By Nicole Taylor
I started out doing figure skating, dance, cheer and many other sports to see what I was most interested in and enjoyed. It wasn’t until I was about 12 that I became interested in playing hockey. When I first started, I was further behind many girls I played with because they had started much younger than me. I knew how to skate, but developing my hockey skills was challenging, and I would frequently get discouraged when I felt I was not playing as well as the other girls on my team. I played on house league teams for quite a few years and made some of the most incredible friends through it. We all played together for a while until our skills improved, and I decided I wanted to play competitively. There was always a lot of pressure going into tryouts, but quite a few of the friends I had made playing recreationally were there to support me. I owe it to the female hockey association that helped keep us together. Without these associations, it is much harder to encourage girls to stay in hockey because they may have many more barriers to playing the game. I know how important it was for me to continue playing with my friends. I love the sport of hockey, but the camaraderie and friendship that comes from tournaments, dressing rooms, team dinners etc., is so essential.
Now that I am 21 and continue to play in both University and over the summer, I could not be happier that I stuck to playing hockey. In University, I got to play on my residence team (Go MacIsaac!) against other residences. It was a great way to make new friends and find people with similar interests. At the end of the year, there is a large tournament that the whole school comes out to watch, and it makes you feel like a part of something really awesome! Then, this summer, I got called up to play with that same group of girls I started playing with back when I was 12! We all have grown so much as players and people, and it is so amazing to be able to keep playing with them in our summer league. Our parents still come out to watch us all from time to time, which means a lot to us. One piece of advice I have to any parent in encouraging their children to get involved in sport is to remind them of the value of friendship and the bonds that form when working towards a common goal. It really is powerful.
