Gunn Scholar - Julie Petrillo

A History of Women’s Ice Hockey and its Role at The Gunnery

By Julianne Petrillo Gunn Scholar

Vol. XX

2018

2017-2018 Gunn Scholar

Julianne Petrillo

The Gunn Scholar Program The Gunn Scholar is a senior who has been selected, based on aptitude, interest, and character, to pursue original research into some aspect of the life and legacy of Frederick Gunn (1816-1881) and his wife Abigail and the school which they founded in 1850.

By selecting The Gunn Scholar, the school community recognizes that this student has demonstrated, over the course of her academic years, those qualities of scholarship and character that the Gunns inscribed into the mission of the school. This program represents the concerted thought and planning of the history department. The Gunn Scholar will receive one credit in History. She will do original research in our archives and elsewhere on some aspect of the Gunn legacy.

This year Gunn Scholar, Julianne Petrillo will trace the development of women’s hockey at The Gunnery, capturing the groundbreaking effect on the players and the struggles to establish parity with male sports. In the equivalent of one full-time academic course—that is, two short periods and two long periods per week— the Gunn Scholar will: • Learn the techniques of original research and transcription, working closely with the archivist and a member of the history faculty • Prepare an account of her research • As a published, written document • As a public presentation to The Gunnery community • As a public presentation at Alumni Weekend To provide a preliminary scholarly context, Wang read over the summer among other things: She Shoots… She Scores by Barbara Stewart, On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History by Elizabeth Etue and Megan Williams, and The Gunnery 1850-1975, A Documentary History of Private Education in America.

This endowed, year-long project is divided into three, roughly equal, parts: research—writing—public presentation, each intended to occupy a full term.

Jennifer W. Wojcik, Ph.D. History Faculty

A History of Women’s Ice Hockey and its Role at The Gunnery

Julianne Petrillo

Gunn Scholar Mrs. Paula Krimsky Dr. Jennifer Wojcik Ms. Misa Giroux

2017-2018 Gunn Scholar

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction Equipment needed to Play Hockey Playing Hockey Origin and Rules of Hockey

7 7 8 9

Chapter 2: Development of Women’s Hockey Struggles Women Encountered to Play Hockey Gretchen Silverman’s Insights to Women’s Hockey

11 11 12

Chapter 3: Impact of Title IX on Women’s Hockey Implementation of Title IX Impact of Title IX at The Gunnery

15 15 17

Chapter 4: Perspectives on the History of Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery Interview with David Kern Interview with Susan Graham Interview with Hugh Caldera Interview with Miranda Pasch Interview with Alexandra Carlin

20 20 21 22 26 28

Chapter 5: Current Perspectives on Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery Interview with Nemo Neubauerova Interview with Katie Broccoli Interview with Kat Pettibone Firsthand Account: Julianne Petrillo

30 30 35 36 38

Chapter 6: History of the Linen Rink at The Gunnery

41

Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography

44

Appendix B: Gunn Scholar Proposal

47

Appendix C: Images

49

Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people who have helped me with my research on The History of Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery Couldn’t have done it without you Thank you

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Dr. Wojcik, Mrs. Krimsky, and Ms. Giroux (Gunn Scholar Advisors)

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Gretchen Silverman (Taft Women’s Varsity Hockey Coach & Women’s Olympic Team)

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Alexandra Carlin (Player on Gunnery Hockey)

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Miranda Pasch & her Mother (Started Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery)

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Susie Graham (former Head of School at The Gunnery)

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Hugh Caldara (Coach & Athletic Director) 3 Times NEPSAC Champion

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Jamie Goldsmith (Women’s Hockey Coach at The Gunnery 2017-present)

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Katie Broccoli (Goalie for GVH) Class of 2019

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Nemo Neubauerova (Captain & 4-year senior) Class of 2018

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Kat Pettibone (Defensemen on GVH) Class of 2019

Chapter 1: Introduction “Women have always played hockey, but more often than not, it has been a case of quietly playing shinny in backyard rinks and struggling in women's leagues that receive little support, and even less credibility.”1 Hockey started in Canada and it was very popular for men to play but not women. Many years ago, I know a lot of people who would have read this book would not have any information about hockey, how to play, and what equipment is required.

Women’s hockey is now played in a rink at The Gunnery, but this was not always the case. In the past, it was played on was frozen ponds, flooded tennis courts that were frozen over, and frozen lakes. “Games with rules did not evolve until the 1880’s.”2 But, before you step on the ice you need to have proper equipment.

Equipment Needed to Play Hockey First thing's first, you need a helmet. The helmet keeps player’s heads safe from injuries.

The neck guard protects your neck from sticks and skates. Potentially, accidents can happen where two players fall and one of their skates slices the other player’s neck. There is always a chance of an accident happening in a hockey game. Clint Malarchuk is a goalie for the NHL team Buffalo Sabres. “His throat got cut by a skate, he survived thanks to his team trainer reaching into his neck to pinch shut the severed artery that would later need three hundred

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Barbara Stewart, She Shoots… She Scores! Doubleday Canada Limited, 1960, 13 Barbara Stewart, She Shoots… She Scores! Doubleday Canada Limited, 1960, 23

stiches.”3 The cut in his neck was so deep that he needed many stiches. I saw pictures showing the blood pouring out of Malarchuck’s neck. Malarchuck stated “Once I released this could be death, my first thought was get off the ice, go through the gate get off the camera, so my mum doesn’t have to watch me die.”4 That is just one of the many stories that happened when someone’s skate accidently goes injures the neck area. It is very serious but it is something that may happen in hockey. By wearing a neck guard, it minimizes those incidents. Next, you need a chest protector. A chest protector covers the players shoulders and chest. Thus, offering protection if a player is hit with a puck or collides with another player. The game requires two elbow pads, which protect from injury when players fall. You also need a jersey that covers the top of your body as well as the upper equipment. Then you will also need hockey pants to cover your lower torso. The next pieces of equipment are knee pads, which protect your knees by stopping pucks, blocking shots, and absorbing falls. You will also need two socks to go over the knee pads. Last but not least, players need skates and stick. Without skates, you would not be able to play the greatest sport in the world! Without a stick, how will you pass and shoot!? All of this equipment can be found at your local ice hockey pro shop. You can buy equipment new and or used. I am going to tell you right now, hockey It is not an inexpensive sport, however it is absolutely great and worth every penny.

Playing Hockey Once you join a competitive team, there are a few things you are going to need to know how to do before you play in games. Beginning hockey players usually attend clinics to improve

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Nick Harris, Clint Malarchuck, Mail Online, Almost Bled to death when his throat was cut on the ice, March 21, 2015, Par 3 4 Nick Harris, Clint Malarchuck, Mail Online, Almost Bled to death when his throat was cut on the ice, March 21, 2015, Par 6

their skills. Clinics teach you the proper hockey stance, skating forward, using your skate’s edges, stopping, skating backwards, and turning. It takes time to learn these skills but once you become comfortable on skates all those things will fall in place. One of the last things taught in a hockey clinic is shooting because you need to know how to skate before you shoot.

There is a group of hockey historians who believe that Canada was the first country to start playing hockey. Eventually, a set of rules needed to govern the game followed. A group of students from Montreal’s McGill University was credited as being first to put rules on paper.

They combined some rules from lacrosse, field hockey & rugby, and came up with a “rough version” of initial rules, which included fifteen players per team. Today the rules are slightly different. Now the maximum number is 23 players. A team consists of a goalie, two Defensemen, and three forwards on the ice at one time for each team. Those three forwards consist of a center, left wing, and right wing. A center is a player who goes everywhere on the ice. They support their wingers on the wall, a left winger stays on their designated side. They get the puck to the center. Right wing stays on the right side and gets the puck to the center as well.

Therefore, there is a total of 12 people on the ice when both teams are accounted for.

Additionally, you have referees out on the ice. The referees control the game. They blow whistles to stop gameplay when they need to enforce the rules. The referees make sure the game is played safely and correctly. Generally, there are at least two referees. On competitive teams, there are at least three out on the ice. The job of the referee is to watch the game and make calls only as they are needed.

Origin and Rules of Hockey There has been a conflict among historians about the origin of ice hockey. Some historians believe that it was established in the United States while others claim it began in

Canada. In women's hockey, you cannot hit an opponent’s body. Play starts when the referee drops the puck. Team members fight for the puck and try to get it in their opponent goal. An offside violation occurs when the puck crosses the line before a player does. There are three periods in one game and the level of play determines the length of the period. Generally, in women’s hockey the range is between 16 to 18 minutes a period. In women’s hockey, players are not allowed to trip, slash, or hit. If you do those things, you will find yourself in the penalty box for two minutes. When you get in the penalty box your team will be down a player. Therefore, they would have to continue playing with four players against the other team’s five. Occasionally an icing penalty is called. Icing the puck means that the team that incurred the penalty shot the puck down to the other end of the rink to stall gameplay. If your team is playing with an extra player because the opponent has a penalty, this is an opportunity to score called a “power play.”

Chapter 2: Development of Women’s Hockey Hockey is a great sport, but it has been hard for women to participate equally. In the hockey world, women weren’t always accepted. My aim is that every reader of this book knows how hard it was to establish women’s hockey. This injustice was prevalent everywhere, not just at The Gunnery. In the book She Shoots She Scores, there is a great story about Stephanie Boyd who started her hockey career in Gravenhurst, Ontario and how she succeeded in joining the Tornado team. She had the opportunity to play for Yale on a scholarship but decided to stay on Tornado team. She said “I love playing hockey with the Aeros and for the university, and I like being busy with hockey and school.” 5 Stephanie made history with women’s hockey by engaging in something that she loved. She had run a hockey camp for girls since 1990 and it had been a huge success. I believe that this is great, especially since I play hockey myself. I was always looking for things to do in the summer that would improve my hockey playing.

Struggles Women Encountered to Play Hockey It is much harder for girls to make something of themselves within hockey than it is for men. So, Boyd gave many young girls, who want to play hockey, the chance to do so by running a camp for them. Stephanie believes that “hockey can help a person grow and develop.”6 I can

5 6

Barbara Stewart, She Shoots… She Scores! Doubleday Canada Limited, 1960, 69 Barbara Stewart, She Shoots… She Scores! Doubleday Canada Limited, 1960, 70

see it in myself that I have grown as a person by playing hockey. It’s a team sport and at the end of the day your team members become your second family.

Women in many places wanted to play hockey but it was so hard for them to do so. Why was it? Originally only boys and men played. Women started playing hockey 1891. This was the year that the first newspaper reported that women were playing in a game. Women weren’t treated equally when they wanted to play. Many parents did not want their kids playing on a team with girls. When guys would see girls on their team, they either weren’t nice to them or they just didn’t talk to them. This analysis was confirmed in an interview with Gretchen Silverman, the current women’s varsity coach at Taft.

Gretchen Silverman’s Insights to Women’s Hockey Silverman played women’s hockey as the sport was newly established. She played a huge role in promoting women in hockey. Silverman played on the Women’s USA Hockey Olympic team in 1993. Silverman had joined the team in 1993 and represented Team USA in the Winter Olympic Games of 1998. As a result of the 1998 Olympics, many girls wanted to start playing hockey. Silverman said that her Olympic team made history by playing when many people didn’t want them. Silverman said that there was a substantial increase in female registrations with USA Hockey. She believes that their team contributed to that growth. I questioned her about girls who play hockey having a hard time finding success. Silverman stated the importance of “Having confidence and bringing out your passion for hockey”. Silverman did not want to be told the word, “no”, thus she surrounded herself with supportive people.

When girls play hockey well they might be ready to play prep school hockey, though it’s not an easy transition. You have to get the coaches attention, they have to want you as a player, and the school has to be a good fit as well. However, finding a good prep school level program is

hard simply because there are not many in existence. Silverman explained that overall the situation has definitely improved over time, but it’s still not easy. Silverman explained that there are now many women in women’s hockey who promote it.

Even with the promotion of Women’s Hockey, there are still challenges faced by female athletes. In 2016, there was a lockout supported by the USA Women’s Hockey team. The women’s team had many fewer resources available to them than the men’s USA Olympic team.

Therefore, they boycotted until changes were made. This lockout made history. “Doing that lockout says a lot about girls in the future.” (Silverman 09/19/2017). The lockout consisted of the women’s team boycotting playing in the upcoming world championships until they received a “living wage.” You cannot even compare the wages that the men’s team received compared to the wage that the women’s team were paid. Some men were paid multimillion dollar salaries.

Generally, you could say men were paid at least six figures. There was a huge disparity in benefits as well when the men’s team was compared to the women’s team. Women fly coach while the men got to fly business class. Men were allowed to bring guests for free, while the women couldn’t bring anyone.7 The lockout had lasted fourteen months. 8 I had asked Silverman if she feels any pressure as a female hockey coach for the Taft team, and if there were any stories that she would like to share.

Silverman noted that there are challenges that coincide with her job. “There is always pressure; you always want to do a good job. It’s that type of pressure.” (Silverman 09/19/2017) Silverman also coached boys. She said that she always had to prove herself and show

7

Dj Gallo, US Sports, The Guardian, The US women’s hockey team gave their employers the whipping, Wed 29 Mar 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/mar/29/usa-womenshockey-team-won-rout 8 Lindsey Gibbs, Think Progress, How the USWNT Won, Women’s national team ends boycott after securing historic contract from USA Hockey. March 29, 2017,

improvement. Some parents would question their sons having a female coach, other parents did not mind having a female coach. Silverman said, “I do believe it’s getting better. I think that women, especially in the hockey world, are underestimated.” If you are a good coach, who cares if you’re a female? If you do a good job, get the job done, and the players respond to you. Who cares if it is a female coach? Though there were many stories of men who did not support women in hockey, Silverman did not have that experience and did not find that men tried to prevent her from succeeding in hockey. She said, “I am sure there was but in my personal experience I didn’t feel that. I had support from the people around me. I was a talented player and that fueled me.

So, when an obstacle came I was able to overcome it.” (Silverman 09/19/2017). Silverman did feel that men felt pressure because all the progress and growth of women’s hockey.

When Silverman grew up her family had always supported her ambitions. Playing with her teammates was always a positive experience, but when she played against other kids that were not coed she was targeted. In 1992, Silverman had the opportunity to try out for the Women’s Olympic Team. “I tried out for the team in 1992 and went to a tryout in Massachusetts.

I did not make it through the first round. Not making it in the first round was a motivator; I knew I belonged here. The 1993 Olympic festival was my first time playing at that level. She stated “My first shift on the ice made my head spin 3 times so fast. That was the moment when I knew, I needed to get better. That shift in 1993 really motivated me to be better when we played teams like that.” (Silverman 09/19/2017) “The 1990 team was really special, 1993 was the first time we played with them for years. I was cut from the team in 1995 then made it again in 1996. Our comradery on the team came from our shared experience. I had to jump through hoops. We all had sacrificed a lot and that’s why we were all destined to win. We shared a passion for the game.” (Silverman 09/19/2017) Silverman, made history in women’s hockey not only by

winning an Olympic medal, but by showing how much women can achieve with ice hockey. She is a role model for girls who care about and want to play hockey. We all can learn from her experiences.

Chapter 3: Impact of Title IX on Women’s Hockey In response to the prejudice experienced by women in a scholastic setting, legislation was passed that became known in the US as Title IX. This is a law that played a large part in the development of women’s sports as a whole, and this also held true in women’s hockey. This law ensures that when women play sports, there are certain rules that NCAA has to follow for both men and women. Title IX helped equalize the playing field between men’s and women’s sports teams by stipulating that any institution that received federal funding was under its jurisdiction.

Implementation of Title IX Title IX has roots in the civil rights act. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

(Title IX book Page 3) This statement means that regardless of your gender, an individual cannot be excluded from a sports or job opportunity. Under Title IX, schools are eligible to receive federal funding if the adhere to this guideline. “The law was designed to fill a gap in coverage of the path-breaking Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, and religion in employment. However, this law didn’t apply to educational institutions.” (Page 3) Congressional representative Patsy Mink of Hawaii was a key person in promoting Title VII, although she did not realize the impact it had on athletics. She focused on it because as a female, she was excluded from medical school. There are many examples of changes that resulted from the implementation of Title IX. For example, a woman was teaching part-time at the University of Maryland while working on her doctorate. There

were many applicants for a few jobs within the university. After she was rejected from all the open positions, she asked a friend of hers why she wasn’t considered for any of the openings. “It was not my qualifications; they were excellent” She stated, “but let’s face it,” her friend said, “You come on too strong for a woman.” (page 36). She had no idea what that rejection meant, but she knew that, “It would change lives of millions of women and girls because it would lead ultimately to that passage of Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funding.” (Page 36) She was starting to let that rejection define her in terms of being “too strong” for a woman. This woman has her doctorate! She had worked too hard on her career to be told that she was “too strong.” Eventually, her husband told her that it was could be termed “sex discrimination.” Then, a few months later she had two more similar rejections. She was in an interview and the man who was interviewing her told her that he would refuse to hire a mother who stayed home with their children because they were sick. Then the employment agency she was using looked at her resume and said, “I was not really professional,” but a housewife who went back to school.” (PAGE 36) So you can see how a woman would feel slighted after having those experiences. In the book Title IX, there are many stories of women getting treated unfairly in both the working world and in athletics. When these things happened, this woman realized that “none of the laws prohibiting discrimination covered sex discrimination in education.” (p. 36) and that the “Title VII of The Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in employment of the basis of race, color religion, national origin and sex, excluded “educational institutions in their educational activates.” (Page 37) Title VII totally excluded this situation that women experienced. When women realized this, they clearly wanted to see a change enacted. It takes a lot of time and effort to add another law concerning equality in the legal system. Overtime, there has been a palpable change in the way people feel about

women. I don’t think this situation is fully rectified, but I do believe it is a work in progress that started with a change in our laws thereby pointing us in the right direction.

Impact of Title IX at the Gunnery I knew when I read the book Title IX that I wanted to talk to Gunnery’s attorney about Title IX and what The Gunnery has to do to comply with it. Since, The Gunnery does not get federal funding, it does not have to follow these requirements, but the school makes every effort to follow the provisions required by Title IX. I discussed this issue with Giovanna TiberiiWeller, The Gunnery’s attorney from the law firm Carmody & Torrance, and she provided a lot of great information. I wanted to know what requirements schools like The Gunnery were subjected to. She explained that in 1964 the Civil Rights law Title VI was enacted and that it prohibited discrimination on the basis of national origin. Though Title IX does not extensively discuss athletics, a school that gets federal funding probably has a Title IX coordinator who files reports, tracks institutional compliance, monitors cashflow, and checks if there is a balance in the finances and opportunities, between the boys and the girls’ athletic programs. At the Gunnery, we follow the spirt, but do not have to prove compliance with all of those regulations like public schools have to. For example, as a school receiving government funding, you must report sexual harassment or sexual assault within sixty days. Not being bound by such stipulations, The Gunnery comes up with its own practices. Such actions are necessary to allow the school to continue its growth. However, The Gunnery strictly follows all laws concerning incidents such as bullying, and hazing. Secondary schools like The Gunnery make their own programs unique to their students. By not accepting federal funds, institutionally it has that option. Right now, the focus of Title IX is how to manage the increasing number of claims of sexual harassment across campuses nationally. Weller believed that “The sooner we address these things, the sooner both

women and men can learn.” It gives them the understanding that these types of actions aren’t okay and learn why people cannot be treated differently. Weller felt that we should start antiharassment education in the lower schools, and that it’s too late to start in college. Weller told me that when she was in middle school, she played half-court basketball! Then in high school she wrested. At that time in high school, it was unheard of for a woman to be on the wrestling team. I asked Weller since Title IX was published, does she feel there were any changes in the way women are treated? She said, “Yes I do, but the progress is slow so we take steps forward and we take some back and then we restart. Title IX was the fight for equality, and lawsuits were filed. The idea of a girl’s hockey team would have been laughed at and now all schools have it.”

(Weller 09/17/ 2017) “She said there has absolutely been progress, and schools that don’t follow it have also made great strides and are striving to enforce it and follow it. It helped women make a huge advance in education.” (Weller 09/17/ 2017) Schools like The Gunnery care about their image. They rely on word of mouth to recruit kind, hard -working kids in order to remain competitive. Also, if your school does not get good reviews then donors will not donate. That’s another example on how it would affect the school. I know for a fact The Gunnery does a great job with equality. As a student, I see it first-hand. I’m there in class and I play three sports here. I see it all. It’s a school that really cares about the students. They really want you to have a good experience here and it shows with everything they do. The last thing that I asked Weller was if there were any cases that she had to deal with regarding gender equality. I thought that this was an important thing to ask her because I wanted to know if there was a certain case she had that really stuck with her and if she learned something from it. She had explained to me that “there haven’t been any that have come to my attention about the boys and girls. We do a pretty good job with that. They are a big believer in

education, income, and they talk to all the teachers, and then they want us to talk to the students.”

“Becker’s perspective is to let them know what they’re doing right so we know what their rights are and the rules as well.” Wells had said we have great teachers to go to for help Dr. Matthews and Dr. Konik and many others. This school only wants you to succeed and will do whatever it takes to help you and lead you where you need to go. Talking with Giovanna gave me a better insight on what the school has to do with Title IX even though we don’t get federal funding.

Chapter 4: Past Perspectives on Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery Interview with David Kern Another person who played a huge role in establishing gender equality at The Gunnery was Mr. David Kern. He was head master here at The Gunnery for only 2 years. The years 19771979. Mr. Kern had one theme and that was helping others help themselves. His first job ever he was in a convalescent home but this didn’t help with his strong interest in young people. He moved to parish ministry that organized special programs for young people. While he was in the Bronx Mr. Kern noticed a problem that he didn’t like. He had noticed that youths were being discriminated against and their potential was never taken seriously. Mr. Kern knew he had to do something about this issue.

Mr. Kern, with the head master of the Hotchkiss School, set up a program for teaching city youths during the summer. The base of the program would be at Hotchkiss while he went into the city to work on counseling. Subsequently, more area schools started working in the same capacity, so together they started a program called SPHERE. (Supplement Programs for Hartford and Education Renewal & Enrichment) it became so popular that 14 schools were involved in it.

Mr. Kern eventually became the executive director. SPHERE helped out many young individuals, enabling them to go to college. Without it students would have never received a good education.

The progress achieved through these programs still wasn’t good enough for Mr. Kern.

Someone had suggested to him that he should seek headmastership because he had helped and touched so many students’ lives. He thought seeking out being a headmaster was a good idea. At that time, Mr. Kern received a letter from Mr. Jeffery Marsted, head of the Search Committee and trustee of The Gunnery showing interested Mr. Kern. For their open headmaster position.

Mr. Kern loved what The Gunnery had to offer. He felt that The Gunnery was a supportive school and he admired the way they taught their students. Mr. Kern chose to be the head master for The Gunnery when the position was offered to him. Even though Mr. Kern did not start women’s hockey, he helped paved the way for women to be allowed to attend The Gunnery. The Gunnery became coed in 1977 during Mr. Kern’s first year as headmaster. His values and beliefs guided him in providing a learning environment in which students need not fear discrimination or inequality, thereby allowing them to be much more successful in pursuing their academic and athletic goals. So, if women wanted to play hockey he did whatever he could to have that happen. Though he did not start the women’s program hockey at The Gunnery, he helped make sure that both girls and boys had a clear to achieve their full potential.

Interview with Susan Graham Mr. Kern’s time at The Gunnery did not last long. Susan Graham became Head of School after him. She was the head when Miranda Pasch had presented to her the idea of starting a girls’ hockey team at The Gunnery. “The Gunnery was a boys’ school for over a hundred years. When I was hired to be the head of school, girls were in the minority and the culture still seemed to prioritize boys’ interests and needs.” (Graham, March 20, 2018) This was partly why it took such a long time for a girls’ team to start. It made sense when she said this because the school’s culture historically developed to accommodate boys, so why would a girls’ team be a priority if there were just boys attending the school? It took someone like Miranda Pasch to start a team.

Miranda Pasch had arranged for an appointment to meet with Graham to discuss the possibility of starting a girls’ hockey team at The Gunnery. Graham had said it was very clear that they were very interested. The girls were well prepared for the meeting. They had figured it would take some effort because Graham had to talk with the trustees, the administration, the

facility, and with the athletic director who at the time was Mr. Hugh Caldera. It was not easy starting a team. There was a lot of planning that goes into it that people do not realize. Not only do you need players, “that was the easy part” Graham said, “a budget had to be created, a schedule of games with other schools had to be developed, practices, game day ice time had to be carved out, uniforms had to be ordered, and coaching staff had to be assigned.” (Graham March 20, 2018) As the Head of School Graham had to organize all the necessary policies and details that it would take for girls’ team to be started. Through her hard work, a girls’ team was finally established!

Graham remembers that the entire Gunnery community was very supportive of the start of a girl’s hockey program. She had said that, “the girls never lost their enthusiasm or their commitment to learn the game and play as hard as they could and facility, students, and parents became amazing forces cheering them on” (Graham, March 20, 2018). I loved when Mrs. Graham expressed to me that the girl’s hockey team had the support of everyone on campus. The Gunnery does a great job of making sure that everyone is happy and there is something offered for everyone to participate in. At that time, there were girls on the team that had no idea how to skate but they made it work. The team members had good attitudes even though they were one of the last schools to have a girls’ hockey program. This was the start of a great program for years to come. Fast forward years later, and the girls team have won three national titles and still proceeds to do well today.

Interview with Hugh Caldera A person of great significance to Women’s Hockey at the Gunnery is Mr. Hugh Caldera.

Mr. Caldera told me about the evolution of the girls’ hockey team during his time here. He told me about the team each year he coached. The girls team started as a small prep school team that

recruited locally to powerhouse that recruits girls from everywhere. The team has experienced many positive changes through the years, and that has resulted in a very strong and respected program. Members of the team expect to improve every year and that is what usually happens.

Hugh Caldaria started at The Gunnery in the fall of 1977 and left the school in 2014 at the end of the school year. He was the Athletic Director and head coach of the Gunnery Girls Varsity Hockey team. When he was coaching, he had lead the team to three national titles in the years 2003, 2004, and 2014. At the beginning of his tenure, there were a group of girls’ asking him to start a girl’s hockey team. He said, “I’ll be honest I was little leery about it because we didn’t have a coach. I was coaching JV boy’s hockey at the time.” (Caldera January 23, 2017) In the late 80’s and early 90’s the boy’s hockey team was winning national champions.

Still at this time girls were lobbying Caldera to start a girls’ team. He was afraid that it would take away from girls’ basketball and the girls volleyball team. At this time, they were terrific! “I was worried that if we did that it would dilute the overall program. I didn’t want to do that until we got commitment.” (Caldera January 23, 2017) Finally, a girls’ team was put into place, however there was no coach. Nick Carter was the first coach ever. He was the Dean of Students and was in the English department. Carter was a great guy but did not know much about hockey. There were issues such as it was hard scheduling games because no one took you seriously. The second year of the program the school hired a girl’s coach moving into division two games and Junior varsity hockey. Junior varsity hockey is a level lower than varsity hockey. Then came the problem that most schools did not have a division two team. As Athletic Director, Caldera knew that he had to make changes in order to improve the program. Eventually, he got the school to commit to make these changes.

He moved the team from division two to division one. In hockey there are divisions, Division one is the most competitive grouping, but sometimes being in the lower division is advantageous.

The Gunnery girls’ varsity hockey team was in division two. It was nice because qualifying for the playoffs while in division one is very difficult. Division one is hard because your team is competing with the top division one prep schools like Kent and Westminster. The team slowly improved, but needed to start recruiting better players. A big schedule for the team at that time was thirteen games. ”During the late 90’s, the coach left so that was when I stepped into being the head coach. Caldera recalled that there was a girl on the team at the time named Sherrin Blinger, and she played Division One in college. Blinger introduced Caldera to a coach named Lenny Russel, who coached a team called the Polar Bears at the time. The Polar Bears were a girl’s hockey club team that played outside of a prep school league. The Gunnery convinced Russel to come co-coach with Caldera. Mr. Caldera told me that this was good because when he was the Athletic Director, he was also a dorm parent, and the coach of other teams. When Lenny became the head coach the girls loved him said Caldera.

The team got significantly better in the second year of Mr. Russel coaching them. They made the playoffs, but lost in the opening round to Kingswood 2-1. Mr. Caldera went on a recruiting trip that summer and brought in a girl from Canada along with another girl. “That was where the magic began. I had two lines and three defensemen, and a goalie playing. Our first line was awesome,” (Caldera, January 23, 2017). In 2002, the team won its first championship. The championship MVP that year was Candice Earns, the only girl in division two to achieve that honor. The following year, the team came back loaded with talent, but was upset by Kent’s Hill in the semifinals. At that time, Greenwich Academy was also very good and was favored to win the championship. Every year since then, the team made the playoffs, but the coach would leave

at the end of the season. Mr. James Balben came in as a coach in 2011, and is still at The Gunnery today. The team won another championship in 2013. “The team was pretty damn good, we were three lines deep.” (Caldera January 23, 2017) We had beat Millbrook in the finals. This was Caldera’s last year at The Gunnery before he retired, and the team won the Classic Championship in overtime. He remembers he told the girls, “everything goes to the net you don’t want the prettiest play, we got a screen bang the from the point. It was awesome.” (Caldera, January 23, 2017). The girl’s hockey program at The Gunnery had enough leg for girls who want to come and play. Caldera had told me that they had to create an atmosphere that enticed girls to come to the school and play rigorous hockey.

Mr. Caldera had also elaborated on the characteristics of a few of the past team members that made them successful. He had mentioned Kayla Madigan was a great goal scorer, and how she was headstrong. Madigan came to each game ready to play. Madigan graduated from The Gunnery and went on to play college hockey at SUNY Plattsburgh. Madigan was on the team when Gunnery Girls hockey team beat Millbrook for the championship. Gunnery was considered the underdog in that game. Another girl that he had mentioned to me was Sarah Houstin. She went onto Elmira College to play hockey. Sam Walter was very good too. “We were three lines deep so we could give everyone a break.” (Caldera January 23, 2017)As coach and Athletic Director, Caldera took a program that was not very good initially and facilitated an improvement with each passing year. He knew what had to be done and made it happened. Because of his efforts during his time as coach, the girls team won three national titles. He played a huge role in the devolvement of Gunnery Girls Varsity Hockey to where it is today.

Interview with Miranda Pasch Miranda Pasch and her mom played a huge roll in women’s hockey at The Gunnery.

They initially proposed starting Women’s Hockey at the school. Miranda played hockey locally in the town of Washington CT at that time. They lived right by the G.W. Tavern. She started playing hockey when she was seven years old. Miranda grew up in Washington and went to the Washington Montessori School. When deciding on a high school, Miranda’s mother did not want her to be a boarder in a prep school. However, The Canterbury School had a girls’ team at the time, and initially Miranda had wanted to play for them. “We knew that other schools had started girl’s hockey, but they were not very good” they both said. When Miranda looked at Canterbury, she was not crazy about it. She wanted to attend The Gunnery as a day student.

Suzie Graham, who was the headmaster at the time, said to Miranda “you can play on the thirds boys team”. The boys on the team were really great to her. Soon, word got out that a girl was on the team and the boys would be very aggressive towards her. Miranda shaved the back of her head so she wouldn’t look like a girl while in uniform. This didn’t work, as the boys were still more aggressive with her. The coaches at The Gunnery decided that it would be best if Miranda did not continue to play. The following year they disbanded the boys 3rds hockey team.

Since Miranda was a day student, she was friends with both day students and boarders.

She discovered that here were at least 20 girls that wanted to play hockey. Miranda went to Mrs. Graham to discuss the possibility of forming a team. Suzie Graham and Mr. Caldera jointly turned her down. Mrs. Graham felt that they didn’t have the equipment in order to play. Thus, Miranda received commitments from the girls who wanted to pay to purchase their own equipment. Each student signed the agreement their freshman year in an effort to have a team in their sophomore year. The discussions continued back and forth between Miranda and Ms.

Graham, and Mr. Caldera. At this point, Miranda’s Mom had said to the school’s administration that it need to start a girl’s hockey team. The Gunnery argued that would only start a team when it had the resources to recruit players. Miranda's mom did not like that answer because in order to recruit you need to have a starting point. Miranda and her mother had a lot of support behind them, and were really determined to give it another try. Miranda’s mother explained to me that many girls, both day students and boarders, wanted to participate. Miranda said that even one of her closest friends from Louisiana wanted to play! During a board meeting that John Linen attended, Mrs. Graham had told Mr. Linen that the girls wanted to start a girl’s hockey team.

Mr. Linen said he would provide the money to get the girls’ team started. Consequently, after all of the discussions and planning there would be girl’s hockey at The Gunnery. Without the financial support of John Linen, it wouldn’t have been possible.

I believe that story of how girls hockey was started at The Gunnery is absolutely amazing. But, we see issues like this with women in the real world not only with hockey. We have issues like this all the time and I have learned it’s how you deal with it, is what your outcome will be. It’s everywhere it happens all the time. Miranda had fought for something that she believed should happen here. The back and forth with Suzie Graham was time and effort it didn’t happen overnight. Miranda knew it wouldn’t but stuck with it and look where we are today. I am a girl and I play Varsity Ice Hockey for The Gunnery! She fought for every girl that wanted to play and who would play there in the future. This story is so important to my topic because that’s what this whole book is on. How Women’s Hockey started at The Gunnery. But, also examples with women not getting equal equipment.

In both phone conversations that I had with Miranda and her mom they had said they loved hearing about the Gunnery Girls Hockey now, and how well the team does in its games! I

absolutely love that people still follow what’s going on at The Gunnery even after they graduate, get married, and have kids. Miranda met her husband here at The Gunnery in her junior year.

Interview with Alexandra Carlin The next person that I interviewed about the Girls Hockey Team was Alexandra Carlin. I wanted to interview someone who was on the girls’ team previously, so that I could make a comparison to how the team functions presently. Alexandra had come to The Gunnery her sophomore year. She became a tri-captain during her time on the team. Alexandra had never played hockey before. So, her first time playing was on The Gunnery’s girls’ team. She said, “it was sort of like watching a train wreck”. (Carlin November 12, 2017) There were girls that knew what they were doing, and there were people like me who had no idea what to do. The practices consisted of girls like me learning how to skate practicing with the people who knew how to skate. I wasn’t taken seriously. The guys would come by and laugh. When I say that they would laugh, it wasn’t in a mean way at all. They laughed because it was funny watching us all out there on the ice at the same time. Some of the girls dated the boy hockey players. We all had a good time playing with each other, even though we were not that good. Since the team wasn’t taken too seriously I didn’t know if they traveled anywhere to compete in games. I learned that they would travel to schools such as Greenwich Academy. At the time, there were some good hockey schools out there, The Gunnery was not one of them because it was one the last to start a girls’ team.

Alexandra told me about how at that time, the rink had no walls. It wasn’t the first time I had heard that The Linen Rink had no walls in its beginning. Alexandra was on the fourth line.

She had said she would play in games and couldn’t skate that well. She couldn’t help expressing how much fun they had. At the time, it was okay that no one knew what to do or how to skate.

She had said “I know it’s not like that now”. She was correct in her assumption, as now the girls’ hockey team is much different in its approach and expectations. However as stated previously, the reason I wanted to speak with her was to gain a perspective over time.

A point of interest that I developed during my research over the summer was the lack of support that female athletes experienced from men. This was of particular interest because the examples in the literature I read used hockey as an example. In this case, Alexandra had said that the male members of The Gunnery community weren’t mean spirited or unsupportive of them at all. They watched them play even though they were awful. It’s a testament to the Gunnery community that in the time when this program was in its infancy, and the female hockey players weren’t very good, they still received support and encouragement from everyone. This was crucial for the success of the program, as The Gunnery was very late in adopting a women’s hockey team as compared to other boarding schools. As a player who is currently on the girl’s hockey at The Gunnery, it is quite meaningful to uncover and record the extraordinary measures taken by the school to facilitate such positive changes within the team and the program as a whole.

Chapter 5: Current Perspectives on Women’s Hockey at The Gunnery Now that I have interviewed some of the people who were involved with the start of women’s hockey at The Gunnery, it is important to interview some of the members of the current Gunnery girls’ varsity hockey team. I picked a few key players on the team to tell me why they choose to attend The Gunnery, and how their experiences playing hockey here have been. As I interviewed these girls, I saw notable differences in their experiences and expectations as compared to that of their predecessors.

Interview with Nemo Neubauerova The first key player I interviewed was Nemo Neubauerova. Nemo is a 4-year senior from the Czech Republic. Nemo is Captain for the Gunnery Girls Varsity Hockey Team for the year 2017-2018. She came to The Gunnery as a freshman in 2014. Beforehand, Nemo was playing hockey on a boy’s club team in the Czech Republic. The team never participated in tourneys within Europe, but decided to take part in a tournament in America and was traveling to Pennsylvania for a tournament called One Hockey. There were a lot of coaches recruiting players at this tournament. The coach from the Hill School wanted Nemo to come to their school and play hockey. Nemo and the coach emailed each other back and forth to discuss the details that were required for enrollment. One of the requirements that are asked of an international student is taking the TOFEL exam to gauge a student’s proficiency with the English language. It’s an exam that all international students have to take in order to come to a prep school. Nemo said that she took the exam and did not do very well on it. As it turned out, Nemo did not meet the minimum TOFEL score that was required of her to attend the Hill School. Sadly, over the summer Nemo received an email from the coach at Hill saying that she was not accepted into the school. However in his email, he had said that she should look into attending The Gunnery.

Nemo applied and was accepted shortly thereafter, without ever having visited The Gunnery. She said, “It was my dream to come play hockey in the US and I can finally do it.” (Neubauerova, December 7, 2017) As Nemo told me her story about coming to The Gunnery I also wanted to find out when she played for that boys’ team in the Czech Republic, how they treated her, and if she was shown respect while being a girl playing hockey on an all-male team. I learned that Nemo had also played for a women’s team on the side while playing for the boys’ team. She had moved to Prague at that time. Nemo had said she didn’t really know the boys because they had their own social groups. They excluded her even though she was on that team for three years. Nemo told me that she did not like it at all. This act of exclusion of a female player agrees with the findings of studies that I explored during my summer research. I then asked her how the coach treated her, as she was the only female on the team. Nemo said that the coach was very used to coaching boys and wasn’t very accommodating. The girls team that she had played for was very brash and argumentative among the players, and it was not a very pleasant experience. However, when Nemo came to The Gunnery she felt that she fit in right away. When she arrived at The Gunnery at the beginning of her freshman year, she realized was the only freshman on the team.

When interviewing Nemo, I knew that she was a key person to include in this book because she is one of the star players that we have on our team. I was interested in her hockey experiences as a member of The Gunnery girls’ varsity hockey team. I asked her about her freshman through senior years. In her freshman year, the team had a lot of good players. The year before Nemo came, the team had won NEPSAC’s. The team was fired up for the upcoming year after winning the division 2 championship. However, there was also a new coach, and there were not many new recruits besides her. There were about 2 and a half lines in depth. There were

also a lot of juniors on the team. Paul Baier was the new coach, but only stayed for her first year.

Then, Kiernan Joyce was brought in as head coach for her sophomore and junior years. Joyce recruited several more freshman players for the start of Nemo’s Sophomore year. There were a lot of players on the team and that year as only had 3 seniors graduated the year before. Joyce was looking to build this team. Nemo said that she was kind of doubtful about the new coach because she liked coach Baier. However, as Nemo got to know Joyce, she became much more comfortable with him. Her sophomore year was tough because the team did not play well.

Coach Joyce explained to us that we were here for a reason, and that the team was going to the top. Nemo said that although the team did not do as well as everyone had hoped, it was still a good experience. Coach Joyce had come up with the motto “Hold the Rope”, meaning that no matter what the team experiences, there will be someone there holding that rope to keep them anchored. As a symbol of team unity, Joyce had everyone put red paint on their hands, so they in turn could grasp and put their handprints on a length of rope. The team members liked Coach and the team culture he established worked well.

Nemo’s junior year, which was Joyce’s second year as the head coach, the team was fortunate to have many new, talented recruits. The previous season the team had lost to Saint George’s School in playoffs. The game went into two and a half overtimes in which the Gunnery lost. The loss left the team members feeling that they wanted to come out the following year at full speed to win the NEPSAC’s. Everyone on the team knew it would not be easy, but the girls were ready with a lot of drive to embrace the hard work needed for the challenging season ahead of them. The team’s stats that season were 13:13:0. Meaning we had thirteen wins, and thirteen losses and zero ties. Every year the coaches book a rigorous schedule against good teams. The team typically plays many division one teams and a range of division two opponents as well. As

the league playoff progressed, the Gunnery had made it into the finals. The team lost the game, but this loss motivated them to make it back to the championship game the following year.

It was announced in the middle of Nemo’s junior hockey season that Coach Joyce would not be coaching at The Gunnery the following year. This was something that none of the team members expected to happened, and it was something that was out of our control. The Athletic Director, Mr. Marich, tried to put the team at ease during the process of finding a new head coach. He allowed the girls hockey team to eat lunch with the coaching candidates that were pursuing the position. During this time, the team members could ask the coaching candidates any questions that they may have. Afterwards, everyone was able to give Mr. Marich their feedback on what they thought.

Eventually, Jamie Goldsmith was hired as the new girls’ varsity head coach. She was the first coach that was interviewed and everyone felt that she would be a great fit for the job. The hiring of Coach Joyce corresponded with the start of Nemo’s senior year. Coach Joyce departed before he was able to sign any new recruits, so for Nemo’s senior year the team was very similar just without the graduating seniors. The coaching staff for this year was Jamie Goldsmith (head coach), James Balben (assistant coach), and Andrea Nicholson (assistant coach). Though it was a whole new year with a much different coaching staff, the goal of winning the NEPSAC’s remained unchanged. We had made it into the finals last year so close to winning. So, we knew as a team this year were getting there and winning it. The coaches put new systems into place that included a difference in the way the team practiced. There were ten seniors this year, and all eyes on the team, as expectations were high. Respect is a big thing this year on our team.

Since Nemo has been at The Gunnery, she has seen a lot of change not only with coaching the coaching staff, but also with the players, and with how the players function as team. She has seen

changes such as having two lines in her freshman year to having a team with four lines as a senior. Nemo was able to give a lot great information on this team during the interview process.

I asked Nemo if she felt that she was treated equally when compared to the boys’ varsity hockey team? This was important thing to ask because in general, outside of hockey, women’s equality is a major issue. So, I had to ask her about the equality since it’s a work in progress everywhere. Nemo had said, that there were so many little things that used to happened that were bothersome. The boys’ and girls’ teams share the same facilities, thus there were incidents such as the when members of the boys’ hockey team would come in and take our shampoo, walk in on us while the girls were still in the shower, or other little things they did that kept happening over and over again. However, this year there were locks installed for both the men and women, which helped eliminate these incidents. The relationship with the boys’ team is better than it has been in the past and it should only get better. The girls this year didn’t want to deal with any of those little tiffs.

It is quite a different atmosphere than it was during the time that Alexandra Carlin was on the girl’s hockey team. The team had just started and everything was in a growing process.

Alexandra had said that there were girls that went out with members of the boys’ hockey team.

That does not occur at this time. It’s interesting to note how things have changed throughout the years in the hockey program. Not only has the skill level got better due to the recruitment of more skilled players but the interaction between girls’ and boys’ teams has changed as well.

Nemo expressed that she felt that it has always been equal between the girls and the boys during her time at The Gunnery. She had explained that she feels that it is that way here because The Gunnery administration is very aware of the school’s past as an all-boys school. “There was always a ratio of boys than the girls. Even back then it was probably worse but over time it

definitely got better. Even with my freshman year its better but I have seen some cases where there were little advantages.” (Neubauerova, December 7, 2017). Nemo ended her interview by saying that she is really happy that she’s here, especially a person from the Czech Republic, “It’s a great opportunity and not a lot of people get to do what I have done. Opening doors getting into college, made you become a different person in a positive way. I am more independent, selfaware I care about my homework. I love everyone and connections that will last forever.”

(Neubauerova, December 7, 2017).

Interview with Katie Broccoli The next key player interviewed was Katie Broccoli. Katie is a goalie for The Gunnery Girls Varsity Hockey team. She is a junior and has been at The Gunnery since her freshman year.

Katie initially expressed that “Growing up with three older brothers that played hockey I was familiar with The Gunnery because they would have games here. So, as I got older, I realized that I wanted to pursue my hockey career and take it as far as I could go. Katie decided that the best choice for her to advance as a hockey player was to attend a prep school. When girls play hockey, they only have a few options that they can pursue. The first option being, playing for their local public high school team. Since the girl’s teams at public high schools tend not to be very good, girls who are exceptional players usually do not gravitate towards that route. They go the prep school route instead, which offers them better competition and opportunities. Katie had applied to many New England prep schools. After being accepted into half of those schools, she decided that she desired a school with a close-knit community and atmosphere as she would be there for the next four years.

Katie’s freshman year was a good start to attaining her hockey aspirations because she desired to immediately have a significant role on a team, and The Gunnery provided that. The

coach Katie’s freshman year was Kiernan Joyce, although the team at that time did not have a family-like atmosphere, it was still a good group of girls. Katie’s sophomore year was better with a much more cohesive team atmosphere, and a bunch of new players. Coach Joyce had brought in many new recruits to the team that year. In Katie’s junior year, Coach Jamie Goldsmith was hired as the new head coach and it took some time to adjust to her style, but in the end Goldsmith was a great asset to the team. That year Katie felt that we were tight as a team. The team didn’t make it as far into the playoffs as everyone had hoped and the team lost a lot of seniors due to graduation, but all and all it was the best year thus far for her.

Women’s hockey will definitely grow at The Gunnery in the future. The school is heading in the right direction, and as long as Goldsmith is the head coach, you can be confident that good players will come into the program, but most importantly good people will come. As far as women’s hockey in general is concerned, it is growing and it will continue to progress in terms of equality in male and female teams.”

Interview with Kat Pettibone The next key player that I interviewed was Kat Pettibone. Pettibone came to The Gunnery as a sophomore in 2016. Kat was introduced to The Gunnery by her travel team hockey coach, who was a friend of Kiernan Joyce. Joyce was The Gunnery Girls Hockey Coach at the time. Joyce needed a defenseman for the following year and was interested in having Kat fill that role. “It did not even enter my mind to come to a prep school or even play hockey at a prep school. When I came here for a tour I loved it! We talked with Joyce about piecing together my future. We had decided that I could get a better education and a better chance of a better college.

I had decided that applying to The Gunnery would be something that I wanted to do so I applied.

I got the acceptance letter, and came to The Gunnery repeating my sophomore year and I loved it” stated Pettibone (Pettibone November /29/2017).

I asked Pettibone what her experience was playing hockey here. She said that last year she was nervous because “there would be so many people at the rink for our first game and I did not want to mess up. But as the year went on I realized that we are a family and it is okay to make mistakes. My second year we were even closer and we could bring each other up when were down. After losing two coaches we had developed as a family because we have been through a lot. This year we still have our end goal to win New England’s. New England’s is our playoffs. At the end of hockey season, you need to be one of the top eight teams in division two in order to qualify. We have qualified this year as well as last year” (Pettibone November /29/2017).

I also asked Pettibone about the equality between the boys’ and girls’ hockey teams at The Gunnery. Pettibone believes that there is no equality between the two teams. She feels as though when there is an issue between the two teams, the school administrators take the side of the boys’ team. She felt that this occurred much more during last year’s season than this year’s.

This year each team has gotten so much better with regards to how we treat each other. “We haven’t had any meetings with the school regarding anything. No one’s shampoo and conditioner gets taken out of the locker room. Were better and we plan to go up from here” (Pettibone November /29/2017).

I had expressed to Pettibone that The Gunnery has not always been a coed school. It was once first an all-boys school. I asked her if she thought it was always equal here at The Gunnery?

Pettibone had said that she feels it is a work in progress. She feels that boys always got the more consideration than girls because it was once an all guys school. Pettibone feels that over time this

situation may continue get better, it has already improved in the time that she has been at the school. There are some nice people on both the boys’ and girls’ teams, which improves the atmosphere when both teams are trying to achieve the same goal in the end, winning New England Championship. Pettibone has never played on a boys’ hockey team in which she was the only girl. She had said she never felt like she was not wanted to play on such a team because she never played on a boys’ team before. The Gunnery has a great community and it continues to get better every year. Pettibone ended by saying “I hope that the girl’s hockey team will be taken more seriously in the future and continues to grow.” (Pettibone November /29/2017) Firsthand Account: Julianne Petrillo Last, but not least, I am also on the Gunnery Girls Varsity Hockey team as well. I came to The Gunnery in 2016 from public school and repeated my junior year. I went to public high school from my freshman through junior years. I played high school hockey but my high school hockey team was not that competitive, and I felt that needed to join a team that would advance my objectives as a hockey player. So, I stopped playing high school hockey and played on a junior hockey team called The Hartford Junior Wolfpack. The Hartford Junior Wolfpack is a competitive junior girls team that has players from varied places such as Vermont and California on its roster. The team practiced four times a week and traveled on a coach bus to its destinations, while staying in hotels on the weekends. Although this was a better hockey experience, I decided that I wanted to play prep school hockey. I had a friend that went to The Gunnery at the time. and he said I should investigate attending The Gunnery. He gave me an admissions brochures and information about the school for me to read. I then reached out to the girl’s hockey coach, who was Kiernan Joyce at the time. He came out to watch me play, and we talked afterwards. He told me about The Gunnery, and from his description, I felt that it fit

everything I could have ever wanted in my high school experience. I went to The Gunnery for an interview and tour. I immediately fell in love with the school. I applied and got my acceptance in March of 2015. I knew when I applied that I wanted to repeat my junior year, and attend the school for two academic years.

Playing hockey here at The Gunnery was a great experience from the first day that I stepped on the ice. Last year I was one of many new hockey players that joined the team. The girls that were already on the team, allowed us all to fit in right away and helped us tremendously. We were all very eager for the season to start. Kiernan Joyce was our coach, and I thought he was great. He ran challenging practices that made us ready for our games. As a team, we had a goal and that was to win the New England Championship. As was previously stated, we made it all the way into the finals and lost to Wooster.

The girl’s hockey team has seen many changes in the past few years. There have been a lot of changes with new coaches and girls on the team. Senior players that have been here since they were a freshman have seen the most change. Girls who were new to the school last year, like I was, experienced a change in the coaching staff. Head coach Kiernan Joyce did not return for my senior year. This was something we had to deal with as a team. However, change is something the girls on this team are used to. We had no new recruits this year, while most prep school teams get new girls every year. The lack of new players was due to the turnover in the coaching staff.

The Gunnery Girls Hockey team had three strong lines and five defensemen this past season. We were a strong team. In this 2017- 2018 season our stats were 12:10:2. Meaning that we had twelve wins, ten losses, and two ties. We played teams ranging from division two to division one. Gunnery Girls Hockey has a rigorous schedule. Such as Kent, Hotchkiss, Taft,

Canterbury, Loomis, and Northfield Mount Herman are just some of the teams we play. The girl’s hockey team knows when it is time to go to work and that it should not take any opposing team lightly.

The equality between the girls’ and boys’ varsity hockey teams has gotten better since I’ve been here. I would have to say that last year there were more petty arguments than there was this year. This year we all have matured and were very conscious about our actions, thus making sure that our behavior did not affect our team or the boys’ team. However, I feel that we should not have to share bathrooms with the boys’ team. Both teams should have their own bathrooms because this is the issue that caused the most trouble between the two teams.

I would not trade my time on Gunnery Girls Hockey for anything. We are a family. When I say family, I really mean family. Though our team has experienced many changes, we have faced these uncertainties together. We have been there to support each other through the laughs the tears, the wins, and losses. The love we have for one another is unconditional. This season was much different than last year’s, but every year there are changes to contend with. The Gunnery does a great job of picking well rounded kids. That is why the program becomes collectively better with each passing year. In the 2017-2018 season, which was my last hockey season at The Gunnery, our team made it into playoffs and we lost in the finals of the New England Championship to Worcester Academy. That game was held on Wednesday March 28, 2018 in Worcester. Sadly, Gunnery Girls lost 2-0, and that brought an end our season.

Chapter 6: History of the Linen Rink Before the Linen Rink existed, students at The Gunnery initially played hockey on Lake Waramaug, and other area ponds that were near the school’s campus. Hockey play then transitioned to tennis courts that were flooded and frozen. In Master of The Gunnery, we see that The Gunnery encourages sports as a “rational exercise” as a part of character building. Frederick Gunn believed that being part of a sports team builds character, allows someone to have fun, grow, and meet people that they didn’t know before. Mr. Gunn’s ideals are still preserved at The Gunnery to this day. Currently, there is a policy in place that requires all students to play a sport for at least one term each year. Playing on a sports team not only helps you meet new people, but also helps you learn what it means to be a part of a team. I know that my experience playing on sport teams at The Gunnery was absolutely great, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

In the past when it was springtime, Lake Waramaug, was considered an “ideal spot,” to fish and swim. This mindset is still relevant because Lake Waramaug is still used by The Gunnery in the spring, but now it is mainly utilized by the crew teams. The outdoor club also uses the lake for canoeing. In the fall, I rowed every day on this lake. I didn’t realize that the school has been using the lake for as long as it has.

In the winter months, before there was a rink on campus, the students would take to the ice. They played a game called shinny. Shinny is a recreational hockey game that is played in locations outside of a hockey rink and has no formal rules or player positions. Although the gameplay was informal, students would still use equipment such as skates, gloves, and sticks.

Hockey has been a long-standing tradition at The Gunnery but before there was a rink on campus there were a few places the students skated. Fanning Pond was one of the places that was initially used. Harry Van Sinderen bought this property from the Ridge School in 1922 and

intended to enlarge the pond so that the students could play their games there. During the 1930’s and 1940’s hockey was played on flooded tennis courts. Then later, the “hockey rink,” was moved to the ponds that were located across route forty-seven. The students were bussed to the ponds and were also in charge of clearing the ice. It took a considerable effort to continually maintain the surface of the ice. In 1965, the Mollenberg Bets Machinery Company of Buffalo, NY built an open-air rink on campus at the end of the Barnes football field. This costed 120,000 dollars, which included the purchase of a Zamboni. In 1974, a roof was added to the rink. This helped the students keep the surface of the ice playable and reduced the snow shoveling required, which took away from practice time.

In 1977, funds were raised to build a shed from which students’ families would watch hockey and figure skating while having two warming rooms in a downstairs area. The funds for this were raised by the Washington Gunnery Hockey and Skating Association, with James C. Goodale directing the construction efforts. In 1994, a complete enclosure for the rink was built along with four full size locker rooms, showers, a skate sharpening station, and a referees’ room.

Other things such as a snack bar, bleachers, and new rink boards were also included. All of this new construction was funded by Johnathan S. Linen and resulted in a dramatic transformation of the campus hockey facilities. The rink was named after Mr. Linen in 1994, during the time that he was the chairman on the Board of Trustees. Mr. Linen also provided the funding that allowed The Gunnery to start the girl’s hockey program. Mrs. Susan Graham was the headmaster at the time of the Linen Rink construction. It is also of interest to note that The Gunnery has always shared its ice facilities with its neighbors, and the town of Washington as a whole. Teams from Shepaug High School and Northwestern Connecticut Youth Hockey also use the ice. This expression of goodwill towards the local community still occurs to this day.

The Gunnery’s Hockey facilities have drastically evolved over the course of time.

Student athletes went from playing on lakes and tennis courts, to having an enclosed rink that included locker rooms and showers. Students are no longer cleaning the ice on frozen ponds and can rely on a Zamboni to maintain a mirror-smooth surface in a regulation rink. Thus, it is important to remember the effort that it took to establish a girls’ hockey program and rink to play in. Girls’ hockey advocates such as Miranda Pasch along with her mother, and Johnathan Linen fought tirelessly to pave the way for upcoming generations of women to come play hockey at The Gunnery.

Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography Books & The Reviews: 1. Avery, Joanna, and Julie Stevens. Too Many Men on the Ice: Women’s Hockey in North America. Custer, Washington: Polestar Book Publishers, 1993 Review: This book was not one of my favorite ones that I read over the summer about my topic. I wouldn’t say it didn’t help me but I got tired of reading it because it would kind of repeat things that were going on. I got a few things out of it but not too much.

2. Etue, Elizabeth and Megan K. Williams. On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History.

Toronto, Canada: Second Story Press, 1996 Review: On the Edge was a pretty good book gave me many stories about women in hockey. Some of the stories were very interesting on what happened when a woman was on a boy’s hockey team.

Girls would shave the back of their heads so they didn’t look like a girl when they played against boys. Very good book. Helpful as well with my topic.

3. Seidman, Irving. Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide For researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. New York, New York: Teachers College Press, 2013 Review: This book is great if you need to give any interviews to anyone - Gave great examples on what to do?

- What to ask the person your interviewing so you get the most information out of them - Great questions and pointers to ask - Book 10/10!

4. Stewart, Barbara. She Shoots… She Scores! A Complete Guide to Women’s Ice Hockey.

Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada Limited, 1993 Review: I absolutely loved reading this book! It was a great first book to read on the guide of hockey. I already play so I know the rules, what equipment you need but I always seem to forget that if you’re not familiar with hockey you need that book and it’s a great one. It made me realize that before I start talking about hockey in my book I need to cover the basis so people understand hockey. I loved the stories in this book as well on women playing hockey. I used a lot of them in my book Ware, Susan. Title IX: A Brief History with Documents. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, 2014

Review: This book was absolute great. I loved reading it cover to cover. The stories that women go through in the work world and how Title IX even got started was very interesting. The information that I was able to put in my Gunn scholar book made it even better. I have nothing but good things to say about this book. 10 out of 10.

Interviews & The Reviews: 1. Gretchen Silverman (USA Women’s Hockey Team) I met with Coach Silverman @ The Taft School where she is the Girls Varsity Hockey Coach there. Interview was great, gave me some great information on women’s’ hockey and what it was like being a girl and playing for team USA. Everything was great. Her drive on what she had to do and where she had to go was very good and definably included a lot of it in my book.

2. Giovanna Tiberii Weller (The Gunnery’s School Attorney) I met with Giovanna for lunch talking about equality with school and sports at The Gunnery.

This covered Title IX too. Giovanna was so so good!! She was my favorite person that I interviewed. She explained Title IX and had some really good stories about it for me to get a better understanding of it.

3. Alexandra Carlin (played on the GVH) I had a phone interview with and she gave me some really good information on how the team was and I see now how much it has changed & Improved. Being on the team now I can see what they had to go through to get what it is today. It was definitely a work in progress but, you had to start somewhere.

4. Lili Dryer Hemingway (played on the Washington Hockey Team) This phone interview was awful. I am sorry to be so harsh but I was given no information on what I needed. It was the quickest phone interview I ever did. It was 6 minutes. The questions I asked were good but she just wasn’t in the mood and her answers were so short! I decided that I would not use her in my book because I got nothing from her to help me with it.

5. Miranda Pasch: Oh, my goodness she was so nice! And I absolutely loved talking to her. She started Gunnery Girls Hockey here and I am so grateful for her! Her story was so good. Everything she went through from start to finish. Miranda was a huge help to me. Miranda plays a huge role in my book and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to talk to her. Absolute great! Great Interview all around! My favorite.

6. Mrs. Pasch (Miranda’s Mom) I loved talking to Mrs. Pasch their story on how they got Women’s Hockey here and what they went through is so interesting. Talking to them both they filled the gaps on what each of them couldn’t remember. She was super helpful! Great Interview all around as well!

7. Katie Broccoli (GVH Goalie) I really enjoyed interviewing Katie her story about how she started hockey, how she got to prep school is very interesting. She is a hardworking kid on and off the ice. She did a good job telling me how the team was as her years went on here. She also gave me a lot of great information for my Gunn Scholar. I enjoyed interviewing her. She was a favorite one as well.

8. Kat Pettibone (GVH Defensemen) KP’s information was great. Even though she has been here for 2 years for her Gunnery career her story with how she started hockey and how it was playing with boy’s hockey. KP is a

defenseman for Gunnery Girls Hockey team and plays a huge role on the ice. I’m glad I not only got to interview but playing with her is great.

9. Nemo (GVH Key Player) I knew I needed to interview key players and Nemo was defiantly one of them. Nemo is going to be a 4-year senior at The Gunnery. She has seen a lot of change with the team from coaching to players. She gave me so much information about each year she was here at The Gunnery. Nemo is great and I’m so glad that I got to talk to her about her hockey career and her story on how she got to The Gunnery.

10. Mr. Eanes (The Gunnery’s Head Master) He had trouble remembering things so he directed me to talk to his daughter Mrs. Martin. I didn’t know that was her dad but that’s what I learned during the phone interview.

11. Mr. Caldera (GVH Hockey Coach & Athletic Director) I loved talking to him on the phone having him tell me about his time as a coach here and his stories. He still follows Girls Hockey here at The Gunnery and I think its great! He had so many good things to say and remembered so many things. His information and coaching was nothing but good. His coaching ways as well as the person he was got them winning 2 national titles. His interview plays a huge role in my Gunn Scholar book.

Appendix B: Gunn Scholar Proposal Julie Petrillo Gunn Scholar Proposal April 25, 2017

There are a few reasons why I want to do Gunn Scholar. I want to do it Gunn Scholar because I feel like The Gunnery has such good history and I would love to be able to be a part of doing something like Gunn Scholar. I know I would learn a lot about The Gunnery’s history and then to be able to learn about the history then be able to tell other people about it would make it that much better. I want to provide the history of the athletics of the hockey teams by doing this all year project. No one has ever done this before and it gives everyone a different perspective on the history of our school. We have so many great things to offer and it’s such good topic that everyone would like. Our school is big on ice hockey and it would be well liked. Doing something like Gunn Scholar would prepare me in the future examples like, working with other people, research projects, and to prepare me for college. I really think it’s a cool thing to have a published piece of writing on something so important to me.

What I already know about the history of hockey at The Gunnery is that it wasn’t always girl’s hockey. The Gunnery was first an all-boys school. When we went Coed girl’s, hockey didn’t start up yet. As the years went on we got better and better. Being a part of The Gunnery Girls hockey team there’s always questions that I have about the history of hockey here and the athletics. I would love to be able to find out more history about it. What I want to follow up about it is who started/ wanted to start a girl’s hockey team here? Not even just hockey but what sports were the first to come when we became coed? If no one really started girls sports here

would we have the opportunity to have them all here today? I have questions like that in my mind and I would love to be able to get the opportunity to be able to do research about it. Things like this made our school how it is today. We have a great school here at The Gunnery and the history of our sports is very interesting. When I hear, that no one has ever done a topic like this before it makes me want to do it even more because I know everyone would be interested in the topic and probably wondering the same things I am.

I have done many things that have equipped me to help me do Gunn Scholar. I am a very organized and hardworking. I am a hardworking student who will do whatever I have to do to get the job done. Something that is unique about me is that I am a people person, I love being able to sit down with someone and doing research about a topic, and being able to learn about it. In school, I always loved doing projects and as you keep doing them they all give you good tools to prepare you for what you’re doing the future. I honestly and truly believe that I am able to do something like this. It would be an honor to do Gunn Scholar and I would love to be a part of it.

Appendix C: Images

The game of shinny and the first image of girls playing

Frozen Tennis courts at The Gunnery

Linen Rink before it had walls

Gunnery Hockey before the Linen

Gretchen Silverman: Gold medalist, USA Women’s Hockey Olympic Team

Gold Medal USA Olympics Team

The first girls’ hockey team at The Gunnery, 1994

One of the founders of the Gunnery GVH team: Alessandra Noto Carlin: 1993-1997

Team Photo with Alessandra Noto Carlin

Ribbon cutting for the Linen Rink at The Gunnery

John Linen donated the money to allow Women to start hockey at The Gunnery

NEPSAC Champions 2003

NEPSAC Champions 2005

Kiernan Joyce First Year Girls Hockey Coach & Paige Decker- Yale Grad & Hockey Player

Second & Last year Kiernan Joyce Coached: 13 New Recruits

New Coaching Staff for GVH - No recruits: 2017/19 Jamie Goldsmith (Head Coach) Andrea Nicholson (Assistant Coach) & James Balben (Assistant Coach) -2018 team

2017/18 team: Nine Seniors

Hugh Caldara, Fall 1977 Athletic Director 21 years & Girls Hockey Coach

Jamie Goldsmith Girls’ Varsity Hockey Coach, 2017- present