On Saturday, March 3 in Clearwater, the Female Hawks took on the Merritt McDonald female team. The Clearwater team was hoping for a win to end the playoffs in two games. They had played the day before in Logan Lake against Merritt and ended up pulling off a huge goal lead and winning the game 10 – 1.
For its second game against Merritt, the Clearwater team was short a few of its regular players but the affiliates were more than keen to help out. The game was a battle for the first period but then in the end of the second period Clearwater scored three goals giving them the push to really win. The game ended with Clearwater winning it 6 – 1.
The girls came out with two banners this year, as they were lucky enough to win the league and then the playoffs.
Even though the girls dominated the league this year, it was a trying year for them as they are a team of nine Peewees and one Midget. They also had six other girls that played with them off and on, as they were on other teams (three were Peewees and three were Bantams). They played shorthanded at times, injured and at times made to feel very uncomfortable for doing so well in their league by other teams. The other teams had a mix of ages also, as this is something that you can do in girls’ hockey but Clearwater came into this league with a strong group this year, which they had some grief over. Unfortunately we lost a few girls before Christmas but the team was able to pull through and one of the girls even stepped up to be the team goalie. Vanessa McGill had just started a few weeks before coming out in goalie gear, once a week and ended up being told a week before the girls’ tournament that she could have the position full time if she wanted. She took on the new challenge with leaps and bounds of great improvement.
This whole team of girls did very well. Girls who have not played hockey for very long did their very best to keep up with others that have played for longer. This year gave all of the girls a chance to really work on their passing, being a team player and greatly improving their skills. Girls that had never scored or won games came out of this season with huge smiles and satisfaction that they can actually put the puck in the net.
The coaches have been very proud of the girls this year and how they have been able to handle all the situations that they have been put into. They would like to congratulate them on a successful season.
The girls are very grateful to their coaches: Darcie Sunderman, Deanna Pendergast and Kelvin Arndt. They are also grateful to manager Nissa McGill, jersey parent Sherri Madden, safety person Marilou Roy and the parents that volunteered at games this year.
