“It’s about remembering that, wherever you're at, you are being a role model for people,” said Bumstead. “You are doing the work that people will follow. So that's really important. Just be where your feet are.”
Bumstead is a member of the NHL Coaches Association Female Coaches Program and was previously invited to be a coach at the Florida Panthers’ training camp in 2024. This season she had the opportunity to come to Charlotte and jumped at it.
“Obviously Geordie [Kinnear, Checkers head coach] has been doing it for a long time,” she said. “So just getting to lean on him and learn from him is like something I'm very grateful for to be here."
Bumstead previously served as the Torrent’s assistant coach during their inaugural season, then was appointed to head coach on June 11. As she prepares for her first season as at the helm, she noted some takeaways she has from AHL training camp.
“I look at everything as an opportunity to learn and just kind of take things away,” said Bumstead. “As coaches know, we're the best thieves there are. [Torrent] training camp is still two months out, so it's a good opportunity as I'm starting to really shape what training camps look like for us. Just to kind of have those ideas and see things from the way other coaches are doing.”
Bumstead noted a highlight of hers this week has been the opportunity to be on the ice, seeing the players’ skills, and working in the smaller, more intimate groups of players.
“I think the benefit of being here at this camp is just the way it translates over to like a PWHL camp,” she said. “Like being in Florida a couple years ago with Panthers camp, and obviously seeing that from top down was phenomenal. Being here it's much more in a scale of what we will be dealing with in Seattle. So it's good to kind of see it from the behind the scenes operations and then also on the ice.”
Before her time in Seattle, Bumstead spent four years behind the bench as an Assistant Coach for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s team. At the same time, she coached player development with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, where she was the organization’s first female coach. As she transitioned from college and junior to a professional team, her coaching style adapted.
“I'm a teacher by trade, I love to teach,” said Bumstead. “So, just scaling it down and making it like those quick tidbit things that the players will take away from quickly. Obviously, they're the best of the best, but also recognizing that they still want to learn and they still want to get better every day too. So still coming in with that teaching approach, but just making your message really concise and tangible, and then it hits hard and you don't have to repeat it again.”
Serving her role as a woman behind the bench, Bumstead and her peers act as an inspiration to many girls and women in the sport of hockey. As she prepares to take on her first year as head coach in Seattle, she’s ready to continue to be a leader in that space.
“When you get a seat at the table, it's just like bringing others with you,” she said. “I think for a long time, there's people that have been trying to get through the door, and so looking at it and bringing in others is really important.”
