The hockey season is usually busy enough for 100 Mile House Bantam Rep Female Donex Thunder squad members Cassidy Mellott and Breanna Uphill.
A normal week sees them on ice for two practices and two games, plus a classroom session once a week before practice. This year, the 14-year-olds will also be squeezing in a trip to the Greater Vernon 2012 BC Winter Games as members of the Cariboo-North East Zone 8 female ice hockey team.
Tryouts were held early January in Fort St. John, with 36 girls vying for 20 spots on the roster. The group was split to form two teams and put under the scrutiny of five evaluators from BC Hockey.
The girls first had to prove themselves at fitness testing where they ran, chucked a medicine ball and demonstrated their levels of agility, endurance, hand/eye co-ordination and strength.
Tossing the 10-pound medicine ball was the toughest test for petite Mellott who is just five feet tall. Running the beep endurance test was the greatest challenge for Uphill who is otherwise a naturally powerful runner and fast skater.
Next, the girls played in two hockey games where evaluators could see what they brought to the ice. Meeting with judges for the final verdict was nerve-wracking for both, but they say it was nice to hear what the evaluators had to say.
Mellott was told she was probably one of the fastest skaters there, with good puck control, good passing and good sense of position.
“They said I knew the game, but I need to get my slap shot away quicker.”
Uphill was praised for her good hockey sense, strong skating and good puck handling. She knew she’d given it all she had, but still there was a shadow of doubt in her mind.
“I was really nervous going in there. That part was exhausting.”
Both girls were members of the 2011 Female U16 BC Cup North Zone team last year and also played for the Kamloops Mystix Female Bantam A team, but their success in hockey didn’t come without a lot of hard work and dedication.
Mellott has been skating since she was two and every winter, her dad, and coach of the Donex Thunder, Jeff Mellott, has built a backyard rink where she has spent hours practising and developing her skills.
Uphill also grew up skating on a home rink and she attends every hockey camp she can get to.
The BC Winter Games will be their greatest challenge to date and both are optimistic about attaining good results.
Jeff says he feels they’ve got great potential.
“I think this team will do really well. They have good skills and good goal tending.
“They were told that one North Zone team in the past had won bronze and it’s believed this team has the opportunity to do better.”
Until the games, which take place Feb. 23-26, both girls plan to keep their fitness levels up and eat healthy. Good nutrition has always been a staple in their training plan and they know how great a difference it makes.
“You can feel what you eat,” says Uphill. “When you eat fast food, your legs feel heavy, like you’re weighted down, and you have less energy.”
They want to be in top form when they face off with the other seven zone teams from all over British Columbia and realize it won’t be an easy battle.
B.C. Winter Games are a biannual amateur event which originated in 1979 in Kamloops. They include events for able-bodied and physically disabled athletes, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded in Olympic fashion to the top three in each sport.
