September 2026
The Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) is strengthening its commitment to student athlete health and wellbeing with the appointment of high-performance sport physiotherapist Danielle McNally as the League’s new Medical Advisor.
In this new role, McNally will work with member programs and their medical teams to support consistent medical standards, injury reporting, emergency preparedness, education, and athlete health.
“Student athlete health and wellbeing is core to our league values,” said Kevin Goodwin, Chief Administrative Officer. “This role gives us an opportunity to strengthen consistency across our programs. Danielle brings an exceptional depth of high-performance experience, and her collaborative approach will help us continue to raise the standard of excellence we provide to our student athletes.”
McNally hails from Nova Scotia, is bilingual, and brings 16 years of physiotherapy experience, including the past six years working primarily in high-performance sport. Her experience spans Hockey Canada, Rugby Canada and professional soccer, as well as Olympic, World Championship and other international competition. Her high-performance work with Hockey Canada will also continue into the 2026-27 season, with McNally named as a therapist supporting Canada’s National Women’s Team.
For McNally, the first step will be understanding what is already in place across the CSSHL.
“A big part is going to be learning what’s already in place and underway with the programs,” said McNally. “It’s really about optimizing the people already there and their knowledge, and being able to spread that throughout the league and create consistency in those areas of excellence.”
McNally’s experience across multiple sports will also inform her approach. Having worked at the highest levels of hockey, rugby and soccer, she has seen how different sports and organizations approach athlete care — and how lessons from one environment can strengthen another.
“There’s so much that’s cultural as part of sport — the way things get done in various sports can be different,” she said. “You can learn something new from the way that each sport is structured, both by necessity and design.”
Through collaboration, education and the sharing of best practices, McNally’s work will help strengthen the medical support available across the CSSHL while building on the knowledge and expertise already within its member programs. Ultimately, the goal is to create greater consistency across the league and support student athletes in reaching their potential both on and off the ice.
For further information:
Sara Caissie
Marketing & Communications
CSSHL
s.caissie@csshl.ca
