A trio of foothills area female hockey players has taken their game to the next level this season and has been awarded with spots in the Alberta Winter Games tournament.
Okotokians Erika Iglesias and Amanda McLeod as well as Millarville resident Malia Schneider were selected as three of the 20 players on the Zone 2 team for the 2012 Alberta Winter Games, Feb. 10-12 in Spruce Grove.
“I’ve never really had the opportunity to play this elite hockey so it’s a great honour for me,” Schneider said of the chance to compete at the Games. “I’d just like to go as far as I can with hockey.”
The Zone 2 Big Rock Country roster was decided upon at a training camp in December featuring 67 players vying for 20 spots. There’s more than medals on the line at the Winter Games for those lucky enough to be attending, as the top 60 players from the female tournament will be selected to take part in the Team Alberta U-16 female summer development camp with opportunities to continue on to the U-18 program. Schneider said the opportunity to be chosen as one of the top 60 players at the Games is a motivating factor.
She said work ethic is the key to putting in a good showing for the scouts in the stands.
“I believe if I just work hard and do my best that they’ll (notice),” she said.
All three girls ply their trade with the Bantam AAA Rocky Mountain Raiders, an Okotoks Oilers Hockey Association team based out of Cochrane. The Raiders have been dominant in the Alberta Major Bantam Female Hockey League (AMBFHL) with a 16-4-2 record good for tops in South Division standings.
Schneider, a second year centre for the Raiders, said her strength is on ice vision. The 13-year-old’s offensive pedigree is reflected by her impressive statistics as the Raiders’ forward sits fourth in the league with 18 goals in 22 games.
McLeod, a student at Okotoks Junior High School and a first-year left-winger for the Raiders, said she’s looking forward to her first run through the Winter Games.
“I’m really excited and I know it’s going to be a really good experience,” McLeod said.
The Zone 2 team will feature several of the Okotokians’ teammates from the Raiders, which should prove to be a boon to team cohesion, said McLeod.
“A lot of the team is from the Raiders and then there’s a couple I know from last year when I tried out for the Raiders and I know a couple from my spring hockey team,” McLeod said. “I think we’ll do well. We’ve got a really good team that’s formed and there’s lots of chemistry.”
Iglesias echoed the sentiment.
“Our team, the Raiders, is a pretty strong team and we have a lot of chemistry and adding the other girls will add a lot of skill and just make our team better,” she said.
The Zone 2 players will be a little less familiar with their opponents, though all three foothills based players have experience playing against Calgary and Edmonton clubs in the Alberta Bantam league, whose players will largely populate the zone teams for both cities at the Winter Games.
“I think we’re going to be a little stronger, but you never know,” Iglesias said of Zone 2’s chances in the tournament. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and I think our team is going to do good and we’re just going to try and win first place.”
The 14-year-old playmaking left-winger will be getting a unique opportunity to play at the Winter Games in Spruce Grove in front of family and friends from her days living in nearby Stony Plain.
The Zone 2 girl’s team starts its quest for a gold medal on Feb. 10 when they face off with the Zone 8 squad at the Stu Barnes Arena in Spruce Grove. For complete schedules and results go to www.2012awg.ca.
