Hockey may be her first love, but Sarah Nurse also has a passion for creating content on social media to show fans her authenticity and personality
NOTE: This story was first published in August 2021. The beginning has
been updated with current information.
A lot has happened in Sarah Nurse’s life in the last 18 months.
On the ice, she won two IIHF Women’s World Championships and an Olympic
gold, setting records for points (18) and assists (13) in a single Olympic
tournament. Off the ice, she is growing her presence on social media and
working with her partners to produce engaging content.
“I think that I’ve evolved so much in the last few years,” Nurse says.
“Although I do have the same interests, I am just looking to continue to
raise the bar as high as possible and keep pushing different boundaries.”
One of her ground-breaking partnerships in the last year was with EA
Sports. Last August, Nurse was revealed as a cover athlete for NHL23 along
with Anaheim Ducks star, Trevor Zegras.
What’s better than one cover athlete?
Your two official #NHL23 cover athletes @tzegras11 and @nursey16 ⭐️⭐️
See the full reveal tomorrow
➡️ https://t.co/QhoZN09ldb pic.twitter.com/06XIVh92ud— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 24, 2022
“I wanted to make sure that women were authentically integrated into the
game. I didn’t just want to be used as a figurehead checking a box or doing
something different,” she explains. “[EA Sports] really assured me that
they were going to have Trevor and I on the same level as professional
hockey players.
“I think all around, [the reaction to the cover] has been super positive.”
Nurse is excited to work on more meaningful collaborations as her career
continues to evolve.
“I’ve had such great relationships over the last few years,” she says. “I
want to continue really to elevate it and work with them in new and
different ways. I’m working on my own actual personal brand, and with the
help of my partners, I want to be able to do different collaborations with
them. They’re just so supportive of everything that I do.”
Read the original story about how Sarah is building her brand on and
off the ice below.
Photo credit: pam_tenwestphotography
A typical morning for Sarah Nurse begins with what you would expect from
any high-level athlete. With hockey as her No. 1 priority, she begins her
day with training and then hits the ice for a morning skate.
But her schedule after that is likely different compared to other athletes.
The 26-year-old will have meetings to discuss social media partnerships,
participate in video calls, film different videos and plan future concept
ideas.
“I think social media is such a powerful tool,” she says. “It’s something
that we are all on and it’s really integrated into our daily lives.”
Creating content has always been something Nurse has enjoyed, too. In
school, she was often editing videos and coming up with different content
ideas.
“It really started at a young age that I really like to create things,” she
says. “I just love having fun with it, being creative. I think about
content in a sense of what do I like to watch. If I like to watch
something, I want to recreate something that I would like to watch because
if it’s boring to you, it’s going to be boring to everybody else.”
Whether it’s showing a day in her life, a fun fashion look or something she
is passionate about, Nurse is taking advantage of the ability to share her
personality online. Her ability to network and connect with people then
introduced her to the world of brand partnerships.
“When I started realizing that there are organizations and brands and
different partnerships that would align with my values and my mission and
my goals, that’s something that I wanted to dive into,” she says.
mom & dad just out for groceries pic.twitter.com/pdrtL6H1gd
— Sarah Nurse (@nursey16) December 30, 2021
Although she is active on several social media platforms, her favourite
right now is TikTok because it is so creative and entertaining.
“I feel like TikTok is just a place to let loose, have fun,” Nurse says.
“You can literally post anything you want, you can go viral, there are so
many different people that you can see and meet from around the world. I
think TikTok right now is the place to be.”
The love of TikTok is also shared by many of Nurse’s teammates. The reason
why Emily Clark, who was a teammate of Nurse at the University of
Wisconsin, likes the app is because she enjoys sharing her humour and
showcasing her personality while making videos with Canada’s National
Women’s Team.
“While we’re making it, we’re having a blast,” Clark says. “I think it’s a
fun way for people to kind of see the friendships on the team, too. We’re
so much more than teammates, so to be able to see that family and friend
bond that we all have, I think it’s pretty special to share.”
The bond between Clark and Nurse is evident on their TikTok profiles. The
two forwards have started a series called “On the Mini Mic with 20 and 26”
to bring fans behind the scenes at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World
Championship.
“She called me into a room one day and she was like, ‘I got this mini mic,”
Nurse explains. “I was like, ‘I have one at home. Should we do something
funny?’”
Both Nurse and Clark are excited to evolve the video series throughout the
tournament, whether that’s including more of their teammates or even trying
to get their coaches on the mini mic.
“It’s just a fun way for us to share our platforms,” Clark says. “People
seem to like it, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of 20 and 26 on the mini
mic.”
As the duo continues to create content together, Clark says she is learning
a lot about how she can improve her own presence online. She really admires
Nurse’s confidence and willingness to put herself out on social media.
“It’s a true skill and you got to put work into it,” she says. “I think
Sarah is super ahead of our time in the game with that stuff. She honestly
teaches me a lot about different ways you can create content, different
opportunities that can come for it, how you can connect better with people,
[all] by putting a little bit more time into it.”
When it comes to partnerships, Nurse says she uses a gut feeling to know if
she should give the green light to working with a new brand. One of her
favourite partnerships she has worked on was with Tim Hortons and Barbie.
“When the Tim Hortons and Barbie partnership was brought to me, I was so
excited,” she says. “They told me they’re going to make a Barbie look like
me. That was pretty cool, because that’s something that as a little girl, I
could have never ever dreamed of.
“To combine two things that I love was really special. There were so many
times where I’ve been put in a box as an athlete and told that I can’t like
pink or I can’t like Barbies, because that’s not what athletes like. Seeing
my two worlds kind of merge and collide was really special.”
Proud to inspire girls in hockey with the help of @Barbie, @nursey16 and @pou29. Pick up a Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie doll, donut or gift card at a participating restaurant near you. pic.twitter.com/Cu5hkZbq9E
— Tim Hortons (@TimHortons) November 12, 2020
A one-of-a-kind Barbie doll was also made specifically for Nurse to keep
that she says, “looks exactly like me.” The partnership also aligned
seamlessly with her goal of being a role model for the next generation and
especially for young Black hockey players.
“When kids put these limiting beliefs on themselves, it’s because they
don’t see themselves in something,” she says. “Obviously representation is
so important. You have to be able to see yourself in something and so if I
can be that figure for one child, that makes me the happiest. I really hope
that as we go through the next few years, next few decades with hockey,
there are going to be so many young Black girls who are getting involved.”
For Nurse, one of the exciting parts of social media is the increased
connection she has with her fans. Years ago, athletes were limited to more
traditional forms of media, like newspapers and television, to communicate
and show their personalities. With social media, Nurse says it’s an
opportunity to show the world who you are.
“I want to show people that yes, I play hockey. I love hockey. But I also
love other things.”
From hockey to fashion to beauty, Nurse has enjoyed building relationships
with fans through comments and messages. The most important thing for her
is to stay authentic and genuine no matter what she posts on her journey
with social media.
“With social media and with content, I just want to have fun,” she says.
“If we think it’s funny, our teammates think it’s funny, it gets sent
around the group chat, that’s a win.”
