By Denise Balkissoon
This season, Ottawa’s women hockey players are at a whole new level.
Ottawa’s first AAA women’s team, the National Capital Raiders, have begun their season. The drop of a puck has marked a new era in hockey in the region.
There are a number of women’s AAA teams in Canada, but before the Raiders, Ottawa-area women had to move elsewhere to play at this high of a level.
“Finally we don’t have to go to Toronto or Montreal,” says Marie-France Ethier, 27, who lives in Centretown. “We can play in our hometown.”
Four players on the team live in Centretown. Teammates Isabelle Aubé, 21, Courtney Davis, 24, and Karina Verdon, 22, are also excited and enthusiastic about the opportunity to play for the Raiders. All of them have been playing hockey or ringette since childhood, but were limited to playing on A or AA teams.
Work on establishing the Raiders began last winter, when a fledgling team played seven exhibition games against teams from Toronto. From there, initial tryouts were held last May, when 26 players were chosen to be considered for the team. After a long summer of grueling land training, 20 players were chosen to make up the Raiders’ roster.
“It’s a great feeling,” says Aubé. “It’s a challenge for every one of us to have this team to participate on, and excel at this level of play.”
The Raiders have been in direct contact with Olympians, as many of Team Canada’s members play AAA in Toronto or Montreal.
Aubé, who made Team Canada’s under-22 team this past spring and trained with them in Calgary over the summer, believes that having older women playing competitive hockey is an encouragement for younger girls to keep playing.
There are more females playing hockey than ever before. The Ottawa District Women’s Hockey Association oversees over 2,000 players in 120 teams, and has tripled in size over the last eight years. Female hockey players in the association who are 12 years-old and under are admitted free into the Raiders’ games, and team members will set up coaching clinics for younger teams this winter.
“It’s fun to see the girls in the association come and cheer for us. We really appreciate that,” Aubé says. “I think we consider ourselves role models for the younger players in the area.”
And while a professional league in the U.S. fell through this season, all of the women are sure it can’t be a long way off.
“When I was younger, it seemed like it would never happen,” says Verdon, referring to the Olympics. “But then the time just flew by. Just imagine what could happen in the next few years if girls keep on playing hockey. There’s no limit.