Peewee girls hockey team did city proud with provincial silver
Medicine Hat Minor Hockey’s allfemale peewee team, the Wildcats, had impressive success this season, not a lightweight feat considering the city’s allfemale teams’ inception two years ago. After hosting provincial championships and battling hard to finish with a silver medal, it goes without saying that these young ladies are obviously determined, hard-working and have a huge love of the game.
Looking from the outside as a friend, fan, or even family member, you might not see or understand the true success this team has shared in getting the opportunity to come together for the love of sport but taking away from it much more than that.
Working at Notre Dame Academy and being active in our local youth sports community, I am thankful to get to know many of our student-athletes around the city. Quite a few of the Wildcats attend NDA and you can quickly see that they have come from an environment that has fostered a positive team culture and has allowed them the ability to develop the characteristics that every youth coach hopes to instill in their players.
Interviewing teammates Leila Schultz, Keyana Bert, Brianna Finke, Ryan HarveyZenk, Emersyn Baugh, and Taya Christie, I was able to gain some insight into the thoughts of these up and coming athletes. Interestingly, and with delight, I noticed many of their role models were often each other and building strong relationships with teammates was the majority of the girls’ favourite part of playing with this team.
Team captain Baugh stated, in reference to her favourite aspect of playing on an all-girls team, “Girls have a better connection with each other and communicate better. I feel much more confident with my girls.”
“We build relationships like no other and we always have each other’s backs throughout the years,” added HarveyZenk. “I know I’ll be here for them and they will always be there for me, too.”
All of the girls have long-term goals of attaining a scholarship to play hockey at the university level, or to make it to the highest level of sport; playing for Canada in the Olympics. Given their impressively coachable attitudes and leadership abilities, in their academic and athletic capacities, I would be quite certain this group is on the right track in working towards those goals.
And that, at the end of the day, is the ultimate objective of coaching youth sports. As the Wildcats’ head coach, and Schultz’s dad, Kris Schultz, meaningfully reiterates, “Be a good kid.”
Certainly, these girls are.
To learn more about FAME and how to become involved to advocate and support opportunities for females in sport and activity, please visit famemedicinehat.com.
Amber Harnett is an instructor with the baseball/softball academy at Notre Dame Academy and is a Females in Action Moving and Empowering committee member.