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Foe meets friend during hockey season

Every Staples sporting event comes with the inevitable heckling between the Superfans and the opposing team. That is, except for one sport: hockey.

Despite the usual rivalry and competitiveness between these schools, all towns learn to coexist in one arena whether they cheer on the boys’ Wreckers Hockey or the girls’ Stamford/Westhill/Staples team.

Staples, Weston and Shelton fans pack the bleachers to support the boys’ hockey team while Staples, Stamford and Westhill fans all support the girls’ hockey team.

The boys’ team has been a popular Staples program for years, while the girls’ team is relatively new. However, despite the difference in their tenure, both teams are on the rise.

Weston High School student and two-year boys’ varsity hockey player, Ryan Johnson ’16, takes pride in the teams’ surprising success last winter. “We were projected to have no more than four wins, but managed to come away with over double that count,” Johnson said.

The girls also had their fair share of glory on the ice as they took down powerhouses such as Greenwich, Trumbull and Fairfield. Although they have yet to win any major championships, these wins helped them gain traction towards victory, two-year varsity hockey player, Rachel Stanford ’16, said.

“A team is not really built from some school mascot. But from friendships and cooperation among people who are just committed to working on a common goal,” Phil Miolene, coach of the girls’ hockey team, said.

Like Miolene, Assistant Captain Ian Offenberg ’16 believes that high school diversity is not a factor for the boys’ team as they constantly spend time together on and off the ice, even during the off-season. “Playing with kids from other schools is not a struggle by any means. It’s a pleasure,” Offenberg said.

However, the differences in schools does cause complications. Captain Meg Fay ’15 finds that having to travel to Stamford for practices and meetings is difficult for a lot of the Staples players.

“We can’t have full team meetings after school like other teams,” she said. “So we take time out of practices, before games and at off-ice trainings to talk.”

Captain and Westhill senior Cassie Miolene ’15 also thinks it’s hard to represent all three schools equally. “Our schools are so different and in different areas but it is a unique experience to take Staples under our wing” Miolene said.

While these schools may have competitive history, they learn to put differences aside and find a common ground on the ice.
“We don’t even think about what schools one goes to when in season,” Stanford said. “We are just one team.”

Staples sports games are usually enlivened with a good ol’ “Let’s Go Wreckers” or the occasional “S-T-S-T-A” chant, but during hockey season, the unusual addition of cheers from rival schools adds a little something extra to the set-list motivating both teams.

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