Mt. Lebanon junior Sramac spreads success around
Hockey player or hoop star? Hoop star or hockey player?
Young Kate Sramac of Mt. Lebanon is unable to answer such a query. Let’s just call her a Kate of all trades.
“I like both equally,” said Sramac, a soon-to-be junior at Mt. Lebanon High. “Sometimes, I’d rather be playing hockey when I have basketball. And sometimes, I’d rather be playing basketball …”
A conundrum? Yes. But it has hardly derailed her ability to excel at both sports, which is somewhat of an oddity given the two seasons intersect.
In basketball, Sramac started at guard for coach Dori Oldaker’s Blue Devils, averaging 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals last season. She was a second-team All-Section 4AAAA selection.
In hockey — a sport she began playing with the boys at the age of 6 — she recently elevated her status as one of the area’s elite. She was among 180 girls selected from 12 USA Hockey districts to participate in the U18 USA Player Development hockey camp. Only three players from the Pittsburgh area — Annie Katonka and Natalie Wasielewski of Chartiers-Valley High were the others — drew invitations.
The girls were chosen from a field of about 100 at a Mid-Am regional tryout at Kent State University. Players from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana participated. Just four made the cut.
Several former and current female U.S. Olympic hockey players spent the week instructing, advising and training the future stars at the development camp, held July 8-14 in St. Cloud, Minn. Sramac was humbled – and inspired.
“Playing in the Olympics is one of the dreams you have as a hockey player — and this is a great starting point,” Sramac said of the camp, run by Division I coaches. “To see those great players right there in front of you, it was eye-opening.”
Sramac said her hockey-basketball combo was also eye-opening at the camp, notably for the near-40-player contingent representing hockey hotbed Minnesota.
“The girls were shocked …surprised … not sure what to think,” said Sramac, who also finds time to play for the lacrosse team in the spring. “They said, ‘How do you do it?’ I just said, ‘It’s part of what I do.’ For a lot of those girls, it’s all about hockey. They do it all through the winter. I can’t. That’s just how it is for me.”
Because the basketball and hockey seasons conflict, Sramac gets limited time on the ice. This precludes her from playing for Pittsburgh’s premier girls hockey program – Pittsburgh Penguins Elite — on a full-time basis. Sramac did, however, travel to Boston with the team the weekend of July 24-27 to participate in the Beantown Classic. She played up in age, for the U19 squad instead of the U16 team. Typically, Sramac plays with the Steel City Selects, a program that accommodates her busy schedule.
Before joining the all-girls circuit two years ago, Sramac played with the Mt. Lebanon boys PAHL team from first through eighth grade. She often competed with older age groups.
“I never had any problems playing with – and against — the boys,” she said. “I was voted assistant captain in the eighth grade. And, I was voted as the ‘player’s player’ by my teammates.”
Earning the nickname Jordanette Staal — after former Penguins center Jordan Staal, who was known for his two-way skills — Sramac acknowledges that she thrives in controlling the pace of games, no matter the sport. This explains why playing point guard and carrying the puck are her passions.
“You have to be able to run the show, try to lead the team,” said Sramac, who will travel to Canada in August for the Banff hockey showcase, which draws scores of Division I coaches and scouts. “I definitely like to make the right plays, the right decisions.”
Hockey player or hoop star? For Sramac, it is a little bit of both.