The beginning of Princeton women’s hockey season

Although my Sophomore season at Princeton University just officially started about a week ago, there has already been a very different vibe in the rink.  In the past few seasons, Princeton Women’s Ice Hockey has always been classified as a “good” team and program, but we have come up just short from reaching “greatness” in recent years.  Our coach has put a new emphasis on our season: how can we move from good to great?

In order to help us make this transition, our coach altered our team’s core values: tough, relentless, grateful, and committed. We believe that if we commit to living out the meaning of each of these values, we will be able to have a season that will be remembered.  We have also done a lot of team activities to help us understand the meanings of each of these values.

About a week ago, instead of a standard afternoon conditioning session consisting of a stadium run, plios, or a 5k, we were surprised with a scavenger hunt around campus.  After being split up into four different teams, we were given our first clue, and then the competition began. Although the scavenger hunt was our break from conditioning that week, given the competitiveness of our team, we ended up racing and sprinting to each location and arguably ran even more than during the 5k.  Our core values represented the theme of our scavenger hunt, and there were hidden messages behind each clue that could be related back to our four core values. The scavenger hunt also focused on the history of our program, its past players, and the many traditions of Princeton women’s hockey.

After recently transitioning from pre-season to in-season, I am incredibly hopeful and excited for the upcoming season.  We open our season in less than two weeks against a Wisconsin team that will already have six games under their belts, so preparation and conditioning now are particularly essential.  We have all worked our butts off over the summer and during preseason, and I have no doubt that with our physical shape, our returning squad of players, and the strength of our freshman class, we will compete and give the Badgers a true Princeton Tiger game.  I truly believe that if we all buy into these four core values, along with our team slogan of “Win The Day,” we will be able to make these strides from “good” to “great.”

Note from Women’s Hockey Life:
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