AA teams donning the Sudbury Lady Wolves jersey often garner a fair bit of attention – deservedly so. These girl hockey entries are the equivalent of AAA crews in boys’ hockey circles in Ontario.
Working our way down through the pyramid of play that is youth female hockey, it can obviously become increasingly challenging to grab the spotlight at each and every level of play.
Challenging, perhaps, until you take to the ice at the biggest tournament of the year and capture gold on a provincial scale. Challenging, perhaps, when you follow up that OWHA banner by winning the prestigious Brampton Canadettes event just one week later and do so by knocking off the team that won the division above you a week earlier.
Ladies and gentlemen: meet the Sudbury U13 Lady Wolves.
“We have an amazing team here,” said rookie defenceman Rowan Frood, an 11-year-old Grade 6 student at Northeastern Public School. “Yes, it’s a ‘C’ team, but that doesn’t matter. We have a great bond and we did really awesome as a team.”
That statement carries even more weight when one considers that it was a team that almost wasn’t, with no goaltenders making their way out to tryouts last year.
Though Emilie Joly would eventually take on the role, backstopping her team to countless victories, veteran forward Suri Darwish said she was prepared to step up if necessary just to ensure the talented Lady Wolves squad could hit the ice.
“I was really upset when I heard that we might not have a team because we didn’t have a goalie,” said the Grade 7 student at Ecole publique de la Découverte, now in her third year with the team. “That was the worst thing ever, that there would be no team. I would do whatever I could do to just play hockey with these girls – it doesn’t matter what position.”
In a sense, the sentiment speaks to the type of dressing room atmosphere that was created with the U13 C Lady Wolves, the kind of chemistry that allows the group to achieve far more than the sum of their individual parts.
“This is a new group of girls for me, but we created a really good bond throughout the year,” said Rowan, balancing the demands of competitive girls’ hockey with her serious interest in horseback riding on the side.
“We kind of all met about two years ago, about half of the players, and we really bonded,” Suri added. “Over the years, some new house league players joined us … We all kind of understand each other; we’re all a good family.”
That was key as the Sudbury girls faced off against Gloucester Cumberland in the OWHA final, the teams having split their two previous games this year — one a 1-0 affair — the other decided in a shootout.
“Gloucester and us, we’re neck and neck, so those games are very stressful, just because we don’t know who is going to win,” Rowan said.
“It was beyond scary,” Suri added. “Luckily, Emilie made some amazing saves and we got to go to a second overtime.”
The soft-spoken netminder, also a Découverte student, recalled likely her biggest save in the final.
“I stopped a shot, at first, but threw it back out,” Emilie said. “The other team got it and passed it out to the defence, I think. They shot it on me and it almost hit the bar, except I put my blocker out to stop it – but to make sure it didn’t go away, I put my trapper over it.”
“We were really lucky to get Emilie on our team,” Rowan said.
The drama of a double-overtime gold-medal victory is a memory of a lifetime, one in which co-coaches David Simon and Geoff Morris, and staff, played a really big role.
“Our coaches always said that when you’re nervous, it shows that you care,” Suri said.
“I love Coach Dave and Coach Geoff and their daughters. Our coaches help to push us and try and make us the best that we can be. At practices, they can be a bit tough at times, but they’re really nice. And when you’re with all girls, you’re all in one dressing room, you don’t feel like you’re separated.”
To newcomer and returnee alike, the feeling is tangible.
“When I came to the U13 Lady Wolves, the C team, I was really excited because I had never been to a tournament before,” Rowan said. “My brother had been on some and he had a blast with his friends. You have a bond at house league, but not as much as when you go to a tournament and you actually have time to spend with your friends.”
That kind of bond can lead you right to the top of the mountain, or the highest echelon of attention within the Sudbury girls hockey scene, if you will.
Rounding out the team roster are Ryann Morris, Presley Brennan, Jenna Cole, Raina Gauthier, Naomi Gobeil, Serena Harris, Ava Herbert, Mila Kidd, Maiya Parsons, Kassandra Reasbeck, Gabrielle Roy, Violet Simon and Leah Windover.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
