swim clubs popped up all over, and by the time a young Nathaniel joined his local club many years later, Montreal had become an aquatic hot spot. “My first coaches were two national team players, so I had great mentors. I fell in love with the idea of competing against the best.”

Over an 11-year career on Canada’s senior men’s national team, Nathaniel won three bronze medals at the Pan Am Games, a Commonwealth Water Polo Championship (he was named MVP), and his team qualified for the Olympics in 2008 — a first for men’s water polo in Canada. More hardware came during a pro career, including elite division championships with the Olympic Nice Natation club in France and Fluminense in Brazil.

Now in Calgary, Nathaniel, 38, develops sports programs for InjaNation Fun & Fitness, an indoor trampoline park and obstacle course for families, while he works toward his EMBA at Smith. “The opportunity to go to one of the best business schools in the world is something I couldn’t pass up.” He’s still involved in water polo, too, coaching at a local club in Calgary — and mentoring, perhaps, Canada’s next generation of water polo greats.

Lee Parkhill

Hometown: Oakville, ON
Sport: Sailing
At Smith: AMBA’18

On the day in November 2016 that Smith and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced their partnership, Lee Parkhill called his alma mater, the University of Guelph, to get his transcripts. He wanted to apply to Smith right away. “The timing was perfect,” he recalls. Three months earlier, Lee had sailed at the Rio Olympics. Afterward, at 27, he retired and looked forward to whatever came next. “One thing I knew, I wanted to go back to school.”

When Lee was nine months old, his parents bought a sailboat. He practically grew up on the water, sailing most weekdays as a teen and racing on weekends. Athletes, he says, have many of the skills businesses desire: teamwork, a willingness to be coached and an ability to adapt quickly. Oh, and resiliency. Lee knows quite something about that.

Competing in the Olympic trials Laser event in 2011, he became a late favourite to make Team Canada. Then, a false start disqualified him in a key race — all but ending hopes of going to the London Olympics. Yet Lee was undeterred. Four years later, he won bronze at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, before heading to Rio. “Getting a medal on home soil, putting that past disappointment behind me,” he says, “that was a high point for sure.” ▪