As a kid, I tried all the different activates. I danced for a few years, played tee ball and soft ball, did the whole soccer thing and eventually narrowed it down to just two. I played volleyball and basketball each for ten years, and somewhere around freshman year, I threw in some track and field. I loved sports and coming to college I felt a void my first semester going from 5 days a week of practice to playing only intramurals for a few short weeks.
In the Spring, I decided to fill that void by joing the USC Women’s Ice Hockey team. A few girls in my sorority all signed up together because we were good friends with the captain of the team, who encouraged us to try it out.
These were all the girls in my sorority who joined together 🙂
I fell in love! I had ice skated maybe five times in my life for a birthday party here or group function there and knew nothing about hockey. But the girls took me right in and taught me how to skate, explained to me the rules of hockey, and went over basic hockey slang so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. My skills developed slowly but surely and at the end of the semester I was ready for our big tournament. We travelled to Vancouver, Canada with the team and won third place!
This is my captain Cayley and I in Vancouver 🙂
Team picture after a big win in Vancouver!
It has been such a rewarding experience and I now have a whole new pack of friends to run with. Besides hanging out at practice, the team also holds lots of events off the ice like bonfires at the beach, going to Kings games, going to a local country line dancing venue, and bonding with the USC boys Ice Hockey team.
Hockey girls just hanging out at the beach for a bonfire one evening 🙂
On our way to go country line dancing!!
USC women’s ice hockey is my favorite student involvement because of how accepting the team was of me as a person and as a new player, as well as how perfectly it fit into my athletic lifestyle. I love that I can sign up for a new sport that I know nothing about and immediately be included and taught. I’ve loved learning a new sport and can’t wait to see how my skills evolve in the next three years.
