On International Women’s Day 2025, the Toronto Star recognized the former Olympian and current Varsity Blues women’s hockey head coach for making a difference in the Toronto women’s professional sports scene.
Sunohara’s hockey career is long and decorated. The former Varsity Blue earned rookie of the year honours in 1990–91 and winning two Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OWIAA) championship titles. She would go on to serve as an assistant captain with Team Canada for seven years and competed at three Winter Olympics, including Nagano 1998, the first Games to feature the women’s hockey tournament, where Canada took silver. All told, she won 15 gold and three silver medals as a member of the national team, and helped Canada win the first women’s world championship in 1990.
Sunohara has been the head coach of U of T women’s hockey program since the 2011–12 season, and has since guided the Blues to both the 2019–20 and 2022–23 McCaw Cup championship titles. This winter, the Canada Sports Hall of Fame inductee started working with the Toronto Sceptres as a consultant, “to provide expert insights and guidance to the coaching staff on a variety of game situations, contributing her experience to help inform strategic decisions and enhance team performance.”
KPE congratulates Vicky Sunohara on her continued—and deserved—recognition for a lifetime of enduring contributions to women’s sport.