When Canada won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a 10-year-old Daryl Watts was in the Rogers Arena stands with her dad, her face painted red and a Canadian flag wrapped around her shoulders.
“I’d never seen people show up like that for a women’s hockey game before,” Watts says now, speaking after the Sceptres final practice in Toronto before the Olympic break. “I obviously loved hockey before that, but that was a really special moment for me where I realized, ‘Okay, this is exactly what I want to do in the future.’”
Sixteen years later, Watts is a week away from playing in her first Olympics, where she’ll inspire the next generation of young hockey players.
“I can’t believe it’s here,” Watts says. “It’s been a long season. I’m just so excited.”
Watts’ selection to the Olympic roster earlier this month was far from a surprise. She made her senior national team debut during the 2024-25 Rivalry Series and helped Canada win silver at the 2025 Women’s World Championship, where her four goals tied for second-most on the team. She’s also an elite forward in the PWHL, finishing third in league scoring last season.
Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan, who also coaches Canada’s national team, was on the call to tell Watts she’d made the cut for Milan.
“Over the last couple of years, she’s made some adjustments to a more complete game,” says Ryan. “It’s helped her defensively, but I believe it’s helping her a bit more offensively as well. We can put her over the boards in any scenario and expect her to do great things.
“She’s such a dynamic player with a high level of hockey sense. It’s exciting this is her first Games and we kind of get to showcase her in front of the world.”
Despite being a top-level talent, the 26-year-old’s path to Olympics hasn’t been linear. Watts was a college phenom, becoming the first freshman ever to win the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to NCAA hockey’s best player, while at Boston College.
She transferred to the University of Wisconsin after her sophomore year and won a national championship with the Badgers in 2021, scoring the overtime winner in the final. Her 297 total career points ranks second all-time in the NCAA record books, behind only future Hall of Famer Meghan Agosta.
However, as that impressive collegiate career was coming to an end, Watts was passed over by the national program, not one of those selected for centralization to try to crack the 2022 Olympic roster. In the wake of that disappointment, she retired and decided to pursue a future in commercial real estate.
“That was a crazy little period for me,” recalls Watts. “But, you know, I’m thankful for it. I don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for that period. But yeah, I definitely thought I had lost out on this dream for a moment there, and that was a little bit sad.”
After a 10-month hiatus from the sport, Watts came out of retirement to play for the Toronto Six in the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation. She was set to become the highest paid player in women’s pro hockey, signing a contact worth $150,000 for the 2023-24 season. But the PHF was bought out, voiding that contract, and Watts entered the PWHL draft.
It was another period of upheaval and demanded another fresh start, but the move to the PWHL gave Watts the opportunity to play alongside the best women’s hockey players in the world.
She thrived, the winding journey leading to the ultimate pay off.
“It was a long time coming for her,” Sceptres teammate Natalie Spooner says of Watts being named to the Olympic roster. “She’s so skilled. So, to be able to see her go to her first Olympics, and to be there to support her, and just, you know, hopefully be someone for her to lean on when she needs to … we just want her to be playing her best out there to help us win.”
Spooner will be competing in her fourth Olympics. Her advice to Watts was simple.
“’Just go out and play your game,’” she says. “Obviously, it can be a bit nerve-racking. But we’re all there for her, all there to support her.”
Five of Watts’ teammates in Toronto will be playing for Team Canada (Spooner, Renata Fast, Emma Maltais, Ella Shelton and Blayre Turnbull), but she is the lone Sceptre making her Olympic debut.
“There’s been a lot of advice,” says Watts. “But something a lot of people have shared is, you just have to be there to experience it and that it’s tough to describe what your first Olympics is like. I’ve heard there’s a lot of nerves, so I’m trying to mentally prepare for that a little bit. But I’m just so excited. I can’t wait to see it over there.”
After she was named to the national team roster, Watts posted a photo on Instagram from those 2010 Olympics, red face paint and all. It’s a full-circle moment for that 10-year-old who dreamed of one day playing for Canada.