“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt.
If medals were awarded for Heart and Fight, the Novice Lady Rangers would be returning home from Clarington with an overwhelming pile of Hardware. However with that said, these very girls who went the weekend without winning came home with a wealth of drive, courage, and a constant burning desire to learn and get better. Every minute they spent on the ice, they got better.
An end to end rush from defenseman Alison, which ended in a highlight reel goal, dazzled a capacity crowd at the Garret B. Rickard Arena. Net Minder Krista kept her team fighting with wonderful and amazing stick saves, and the wiry little Paige who refused to give up on neither any puck nor any competitor. These girls seem to bond at a rate that sometime takes NHL teams a full season or more to generate.
If there was any doubt how much these girls wanted to play for each other, look no further than Aria who, between games one and two spend hours with Team Doctors having a wrist x-rayed, only to turn around an play in the second game. She never missed a shift. Neither did Nicole (Smokey) who battled through the final game with a nagging ankle, or Ayrial (MoPete) who lay motionless on the ice after being blindsided by a Clarington player. Jessica who made it to the bench after a collision caused trauma to her tongue. No Missed Shifts.
These girls fought for the game, they fought for themselves but most surprisingly and so early in the season they fought for each other. Best of all, each and every one of them wants more, more ice, more pucks, most of all more competition. It is not a challenge to get these young ladies to learn, it would be more of a challenge to try and stop them.
Apart, the girls are every bit an individual, but together they are and entity and within them beats one heart, the Heart of a Giant.
Congratulations Novice A Lady Rangers, may the Regular Season begin.