Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson - Dare to Make History: Chasing a Dream and Fighting for Equity

Twins Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando started playing ice hockey with their four older brothers and their friends on a frozen pond next to their home in North Dakota. No girls hockey teams, no problem;they just played on boys teams.

As their careers skyrocketed to the world stage, they did not allow roadblocks and discrimination deter them from taking on their governing body, USA Hockey. They threatened to boycott the 2017 World Championships and jeopardized their ability to compete in the 2018 Olympics unless their gender equity issues were addressed. The success of Monique, Jocelyne, and their team thrust them into the center of the struggle for gender equity, for women in hockey and in sports in general, as well as in society at large.

In Dare to Make History, the Lamoureux twins chronicle their journey to the pinnacle of their sport, their efforts along with almost 150 other hockey players to start a new professional womens hockey league, their training to come back and make another national team after giving birth, their tireless efforts to advance the interests of disadvantaged communities in closing the digital divide, and their ongoing contributions as role models championing the dreams of future generations of girls in sports, education, and the workplace.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando are identical twin sisters, born and raised in North Dakota, whose competitive ice hockey careers took them around the world. They led the USA Womens National Team to win six world championships, two Olympic silver medals, and ultimately, an Olympic gold medal in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018. In the gold medal game, Monique scored the tying goal and Jocelyne scored the highlight-reel shootout winning goal.

After the 2018 Olympics, they became mothers within six weeks of each other and now share a new bond of motherhood and a brand new motivation to cheer for the ones behind.

Monique and Jocelyne are much more than world-class athletes, though. They were raised to be difference-makers. They are dedicated to the fight for gender equity, leveling the playing field for young girls and women, whether in sports, the workplace, or life.

They both reside in Grand Forks, North Dakota, with their husbands and sons.

For more information, you can visit

Website: LamoureuxTwins.com

Facebook: @LamoureuxTwins

Twitter: @LamoureuxTwins

Instagram:

@jocelyneusa17 and @moniquelam7

Radius Book Group

A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.

New York, NY 10016

www.RadiusBookGroup.com

Copyright 2021 by Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval, without the written permission of the author.

For more information, email .

First edition: February 2021

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-63576-727-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-63576-728-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913230

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design by Tom Lau

Interior design by Neuwirth & Associates

Radius Book Group and the Radius Book Group colophon are registered trademarks of Radius Book Group, a Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.

This book is dedicated to our parents, who always encouraged us to dream big. To our brothers, who never pulled any punches and taught us we could compete with anyone. To Anthony and Brent, whose consistent love in tough and exhilarating times is our rock. And of course, to Mickey and Nelson; may you set ambitious goals and dreams and chase them with endless passion.

CONTENTS

I have interviewed many female athletes and gender equity trailblazers and advocates throughout my career, but none as tenacious and dedicated to the advancement of women in sports, in the workplace, and in life as Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. Their athletic accomplishments speak for themselves. They have won twenty international medals between the two of them, including six world championships, two Olympic silver medals, and one Olympic goldall before turning thirty years old.

But its their sense of justice and willingness to risk it all that created real change.

I was on my own personal odyssey of trying to understand and appreciate my worth when I met Jocelyne and Monique. I was a successful national television anchor and on a mission. I was tired of seeing young girls and women shut down, self-deprecate, and apologize their way through a conversation or challenge. This had played out in all aspects of my life, so I knew there were legions of women out there struggling the same way.

I became a fierce advocate for women and girls once I forced myself to dig deep and evaluate my own sense of value and confidence. It took me twenty-five years to understand that I played a role in quantifying my success.

Ive learned women are ferocious when it comes to protecting, defending, and augmenting the success of otherstheir spouses, their children, their bosses, anyone who isnt themselves! I came to realize that women everywhere could find their own value and appreciate it.

I decided to travel the country and interview as many women as I could about their own value. It was part of my own self-discovery expedition, and during that journey, I witnessed other womens lost dreams and buried ambitions, which is something that can be fixed. Those conversations were published in my first book, Knowing Your Value, in 2011.

Shortly thereafter, I launched my own womens empowerment platform called Know Your Value. I held events around the country, highlighting womens stories of failure and success, and celebrating how they dug themselves out of their insecurities and stopped using the same old patterns and techniques that were not working. I clearly struck a nerve with women and a community was born.

It was during this process that I met and got to know Jocelyne and Monique. I was in awe of them: twin sisters from a small town in North Dakota who had dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal together, who played on three Olympic ice hockey teams, and who finally brought home the 2018 Olympic gold medal from Pyeongchang, South Korea, one scoring the goal that tied the game, the other netting the dramatic final shootout goal to win it all.