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[Jan. 2017 Sports] Staples Girls’ hockey unites with neighboring towns to stay competitive

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By Cate Casparius ’19

 

Almost all of Staples’ sports teams are solely made up of Staples students. One team, however, is a combination of students from four different schools. Due to a shortage of participants along with limited places to practice, the girls’ hockey team has students from Staples, Stamford, Westhill, and Academy of Information and Tech Engineering.

“When some students hear that there is a girls’ hockey team they are quite shocked we actually have one,” Elizabeth Fay ’19 said.

The team is run by co-head coaches, John Fay and Phil Miolene, both of whom are not teachers. The girls usually practice during the week at the Terry Connors Ice Rink in Stamford and at the Westport Police Athletic League Rink at Longshore. Their “home” games are also held at the Stamford rink.

“Being a team that draws from four schools in two separate towns gives us a diverse group of players,” Coach Fay said. “A few of our players compete against each other in soccer, field hockey and lacrosse; come ice hockey season it is all about working together as one group.”

The players agree that competing on a team which combines with other schools is beneficial.

“We’re all super close because we love coming from different schools and when we’re together we don’t have to deal with any outside drama,” Ida Nevstad ’19 said. “We can just focus on playing and not worry about other things. It’s a nice escape, actually.”

Staples co-captain Erin McGroarty ’18 added, “Some of my best friends live in Stamford and I think it’s an incredible experience.”

A great amount of effort and hard work went into preparing for the 2017 season. Coach Fay admitted he was impressed with the progress made during the off-season. Co-captain, Emily Gitlin ’20, shared how the team prepared themselves for the season.

“We prepared for the season with our boot camp. For two weeks we had an hour of on-ice and an hour of off-ice. The off-ice was either yoga or conditioning, depending on the day. This really helped all our players focus on basic skills and all of our new players to learn the game,” Gitlin said. “We hope to succeed this season as long as we put in the extra effort to overcome losing our goalie [Claire Parry].”

One concern for this season, though, is the loss of players due to injuries. However, Fay ’19 thinks the team can work through it.

“Unfortunately we have lost two key players because of injuries, but, as they are on the mend, they will be healthy and back on the ice soon,” Fay added. “I think that we should do well this season.”

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