A Sooke girls hockey team struck gold at a tournament open to squads on and off the Island.
On Dec. 29, Christmas dinners and snacks didn't slow down the U-13 Thunderbirds, which secured a 2-1 victory over the Surrey Falcons in the Nanaimo Female Coastal Classic finals.
“I'm really proud of the way they're playing,” said Thunderbirds head coach Ryan Lesyshen. “The girls are doing really well.”
The team, which practises twice a week at the SEAPARC Recreation Centre, has seen success outside of tournaments, too, winning the majority of their regular-season games. Lesyshen thinks much of that success stems from the Thunderbirds' rock-solid work ethic.
“They are learning to play together and play the game a little less selfishly,” he said. “They're at the right age to start doing that, to start passing and stuff, and I think that their team play has improved this year, and that's helped us quite a bit.”
According to the Thunderbird’s U-11 and U-13 coordinator Stephanie Welters, the Nanaimo win has sparked a stir.
“They're definitely talked about in the female league for how strong they're playing this year,” she said.
Lesyshen added that the team’s coaches have helped the outfit secure their growing reputation. For example, assistant coach Abbie Lewco – an 18-year-old Thunderbird alumni – is a valuable young role model for the squad's even younger players.
“The rest of us are dads,” said Lesyshen. “It's good to have those younger coaches because players will listen to them in a different way.”
For the remainder of the season, the head coach hopes the Thunderbirds can face off against teams that exceed their skill level.
"If you're winning all the time, you don't skate quite as hard," he said. "I'd like to see a few more games against teams that can beat us, so that they can grow and see how they play."
Maybe the squad will find the opponents they're looking for when the team travels to the mainland in March to compete in the Richmond Ice Classic – the largest female house hockey tournament in North America.
Lesyshen, however, stressed that the games there be will less about snagging wins than fostering love for Canada's game.
“It's just about making memories,” he said. “I could foresee them keep going with this as adult players, which is kind of the goal, to give someone a passion that that they can continue on with."
