When the girls’ junior varsity hockey teams take to the ice, whether in a game or a practice, one thing is certain: They will have fun. Despite the intense physical demands of this fast-paced sport, there are big smiles underneath those helmets. These athletes love the game and the JV program, both girls’ and boys’, fosters an encouraging and welcoming environment.
“We want to be competitive, but we also want them to learn and to have fun out there,” says Brian Reeves, the girls’ JV hockey head coach.
For the past several years, the program has opened up to students with no hockey experience and even students with no skating experience. This is evident at practices when the 25 players break into groups. The girls who know how to play—and there are some very good players—lead the drills. The more inexperienced players and skaters hang back in the line, following along slowly, sometimes with yelps of encouragement from the veteran players. Coach Reeves says this format “pushes the new skaters, and they learn skills more quickly than if they were out there on their own.” With Gregg Reilly and Amy Hickey, two experienced assistant coaches, on the ice, it is manageable to break the girls up and focus on different skill sets.
Coach Trey Gregory, the new head coach for boys’ JV hockey, says out of his 15 players, about one-third are new to hockey or skating. “Our boys embrace the intensity and speed of the game and are a motivated group of young men who bring a positive, hard-working attitude to JV hockey.”
Games are different. This is where both teams want to be competitive and only the experienced players suit up and play. Last year, the girls’ JV team was mostly undefeated, but they lost 13 seniors and the team is younger this year. However, some of this season’s inexperienced players might be next year’s experienced players. In a way, they have a feeder system within the team. Coach Reeves says some of them get “bitten by the hockey bug” and become passionate about playing. He once had a player here who started playing goalie as a freshman with no experience. She played all four years and then went on to play college hockey.