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Triumphant Return of Female Hockey in Vegreville
Triumphant Return of Female Hockey in Vegreville
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
October 19 marked the triumphant return of female hockey in Vegreville as members of the Wranglers U-13 girls team faced-off against the Lakeland Jaguars at Wally Fedun Arena.
Before taking to the ice for the game, Jerri Ziegler, offered these words to team members: “Have fun, enjoy this time together. You won’t forget it.” Ziegler is the past coach and manager of an all-female squad that played three seasons from 2003-2005.
It has been 18 years since Vegreville had a female hockey team, and Wranglers Head Coach Trevor Zacharkiw, wanted to thank Ziegler for her commitment and service to female hockey. Ziegler was also given the honour of dropping the puck during a ceremonial face-off shortly before the game got underway.
Interestingly, Ziegler said it was her daughter Kayla who told her she wanted to play girls hockey. Ziegler told her they would need more than just her to play, and Kayla said she already had a team lined up.
Ziegler said the girls were all friends and possessed the drive to win, which led to two league championships.
Zacharkiw said they’d been trying to bring back female hockey to Vegreville for the past three years, and were finally successful this year. He’s hoping that over time they will be able to develop Vegreville as a central hub for female hockey in the region.
Two of Zacharkiw’s Assistant Coaches, JC McNiven and Adia Durie, both played co-ed hockey. McNiven has coached for the past four years with the Vegreville Minor Hockey Association, (VMHA) and this will be Durie’s first year behind the bench.
McNiven says it’s nice to have an all-female home team. The hope is to be able to draw players from other rural communities and build awareness and excitement for female hockey as well as other sports. As well, having a U-13 all-female team may inspire younger girls currently playing U-9 and U-11 co-ed hockey to make the switch.
Zacharkiw said there are 14 players on the team’s roster, with some members coming from Sherwood Park, Lamont, Mundare, Innisfree and Vilna. He encourages parents who are interested in having their girls play female hockey to contact VMHA.
It was not only the inaugural game for the U-13 girls, it was also their first game of the season. The Wranglers play in the East Central Female Hockey League, and Zacharkiw said there are nine teams in their division.
The Wranglers were first to get on the scoreboard, five seconds into the game, and continued to score eight more goals to handily defeat the Jaguars 9-1. Commenting on the team’s decisive victory, Zacharkiw said, “For our first game together as a new team I was very proud of the effort on the ice. The Girls have practiced together for a month now, but don’t really get to see the full result until a game is played.
For a diverse team that has a mix between experienced and returning to hockey players, And a team that doesn’t know each other very well yet, they worked well together, passing was impressive for a first game and the support they give each other on and off the ice is very encouraging.
I fully expect the girls to form a close bond and be a tight knit team this season.”
