By Kristi Patton /
Passion for the game of hockey brings the Fire On Ice team together.
But it is a program that is more meaningful than sticks and pucks that takes the southern Alberta team overseas this March.
“This trip is focusing on trying to mentor and educate girls through hockey,” says Trish Josephs, team manager for the Fire On Ice girls hockey team.
“We want to take that passion for hockey to help develop not only their on-ice skills but to make them more than just good players, we also want them to be great people.”
Fire on Ice has expanded from originally being a male program to include a female component that brings together elite Midget- and Bantam-aged players from Calgary and the surrounding area over the last couple of years.
The female players will be traveling overseas March 20 to not only experience hockey culture in Finland, but to also use the trip as an educational event.
The players are required to learn about Canada’s military background, in particular Vimy Ridge and World War I. Each member has taken the time to learn about one soldier and during their stop in France, the girls will visit their soldier’s gravestone. The players will then take their first-hand learning experience back to their respective high schools where they will make presentations about their trip.
“This is a really unique opportunity as these girls come from all different backgrounds, from rural kids right off the farm to city kids. They all go to different schools, have different friends and to see them come together is just so neat,” says Josephs.
The team will also travel to Finland and participate in a tournament with local teams from that country, Russia and Sweden. The total cost of the trip is about $75,000, which is still being raised by the team. Some of it is paid by the families, fundraising, the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Military Museum.
A chaperone from the Military Museum will join them on the trip to Vimy Ridge.
Players for the Fire On Ice program must go through a process before being chosen.
“The girl’s hockey community is a very, very small one and most of these girls are the ones that have been identified as those that meet our criteria,” says head coach Doug Panchuk. “There is a skill component as we want to make sure they are all at the same elite level, an interview process where we get to know the parents as well because there needs to be a good support group in place.”
Fire On Ice focuses on player development such as skating, stick skills and tactical situations rather than game strategy. The program also teaches players how to take care of themselves off the ice by teaching proper nutrition and dryland training over the course of the off-season.
Josephs says the girls are elite level AAA midget or bantam players who are working towards college hockey scholarships, the national U18 program and beyond.
Nine of the Fire On Ice players participated at the Alberta Winter Games in Leduc Feb. 14 to 18.
Starting this spring, they will run a high-intensity program, including dryland. Guest coaches such as Mount Royal College Cougars women’s head coach Tom Molloy, national women’s scout Wally Kozak and former women’s national team player and University of Calgary Dinos coach Danielle Goyette have been the on-ice help.
“This is going to be a big year for a lot of the girls going into Grade 11 and we want to expose them to college coaches in town so they can get a chance to introduce themselves,” says Panchuk. |