Head coach of the Mount Royal Cougars women’s hockey team, Scott Rivett, has returned home from the biggest stage in sports. Rivett joined the Czechia women’s hockey team as an assistant coach in the 2026 Winter Olympics, debuting his Olympic coaching career while bringing his international experience back to the Cougars.
Prior to the Olympics, longtime friend and head coach for Czechia and the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge, Carla Macleod, reached out to Rivett about the opportunity to coach for Czechia.
Opportunity through international coaching
After a trial camp in Finland, a few unknowns and more camps, Rivett joined Czechia in late January 2025 as an assistant coach for the IIHF Women’s World Championship. It marked his first appearance as a coach at the senior international level.
“It was a great learning opportunity,” Rivett said about the camp in Finland. “Getting to coach some of the best players in the world was certainly a really unique and cool experience. But, I didn’t know when I left there if I was going to get an opportunity to carry on.”
That was a recurring thought for Rivett until one morning in June, when he woke up to an email approving him for the upcoming 2025-2026 season, which included the Olympics.
Part of what made the experience meaningful was Rivett’s friendship with Macleod.
“The last two years have been unbelievable with her, and just to be back together again,” Rivett said. “Outside we’ve got a great friendship and now we’re able to coach with one of our best friends.”
Karla Karch, the director of Cougars Athletics and Recreation said that Macleod’s decision speaks loads to his character.
“By her actions, it spoke volumes to me and then those who know Scott. He earned it for sure, 100 per cent,” said Karch. “You’re not doing favors at that level, you’re not doing paybacks, he earned that.”
Balancing Olympic duties with Cougars coaching
Once the Olympic opportunity was confirmed, Rivett was balancing his coaching position with the Cougars and Czechia.
Luckily dates lined up well enough that Rivett was only away from the Cougars for three games.
“Having really good assistant coaches that can certainly take over and we’re able to kind of run things while I was gone, gave me the confidence in knowing that I could be away and our team would still be in a good place,” said Rivett.
Karch believes that this Olympic opportunity helped with Rivett both personally and professionally.
Rivett’s role focused on defense and penalty kill, helping athletes perform at their best while providing the tools needed to succeed.
Rivett’s Olympic moment was unexpected while taking team photos with the Olympic rings.
“And I kind of had my own little personal moment like, ‘wow, I can’t believe I’m here, like, how am I here?’” said Rivett.
Off the ice, Rivett did not live in the Olympic village which allowed his wife to join him. With one day off the ice, Rivett explored Milan and attended the short track speed skating competition where Canada won silver.
Rivett said he his proud to support the continued growth of women’s hockey.
“You look at what the attendance numbers have looked like in the PWHL since coming back from the Olympics, all those teams are only continuing to grow,” said Rivett. “There’s been great momentum created and it looks like it’s being sustained, which is awesome to see for sure.”
Now back home at Mount Royal, Rivett brings his Olympic experience full circle, applying new insight and knowledge to the Cougars women’s hockey team while excited for future opportunities.
Related