EVERETT — Some girls are sugar and spice and everything nice. But other girls play ice hockey, a sport with no place for all that sweet stuff.
Just ask the members of the Washington Wild, a top U19 girls hockey team with players from throughout the Puget Sound area, including several from Snohomish County. They play a game that is fast and physical, and one where bruises and other injuries are seen as badges of honor.
“I love being physical,” explained winger Ally Absher, a senior at Marysville Pilchuck High School and a 13-year hockey player. “Contact is my thing.”
Though hockey for girls is less hazardous than hockey for men and older boys — by rule, full-body checks are not permitted — it is hardly passive. Collisions are inevitable and tempers sometimes flare, though there is also plenty of skill, athleticism and end-to-end excitement.
“It’s like the fastest, most thrilling game,” said defenseman Laura Stump, a sophomore at Lynnwood High School and a four-year hockey player. “And you not only have to be fast, you have to think fast. You always have to be on your toes and aware of everything that’s going on around you. Because at any moment you can be smashed up against the boards and have no idea what’s going on.”
Goalie Bethany Akers, a junior at Monroe High School and an 11-year hockey player, says she tried figure skating as a young girl, but after a few minutes of an introductory session the instructor “told my parents, ‘Put her in hockey. She’ll never be a figure skater.’”
And once Akers tried hockey, “I was hooked,” she said.
Winger Lauren White, a junior at Glacier Peak High School and an 11-year hockey player, had an older sister who played the sport, “and after watching her for a few years I was like, ‘Dad, I want to (play).’ … No one really thinks of girls hockey and I really like that. I like that it’s different.”
Cindy Dayley of Shoreline, the president and coaching director of the Western Washington Female Hockey Association (WWFHA), the organization that oversees the Wild, says there “is something about (hockey) that’s unique. It’s a sport that once it gets a hold of you, it seems to never let go.
“It’s fast, it’s quick, and there’s a lot of agility that’s needed to play the sport. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of effort, and these kids give up a lot to be here,” she said.
The Wild competes in a seven-team league that is part of the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association, with the other six teams coming from the lower mainland of British Columbia. To cut down on travel distance for the Canadian teams, the Wild plays its home games in Bellingham while making road trips to the Vancouver area, and often doing both on the same weekend.
Earlier this season, the Wild also made two trips to East Coast tournaments, which is a chance for players to showcase their skills for college coaches. And the opportunity to continue playing hockey in college is a goal for many girls on the team.
As Stump explained, “that’s pretty much all I’m working for right now. Working out after school and during practice and after practice. I’m trying to build up a resumé.”
The WWFHA also has a second U19 and a U14 team, and Dayley believes there is potential for continued growth. Though sports like soccer, basketball and softball are certainly more popular among girls in this area, she believes hockey is gaining ground.
With three teams now, Dayley thinks the organization could grow to seven or eight teams over the next decade, “and I hope there might even be more than that. I hope 10 years from now that girls from around the state are playing hockey and there are teams everywhere.
“I’d like to see 15 teams or 20 teams (across the state) and I think it’s possible. The younger ages are growing amazingly quick and under the age of 10 it’s exploding.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
