When the girls’ ice hockey team steps out onto the rink for their first game, they’ll be clad not in blue and white but in black and gold.
For the first time in its history, the team has joined with Trumbull High School to form a new co-op. According to Charlotte Axthelm ‘12, who has been skating as long as she can remember, Staples did not have enough girls this year to run its own team. The girls from both schools will practice together under one coach: Paula Dady.
“I am really excited for the co-op, and I can’t stress this point enough,” Dady said. “This is a fantastic and unique opportunity.”
Under their former coach, Science teacher David Rollison, the Staples team lost 18 out of their 19 games last season. Their lone win, however, was the first since the team was founded.
To Axthelm, victories and win-loss records are meaningless measures of reward when compared to the camaraderie and friendship she has gained through the team.
“We’ve always had a lot of fun, which is what I call success,” she said.
Despite losing senior captain (and the lone goalie) Gwen Moyer ’11, the team retains several key players, such as high-scoring junior Jesse Lepisto ’13.
Kenzie Furman ’12 hopes to be “a little more competitive this year than we have been in the past,” and finds one of their main obstacles to being a competitive high school team to be a lack of student interest.
“It can be disappointing when our only spectators are my mom and Charlotte Axthelm’s sister,” Furman said.
But Axthelm says that, overall, her teammates have come to terms with the sport’s unpopularity.
“Girls’ ice hockey is never going to be the most watched sport or anything, and we’re all pretty okay with it because we’re just out there to have fun,” Axthelm said.
This lack of interest also accounts for the team’s struggle to recruit players. Unlike other towns, Westport lacks a “feeder” program, such as those for football and baseball, for girl’s hockey. Thus, they are forced to rely on girls recruiting their friends and anyone else eager to try something new.
Although her team does not currently get as many fans as it’s male counterpart, Dady predicts that the team will earn its crowds in time through success.
“The fans will come,” she said.
Furman, too, has high hopes for the team.
“I doubt we’re going to beat all the other teams in the FCIAC,” she said, “but I think we’re going to have a great season.”

The gymnastics team has been steadily improving over their last couple of seasons, and some players are hoping that this will be the year for an FCIAC victory.
“We’ll work as hard as we can to make it and try our best to win,” Lindsay Kiedaisch ‘14 said.
The team’s home gym—where they practice almost every day—is actually in neighboring Weston, making it tough for Westporters to attend meets.
“The drive is a hassle,” said head coach Kelsey Martin, who started coaching the team last year. “But it would be great to have more support from the students.”
Even though the team has lost talented seniors such as Zoe Heller ‘11, Kiedaisch has no doubts that it will recover.
“Each year someone strong is added and helps out the team by a large amount,” Kiedaisch said.

Kiedaisch herself is poised to be a valuable asset to this year’s squad, as is Ana Violette ’14 and Emily Fishman ’12.
Last year, as freshman, Kiedaisch and Violette carried the Wrecker squad and frequently led the team with the highest scores.
But with the addition of new gymnasts and the return of familiar faces, training becomes even more crucial. Martin’s goals are to improve each girl individually and to add at least two tricks to each of their events.
“To achieve these goals, repetition is the most important aspect,” Martin said.
Martin was a gymnast in high school, then went on to major in sports administration, coaching, and kinesiology, which fittingly is the study of human movement. Kiedaisch expects Martin’s experience to pay off during practice.
Because she was a former gymnast “it is much easier for her to be coaching a bunch of high school gymnasts trying to learn new skills,” Keidaisch said.
This season, Martin hopes that their success will result in more enthusiasm from the student body. She is optimistic but acknowledges that it won’t be easy.
“I understand that this sport gets little to no recognition from the student body, but it really is a spectacular sport to watch.”